Friday 23 October 2009

Loosening My Jeans...

I'm celebrating today.  I'm celebrating with foods I want to eat, but shouldn't, 'cos if there's one day you should be allowed to do this, it is that one special day a year, right?  Let's see ... a bowl of French Fries with tomatoe sauce.  Creamy vanilla ice cream with raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and loganberries.  (Times two helpings of berries).  M & M peanuts by the handful. A coke float. Steak, egg and chips.  And more coke.

Totally gorged.

It's hard staying awake for the DVDs. 

I've got to behave myself this year.  I know I should....

Tuesday 20 October 2009

Dough Girl

My first day at the commercial bakery today.  I had to report to Ray from Slicing. My job was to pack two million and forty six (??) loaves of bread into towers of bread pallets for dispatch around three states of Australia.  Each pallet held ten loaves which were stacked ten pallets high, two stacks per dolly.  In simpler terms, 200 loaves per load.

Because I am a Machinist's wife, I find most machinery fascinating. I don't understand the mechanical parts  or the technalities, nor do I care to, but watching How Things Work is always interesting to me. Including old bakery equipment.

Morning runs of bread included Multigrain, High Fibre, Wholemeal et al and the pace was pretty fast.  By the afternoon, the factory was almost 40 degrees and I was feeling pretty doughy myself - especially when Ray switched on the White bread run, which came hurtling down the conveyor belt at even greater speeds. It seems that most folk still prefer their white breads.

I am certainly not a shirker, but can honestly say - today's 7 hour shift was the hardest work I've ever done. It's 11pm and only now am I cooling down.  I ache from head to toe.  I don't know if I can do this.

Tomorrow, I have a shift at the hotel. That's somewhat relieving.  Nice and close to home. 

And the Machinist.  Gotta love coffee breaks with the Machinist!

Interest In Pies

The other day, all geared out in chef's uniform, I was filling in my time sheet, head down, totally focussing on dates, hours started and finished, total hours etc, when I heard a chap's voice enquiring about the local pie shop.

"What do you know about The Daily Pie?", he asked the barman.  "Every time we pass through town, I can see that progress has been made on the building, and there is a sign saying 'Opening Soon', but it's still not open.  When do you think it will open?"

The barman went into dumb-mute mode (he's a lovely chap), looked over at me and replied "You'd better ask the chef".

Now the delayed opening date of our pie shop is a tender, emotional subject and I know and understand that the locals are wondering and becoming impatient.  I cannot blame them for this.  For a split second, my heart was heavy and I had no idea how to respond without going into a Great Explaination and 101 Reasons Why The Pie Shop Isn't Open Yet, but I refrained, lifted my head, looked the guest directly in the eyes and said "Good help is hard to find these days, especially in a small town like ours".

And thus, the awkward-ness dissipated with laughter, and that familiar nod of understanding...

Oftentimes, less is MORE.

Monday 19 October 2009

It's Off to Work I Go!

I've been job hunting.

Work has been merely trickling into our Workshop, and it seems that the (alleged) economic state of affairs has caused many to fear,  and thereby - cease ordering. 

Our children have been job hunting, too.  It is a bitter-sweet time.  Bitter because after 21 years of self employment, I am back in the workforce, along with the children, and the cosy, secure life we all grew to love and depend on - a life working from home, albeit fugacious, has been interrupted. 

For now, anyway.

"Keep your eyes on the prize", I remind them.  (The prize being our Pie Shop).

'Tis a sweet time, because in hardship, there is a newfound bonding.  Oh, and laughter still lives here. In large doses.

"I'll be the stay-at-home-dad", the Machinist teases.  "Only there'll be nobody at home but me". 

Work on the Shop building is still of paramount importance, but there are a number of modifications to be made which require two or more pairs of hands and that is difficult, seeing as those pairs of hands are busy helping (and earning) elsewhere. Shift work, both in the workforce, at home, and the Shop is the order of the day.

I will continue to cook at the local hotel and when required, also work at a bakery in town. How appropriate is that!

CATERPILLARS & KEEPING IT REAL

 Table talk amongst our children is and always has been, -  a rabbit warren . We start off in one hole and end up in another -  quick smart....