I took it back

I know I have spent lots of time complaining both in person and on this blog about the state of coffee in this fine country but yesterday a coffee I bought was so bad, I returned it and got a refund.  Not once but twice.  I haven't been drinking any coffee, not even decaf, in an attempt to keep my iron stores high for child birth and all the bleeding that may occur.  However, I had slept badly, had lots of annoying little errands to run that day, and I have been carrying around a coupon to this coffee establishment so I thought I'd treat myself with a decaf cappuccino.  The experience didn't start off well when they told me if I wanted to drink it from a ceramic mug, I'd have to buy one for $10.  This led me to settling on having it in a cardboard cup.  Ugh. 

My belief is a cappuccino should be a 1:1:1 ratio of an espresso shot, steamed milk, and frothy milk, in a fairly small mug (around 5 fl. oz).  The espresso shot should come out loud and clear with this ratio.  I often find it served here closer to a 1:1:2 ratio.  A latte on the other hand should be 1:3 espresso shot, steamed milk.  If I could order a drink with the ratio 1:2 (espresso:steamed milk), I think I would be happiest.

On sitting down to relax and enjoy my treat, I found that the froth was full of air bubbles and the first sip tasted of frothy milk without even a hint of espresso.  I am used to this, I think Americans use over-sized cups for their cappuccinos and feel the need to fill them up with milk froth.  I tried folding the espresso into the extensive amount of milk.  To no avail, I still could not taste the slightest hint of coffee!  I didn't want to sit there drinking warm milk.  Trying not to act outraged, I decided to ask them to make me another one.  I was told the coffee was very old as nobody drinks decaf and it probably wouldn't make a difference.  Huh.  They suggested I buy a straight caffeinated coffee.  I pointed out my belly.  Unhappily, I settled on getting an American decaf coffee (i.e.: coffee from the pot that has been sitting around for untold lengths of time).  I decided that if I added half and half to it, it could still be creamy and delicious.  Unfortunately I was again disappointed this time with a bitter/burnt tasting coffee.  Returning this, I got a refund and decided that a cup of coffee was not to be my pleasure that day and I would wait until bubba is born and make my own.

The perils of composting

I originally started a compost during the first Autumn we were here because I wanted to make use of fallen leaves and all the nutrients they can provide a garden after breaking down.  I collected bags and bags of those leaves and piled them up in a corner of my tiny garden which is hidden by a bush.   Soon I was adding our house hold vegetable and fruit scraps.  By the following summer, some of the matter had decomposed enough to be used in the garden.  

Being an open compost which lay directly under the overhang of a veranda, it was lacking the necassary ingredient of moisture.  So solve this problem, I began watering it and turning it often.  I also collected some worms, hoping they would multiple and help the decomposition process.  I was told that keeping a 50:50 ratio of brown matter to vegetable scraps would help keep bugs away but brown matter was hard to come by except during Autumn with the falling leaves.

When our apartment management had a clean up of the property recently and removed my compost, I found myself surprisingly unattached to it and wasn't upset by the loss.  On the one hand, I feel horrible throwing scraps in the rubbish bin knowing they won't decompose quickly and are adding to the landfills.  However my compost was difficult to keep up, was an eyesore for my neighbours, I was always worried about creatures visiting the compost and becoming pests, I worried about what to do with it if we were to move in a year or so, and it was really hard to get to (and use) the good decomposed stuff at the bottom of the pile.

You may remember my mother and I preparing the soil for winter by using lasagne layers last October.  We layered torn up paper, leaves, and soil over the surface of the garden.  This has worked surprisingly well and the soil seems rich and lovely.  I haven't tested it for its nutrients, I just know that it is far nicer than when we first arrived.  This will have to do for now.  I am considering putting our kitchen scraps in our church garden's compost.

Nesting nesting

My emotions have been really conflicting recently.  I know I'm all pumped up on hormones so I try to ignore many of these feelings for the most part.  Excitement, nerves, doom.  I love Jbird one moment and...well, feel quite the opposite the next.  Poor guy.  It's pretty confusing.  

