24 May, 2006

albury bound

In the blink of an eye B, mum and I have been to Albury for a week. Whilst B was conferencing, mum and I made day trips taking in Beechworth, Uranquinty, Wagga Wagga, Walbundrie, as well as having a day in Melbourne.

Here is a link to the pictorial.

There were however so many other sites and things that I didn't get photos of so I have attempted to remember them all here starting with.

The best bakery is at Uranquinty.. so good in fact that mum and I had morning tea there (I have been before and felt that she needed to experience it for herself), we then returned for a very, very late lunch, and then felt compelled to buy a sample of their cakes and a loaf of bread to enjoy over the next couple of days.

The Wagga Iron Foundry, just fascinating, they are able to recreate any cast iron item. Verandah posts, chairs, tables, you just name it. I was a after a price for flat decorative verandah posts.

The Ardent Alpaca in Beechworth, I loved this store, I bought the softest baby alpaca yarn which I am knitting into a lace type pattern scarf. The pattern is from either this or last months Better Homes and Gardens. A picture will surely be uploaded when it is finished. I will be so proud of myself if I actually finish it.

Divine Linen, also in Beechworth.

Mad About You - I didn't actually view any of their stuff apart from a cute little catalogue I picked up in a coffee shop in Albury. But you never know when it might come in handy, and some of their things were adorable. I can't share it with you now though as they don't have a webpage. Very strange when they rely on direct sales. Oh well. For a catalogue Tel. +61 2 60565911 or email madaboutyou@hotkey.net.au

Zakkaya, Fitzroy, Victoria, "contemporary Japanese goods for your life". Just cute stuff, really really cute.

And finally, La Parisienne Pates, Lygon St Carlton, Victoria. Yummy, Yummy stuff here, we had the best pate for dinner that night, and rabbit and prune pies to die for. No web link but I will be going back for supplies next time I am in Vic.

15 May, 2006

my favourite shops

I have been braving the cold of Melbourne this week attending first a workshop and then a conference which has ment that I have had the briefest of moments to indulge in shopping. My most favourite shop is Douglas and Hope, they have a shop in Melbourne CBD and one on Brunswick St. I purchased a brass hook with a porcelain rose on it for the bathroom, and a tea towel which I am going to sew into a quilt. I just had to buy something from here.


douglas and hope
Other favourites are 'A jewellery store named Desire' again there is one of these stores on Brunswick St and one in Melbourne CBD in the Melbourne GPO building. I bought an Ayala Bar bangle from here. I spotted it on my first day and couldn't stop thinking about it so bought it before leaving for the airport home.

a jewellery store named desire
And of course Haigh's chocolates, I believe we now have one of these in Sydney, but I still associate this store with a trip to Melbourne.

haighs chocolates
And one of my favourite places for dinner is The Quarter, located in this laneway beside the hotel.

favourite eating

08 May, 2006

07 May, 2006

special day

happy birthday to the littlest sister, and happy christening Breanna.

christening-cake

05 May, 2006

Can't be

B and I have been working very hard; long hours, uni work, housework, family commitments, all sorts of stuff. I am telling you this because I am way overdue for a holiday, in fact if you add in long-service leave I could have the next 6 months off work on full pay (there's a thought...), I am very tired, and this means that I have the occasional blonde moment..... like this one, which has actually been more than a moment...

One of my favourite artists is Rebecca Cool, who is based in WA, I occasionally do a web search to see if there might be any exhibitions in Sydney, and about 12 months ago I discovered that Rebecca Cool was a feature artist of the Canterbury Art Exhibition. Since that time I have been checking to see if / when their next exhibition will be and if Rebecca Cool will be a feature artist. My constant checking was rewarded a few weeks back and so B and I decided that attending opening night complete with champagne and nibblies would be fun. That is, until B checked the details on the web, you know exact address, time, cost.... it was Canterbury VIC, not Canterbury NSW.

04 May, 2006

romantic dining

lean cuisine style. We don't often use our dining room and with a week in Melbourne coming up B decided it would be nice to suprise me with a 'romantic' dinner - candles, rose petals scattered on the table, wine glasses. It looked like this...

romantic-dining
This fine dining experience was completed with our choice of lean cuisine and cordial, a glass of wine would have seen me fall asleep at the table. Anyway, it's the thought that counts.

02 May, 2006

check your ethics

Recently, B came under attack for questioning the ethics of the actions of a colleague on a committee for which he is a member. The scenario went something like this:

A committee member distributed an email she had come across within her place of employment to all committee members. The email was titled “strictly confidential” and detailed a request that was made to the organisation she works for that was refused. It was a useless piece of nothing really, unrelated to the business of the committee except to provide a tasty bit of gossip that might give some members of the committee a sense of self-righteous satisfaction.

The author of the email request (made of organisation for which the committee member works) is viewed as being a source of irritation to the committee in that she represents a body that has a similar goal to that of the committee and seems more successful in accessing funds, and doing what she does.

Upon receipt of the email B commented that he didn’t believe it was ethical for the committee to be participating in the distribution of emails obtained from their places of work and therefore not intended for them.

The committee member went off the deepend at her actions being questioned and resigned. This in turn led to a flurry of emails including B, asking the said committee member to reconsider, and a right bollocking from the President of the committee who came down on B for his ‘tactless’ email, and while she was at it thought she’d have a go about anything and everything where B was concerned.

Whoa, and what were the good intentions of this group, I forget…..

In an attempt to get things back on track, B apologised to the committee member, although what he was apologising for I still don’t know – the committee member who distributed the email did the wrong thing. Would her employers have given their blessing that an email sent to them had been forwarded to a committee that has no business in their business? Would the person who sent the email request feel indignant that her email request and response had been distributed to sources not intended by her? I betcha!

And does it make any difference even if they are unlikely to find out?

I have this for the committee member* and President…..

Check YOUR ethics

§ Does the decision violate any of my values?
§ Would I feel embarrassed if my decision became a newspaper headline?
§ Would I feel comfortable describing my actions or decisions to a client? Fund Provider? Employer? my family?
§ Is the dignity and liberty of others being maintained by my decision? Are their opportunities increased or decreased?
§ Are the rights, welfare and betterment of those without power being considered? Is the decision being made on genuine merit-based criteria?
§ Do I hope that others will treat me in the same way?
§ Is the possibility of personal gain clouding my judgement?
§ Would those unfavourably affected by this decision accept the fairness of the way the decision was made?

* the committee member retracted her resignation, and accepted B's apology very mean spiritedly suggesting that B give up his ‘occupation of the morale high ground’, secretly I think she was enjoying the drama.