Monthly Archives: October 2007

Another three words to strike fear – ‘Do It Yourself’

Posted by Wendy on October 25, 2007 No comments

I blame the recent trend in DIY shows for putting a lot of crazy ideas into the brains of our menfolk; DIY is an expertise that you can either do or you cannot. My Dad fell into the latter category, not that it mattered to him.

My father was a very house proud man and used to get these brainstorms which saw him take quite a good idea but then completely bollocks-up the entire thing. Because he refused to call in an expert and he refused to take any advice. Dad’s efforts to install outdoor lighting once resulted in our house being blown nearly skyhigh when the electric cabling he ran from the patio outside to inside the house took a lightening strike. The sound of the ‘bang’ caused neighbours within a radius of two km’s to call us frantically as the ‘flash’ from behind our home was seen for miles.

Dad once decided he would like an indoor fireplace – not a real necessity in an Australian home due to the fact that it does not get cold enough in winter – but as usual, once he got the idea that was it. But why bother to install a proper stylish fireplace and hearth when the old hibachi out the backyard would do the job fine?. So in it came, this small portable BBQ thing, and he arranged it on a pile of bricks right in the centre of the lounderoom on Mum’s polished wooden floor so that it stood about three foot high. Ignoring Mum’s protests he lit it. Yes it gave off a certain amount of warmth, but within 20 minutes it had also created a circle of black charred floor underneath with melting floor wax to add to the sight. We never got rid of that mark so a new rug was purchased. The hibachi returned to it’s place outside and the old hecla 2 bar heater resumed it’s original purpose.

Dad was also into home-brewing; not just beer but ginger beer. I won’t relate all the details of that venture here but I will say that Mum needed a new fridge anyway so the bottles of fermenting liquid exploding one by one just proved a good excuse.

Copyright © 2007-2012 Cultured Views. All rights reserved.

Developments in surgery for women

Posted by Wendy on October 25, 2007 No comments

There was a time not too long ago when us females had quite a rough time of it whenever we had to undergo certain medical procedures in hospital. ‘Intimate’ types of surgery required long stays in hospital and left us with abdominal scarring and the feeling of not feeling ‘quite right’ for many weeks on end. Those days are far behind us.

In recent years huge advances have been made in areas such Urogynecology with the development of the gynecologic laparoscopy procedure. This, in effect, means that when undergoing major abdominal surgery most procedures are now performed with the use of key-hole surgery. Instead of a huge incision and many stitches, the surgeon makes a small incision and carries out the procedure with the minimal amount of invasion. This is great news for women everywhere as it means less discomfort afterwards, risk of infection is controlled and a much quicker recovery in the post surgical period.

Copyright © 2007-2012 Cultured Views. All rights reserved.

Goodbye summer

Posted by Wendy on October 25, 2007 No comments

As we settle into the colder weather here in the UK and Europe, back in Australia the population are casting off the excess clothing as summer edges it’s way in.  Well, when I say ‘excess clothing’ I mean jeans, jumpers and the like because Australian winters don’t really run to the freezing conditions that Europe and the UK does.

In the schools as well the kids will be moving into summer uniforms which always mean’t something when I was in high school back there…shorter hems!.

As I went to a catholic girls college there were strict rules governing the subject of hemlines on our uniforms and the nuns often went to extremes to enforce them. Not all the nuns though…just a dedicated few. We girls liked our summer uniform dresses short and we knew just how far up the hem could go before it attracted the eye of one of these nuns. And it wasn’t very far I mught add.

Our headmistress, Sr Noela, used to carry a ruler around in her pocket and did playground inspections on a regular basis. She would wander around, and if she saw a girl whose dress had too much space between the top of her knee and the edge of the hem, she would make her kneel on the ground and get out the old ruler. She would measure the offending ‘gap’ and whip out a razor which she would use to cut the stitching on the hemline. You’d be left walking around with a horrid two inch of raw hemline hanging down over the top of your knee.  This happened to me several times. Next day, of course, you’d be back at school with hemline as it was originally, but you’d just stay out of her way for a good while.

I still have my old school uniform dress from my last year there; it is covered in signatures from my very last day at school aged 16. I know some women like to keep tabs on their weight by trying on their wedding dress now and then, and I know it is quite tragic to do the same with your old school uniform, but yep, I have done it. Actually about five years ago it went on ok albeit I must have grown taller after I left school so it was rather short. Sister Noela and her razor came straight to mind.

And no, I haven’t tried it since.

Copyright © 2007-2012 Cultured Views. All rights reserved.