To be honest, I wondered how this month would ever come.  It feels like the biggest month of my life in which nothing much is really happening, except everything is happening at once.  I heard yesterday that on average, your first baby arrives 8 days late.  That gives me nearly a month.  But I'm not counting on that statistic - it's time to pack the hospital bag and clean the windows.

Scenic drive in the minivan

We took advantage of the pleasant but cold weather this weekend and went for a drive through some Indiana hilly area.  It was very pretty - almost reminiscent of New Zealand scenery with lots of grass and rolling hills - minus the customary sightings of ocean and flocks of sheep.  The dense bush we view in New Zealand is here 'dense' forest.  This isn't so dense at this time of the year as they are only slowly growing their light spring foliage.  I imagine it would be a gorgeous drive in the fall.  It was a pleasant afternoon. 

Using a scenic drive tour book we issued from the library, we were able to learn little tidbits about the passing region.  The steel railway bridge cost $1.2 million dollars, even though the Italian labourers were only paid 30c an hour.  It was built pre heavy-machinery days so they must have had to employ a large number of labourers.  Not to mention the cost of steel etc.

We passed through a town where the local church had been razed by a pro-slavery group leaving the congregation to meet in hours for the next 50 years.  I think those were the two most interesting things we learned.  Here are some pictures:

 A local horse farm.

 The expensive and impressive steal railroad bridge.

Filling up at the local grocer. 

Eating our picnic in a local graveyard from inside the minivan.

Some local businesses.

Don't come yet

This is the state of BabyBird's nursery right now. 

People have been telling me about their own baby's early arrival at 35 weeks.  Which is where I am now.  And this room was starting to overwhelm me a little bit.  But I've managed to get passed that and am feeling much better today.  Tomorrow I will pick up some drawers and hopefully a book case which will help me start organising everything a little bit.  I do need to convince Jbird that we won't need that big black chair.  But maybe he's right, maybe I'll appreciate having it for nursing.  But can I make it look prettier somehow?  My mother arrives soon and she's very creative, perhaps she'll have some good ideas.  

We're feeling very excited but I'm glad there are still 31 days until her due date. 

Confusing seasons and a garden type update

I know I have complained extensively about the never ending winter but it seems that summer has arrived.  Which is confusing because we never really had a spring.  One day it was snowing and I was still wearing my winter coat, hat, and gloves.  The next day I put my shorts on and I haven't taken them off since.  I wonder if this means Jbird will avoid the intense allergic reactions he has to spring here in the States.  In retrospect, the long winter meant that Jbird was allergy free for his big week of recitals - in the past he has been so ill from them that I didn't know how he'd get through the concert. 

Despite the loss of spring, the spring flowers are out in full bloom.  Even mine are out, though they only receive afternoon sun so it seems to have taken them forever to grow and are perhaps the last to bloom in all of Bloomington.  I had been worried they were frost bitten and wouldn't bloom at all but I've learnt this year that the thing about daffodils is they survive everything.  One of them was even bitten by a bunny which frequents my garden when it was just a bud and it still opened up.  As a half flower.  Impressive. 

Here's a picture of our spring daffodils and yellow tulips. Can you see the famous meyer lemon tree from these posts: post 1, post 2, post 3?  He's growing one tiny little lemon and has a few buds that I've cross pollinated.  I'm hoping for a few more than just one lemon.  So long as I can keep the animals and insects away.  That tree has been a lot of work.  I don't know where I'll put him next winter, he takes up a lot of room and there'll be another little person to pull off the buds.

