A yellow day in bargain world ...

 

BARGAIN GIRL: Are you having a good day today?

ME: Yeah, it's going pretty well.

BARGAIN GIRL: Yellow!

ME: ....................................

Superfluous, the superhero nobody needs

Ferret Valentines

Miss Cackle got many hugs - and even some Valentine's Day cards - today from her band of beautiful Ferrets. They ate cookies and did colouring in, and sangs songs, and Miss Cackle's lovely colleague got some very lovely and flattering footage of Miss Cackle rolling around of the ground being a bunny rabbit. Miss Cackle's colleague has been banned from using Youtube until Miss Cackle has the footage saved in her own passworded folder.

(Actually, Miss Cackle wasn't TOO embarrassed. She had fun being a bunny.)

Miss Cackle thinks that, no matter what anybody says about Valentine's Day, the Ferrets love it, and any day which has the sole purpose of promoting love and chocolate and hugs can't be a bad thing. So There to the bah humbugs and go and find somebody to hug. Even if it is your dog, like Kevin in Sometimes Love is Under Your Foot (which is one of the books Miss Cackle and the Ferrets read today). Your dog could probably do with a hug. And, when his tail starts to go all fwip fwip like Earl in Wag (another book we read ...), you just try and keep the love from your heart!

Love, Miss Cackle xxxx

My Best Cousin's Wedding

I have seven Best Cousins. Their names are Ben, James, Emma, Peta, Grant, Warwick and Jacqui. Jacqui is the eldest, the blondest, the sportiest, the smiliest and the sweetest. And she is the second of the cousins to ditch the Lovell/Hasler family name and get her bride on.

I was the first. I became a Half-Gordon four years ago, and I think my new family is just the bee's knees.

But the wedding of Best Cousin Jacqui reminded me I am still deeply, fervently, and crazily Lovell at heart.

Some reasons why I love the Lovells:

1. The bride wore thongs. With a long, satin, fishtail dress. She looked completely awesome.
2. The bridesmaids of the bride were girls she's been friends with since forever. 
3. The "ballons". The "ballons" were both indescribable (i.e. it's a long and very quirky story that would take a whole other blog post), and AWESOME.
4. My Dad was asked to talk during the ceremony. He made us all cry.
5. The Father of the bride yelled "Here's looking at you, kid," in the middle of the ceremony.
6. The beach wedding attracted a "peanut gallery", who sat around drinking beer while watching the ceremony. Instead of asking them to leave, Best Cousin Jacqui went up and said G'day to them.
7. The groomsmen thanked my cousin Warwick for introducing Darren to Warwick's "smoking-hot" sister. He repeated this description several times. This was made even funnier because my step-pop thought the whole time that he was calling Jacqui Warwick's "smoking pot" sister.
8. The same step-pop was scandalised when the song "Play that funky music white boy" was played because he thought the words were actually "play that f***ing music, white boy". You kids today and the music you listen to ...
9. My Nan got tipsy on alcopops.
10. My Dad and I did our patented "silly dance" (a mix between Mick Jagger, Peter Garrett, 80's interpretive dance, Christopher Walken and a good, old-fashioned Dad-dance), to "Hooked on a feeling".
11. My Dad's partner, Leigh, doing "sitting-down-dances" involving many funky hand-movements, because she's just had her knee reconstructed. She cut moved nobody knew were even possible without the use of your legs. 
12. The flower girl cutting a rug, Riverdance-style, to "Give You Hell", by the All-American Rejects.
13. Watching how excited my Nan got about blowing bubbles
14. Watching how excited my 16-year-old Best Cousin Emma got about DRINKING bubbles, and listening to her Mum, Debbie saying: "Well, okay, but don't let your Dad catch you".
15. The look on my Best Cousin Ben's face when the Bear told him he was neither a Boags OR a Cascade man. Total and utter shock and confusion!
16. My Best Cousin Peta and I exchanging many looks of shock and confusion as the Bear and the Troy (Peta's Best Boyfriend), talked about X Box games. For a very. long. time.
17. There were pink galahs everywhere. Now, I know the pink galahs were not members of my family, but it kind of felt like the universe had summoned them, especially for us - fat and pink and happy and somehow made of magic.
18. Eating. Drinking. Dancing. Laughing. And just being kooky, crazy, kind and cuddly Lovells.

There is nothing better than family. And mine is the Best there is!

Bargain Girl

Bargain Shop Girl

(a puppy)

Think I may need to start a whole section on the blog for quotes from the girl who works in the Bargain Shop next door. She's a little bit creep, a little bit kooky, and I haven't quite worked out whether she is altogether ooky, but she is definitely odd and possibly an alien.

Yesterday, fresh from her "I wish they would move that basket of purple chickens away from there. I keep thinking it's a puppy," comment, Bargain Shop Girl came up with this doozy: "That lady before you; I came up with this idea in my head about this story that she might be a top secret special agent and she's in here on a secret mission. It's a very exciting story. I excite myself."

I looked out the door at the lady she was talking about. She was a middle-aged woman in a tracksuit who had just bought a mop and a tin of Beatrix Potter biscuits. I turned back to Bargain Shop Girl.

"It's possible," I said.

"I hope you enjoy your thing," said the girl.

I still don't know what my "thing" is.

I am just eagerly awaiting the next episode in the life of Bargain Shop Girl.

Bear flies high ...

My new favourite thing:

When I am down, or dark blue, or even slightly ... cottonflowerish or baby blue or EVEN mean red, I have found my new favourite thing to do is go an get a copy of Bear in the Cave or Bear Flies High, by Michael Rosen, from the shelf. 

I read it (out loud, of course, but in a whispered voice so my coworkers don't think I'm berko - the little tackers in the bookynook already KNOW I am ...), to achieve the full wonder of the 'Do bee doo. Do bee doo. Do bee doodily doo's.' and then, for the rest of the day, I annoy anyone who comes near me by saying: 'I'm a Kate all alone. All alone? All alone. And I sing to myself all day. Do bee doo. Do bee doo. Do bee doodily doo.' 'I'm sell books. Sell books? Sell books. And I sing to myself all day. Do bee doo. Do bee doo. Do bee doodily doo.' ...

And it makes me sublimely happy.

Try it. Trust me, it works wonders!