Paparazzi shots of the 34 week belly

These photos are from the other night.  I thought Jbird did a good job at catching an action shot of the belly at 34 weeks in action.  Things are starting to happen a little quickly for my liking, and I feel very unprepared.  Every week  I feel heavier and sorer and my tummy grows noticeably larger - to me at least.  I've started wearing a compression stocking on one leg sometimes to avoid what could become a varicose vein.  I'm still swimming but I've had to start being far more gentle - my energetic mile was proving to be a bit much, making my hips ache at night.  So now I swim 40-60 laps instead of 60-80.  And I swim them gently.  I'm also still biking but only around the corner, nothing more than 5 minutes away.  It feels nice to bike - even though my legs bang into my belly a bit.  Even better than walking, though I'm going to put walking back into my regime now that my yoga class is finishing.  I'm often tired yet I don't sleep well at night.  I think it's a combination of excitement, discomfit, and just plain insomnia.  It's plagued me throughout the pregnancy and I feel that it's very unfair considering the fact that I won't be able to sleep much at all when I'm nursing* through the night.  Or the baby doesn't want to sleep.

*nursing is an American term I prefer to the NZ 'breastfeeding'.  I don't have to say 'breast' to strangers.

Concerto recital

The big day came and went and boy was it a big day.  Recital day is always a balancing scale of remaining calm, resting, and remembering to do everything that needs to be done.  For example yesterday I cut Jbird's hair, re-hemmed his trousers, ironed his shirt and trousers, polished his shoes, made sure he ate, hid my emotions about a few trifling matters that felt important to me, and dashed home to get his forgotten bowtie ten minutes before curtain call.  I also had a normal day with church, a baby shower (details to follow), and I went for a swim. Sometimes I wonder if I'm mothering him by being so completely in charge of his grooming matters, but I think it helped him to feel as relaxed as possible so that all he had to think about was the task at hand.  Or maybe it would have helped him to have that housekeeping to do, therefore taking his mind off the task at hand.  It's hard to tell. 

I might be biased but I thought he played beautifully.  There may have been a few minor mistakes but he exuded confidence and the audience was in his power.  It was exciting to have the orchestra accompany him but I was more focussed on him than what they were doing.
 

The Saint-Saëns piano concerto number 2 is an exciting concerto to listen to, full of wild virtuosic moments.  The last movement in particular leaves you on the edge of your seat.  There are so many notes and it seems as though there's a race to the end.  If you don't know this concerto well, you can listen to the Maestro Rubinstein playing part 1 here and part 2 here.  I'll post Jbird's recording when it's ready.

I was lucky enough to sit next to a wee budding five year old violin student.  She sat stock still during the overture (pre-concerto) which was exciting and full of swarming violin propositions.  The concerto proved to be too much for her and she became a wriggling little worm.  Didn't say a peep though. 

Rewind to 1996

Have a listen to Jbird and Soph here as young tikes.  In a role reversal.  Enjoy.

The real deal

At their recital Jbird and Soph played this lovely Sonata for Violin and Piano by Mozart.  Have a listen and enjoy.  Jbird loved having the opportunity to perform it on a Walter replica fortepiano, just like the instrument Mozart owned.  He's enjoying his early music studies at the school of music here.

A rest day

It's been a busy time in the Bird house.  Jbird and Soph played their recital last night so Jbird and I were able to finally take a mini-vacay day today.  He hasn't had a day off in 19 days.  Including Sundays.  This has made me busy as I try to make sure he remembers to eat and not get cross because I'm cleaning cleaning cleaning all the time just to keep up with him.  I've done pretty well with only a few sulks splashed here and there when I felt neglected.  I think they were mostly well concealed sulks too.  The car has helped a lot because my away-from-home-chores are really easy to do now.  I have also had plenty of me-time to swim, bake bread, read, and knit so I can't really complain.  Still, I've been exhausted at the end of each day and often fall asleep before 10pm.

 

Our mini-vacay day was very low key.  We slept until the sun was well up and spent the day doing boring household chores and cleaning up after the recital/reception mess of last night.  It was such a lovely warm and sunny day, I didn't put a sweater on until the sun was nearly down for the first time all year.  Jbird had a quick rehearsal with the orchestra for his concerto in the afternoon so I went for a swim while he did that.  I can't wait for the outdoor pools to open.  We had saved a lovely voucher for a fancy restaurant that Soph gave us for Christmas so we ended the day on a lovely date.  Jbird even wore a collar.  I guess today was a bit of a baby-moon.  I feel so relaxed.