May 2014

Our New Red Jura Angel One of the great challenges living in a ground floor apartment in the tropics is coming face-to-face with local wildlife. Giant cockroaches, ants and flying bugs is common on any floor, as are geckoes – we like geckoes. Snakes are a little rarer and we’ve had the delight of one snake pop in for a visit. While I wasn’t home to deal with the excitement, the story goes that everyone shat themselves. We also had one rat not long after we moved in last August. The little bugger ran down my body during the night, which got a super dooper screech out of me at 3am in the morning, let me tell you!  Steve never went back to sleep after that. I did. We think the early rat disappeared and another has moved into the kitchen. The evidence of rat activity is startling. Every morning something has been munched, but do you think we can find the bloody rat? Not at all and Vick is on the case – let me tell you when Vick is on the case, no wildlife gets out of this house alive! She’s a serious woman. But we have a backup plan too and we signed Rentokil to help us out. These useless chaps have not solved anything, culminating in delivering sticky traps, which mean one thing – rats running around the apartment with sticky goo on their bodies, making sure said goo goes everywhere! Impossible to get off. We are not getting a return on that investment…. However things escalated this week, when we were all set up to make a coffee and the machine didn’t work. Vick then told us she’d found rat pooh in the coffee machine the day before, and upon further investigation, there was more rat pooh in the machine. But it got worse. The bloody thing had bitten into one of the plastic containers, which meant it didn’t align in the machine anymore, so the machine didn’t recognize the container and that meant the machine didn’t work, which meant no coffee. Catastrophe!! The Steve/Vick Mousetrap Solution… But it gets better. To top it off, the rat was still in there! It’s made our coffee machine home, and that has started a new mission. See above the picture of our coffee machine with a giant Disney bag attached? That is the genius mousetrap solution Steve and Vick came up with – they’ve sealed the entire machine – and the bag is meant to catch the rat when it comes out hunting for food. Ummm… I was a little perplexed with the thinking. Surely if the rat could munch into solid plastic and do some serious damage on the actual machine, a plastic bag wasn’t going to be much of an obstacle? The next morning my thinking proved correct, as a giant hole in the plastic bag was revealed, as well as some munched up bananas. But the rat didn’t run for the hills – it returned to the coffee machine and it’s still there. Steve was determined to get the rat out, and he even arranged for the coffee machine repair guys to come and fix the machine in expectation of rat eviction success. HOWEVER I’m like babe, I don’t give a crap if they can fix everything that needs to be fixed in this machine, a RAT HAS LIVED IN IT FOR A FEW DAYS AND I’M NEVER GOING TO DRINK COFFEE FROM IT AGAIN!! Would you? Boy he resisted. Our beautiful Jura has served us faithfully for nearly a decade and we have always loved it. But bless him, I believe Steve has an emotional attachment to it because I bought it for him as a gift all those years ago. Thus the idea of replacing it just hurt his heart a little. We replaced it though. We were always going to replace it. So if you’re planning to visit, you can definitely expect a loving coffee when you wake up, because don’t you worry, the coffee will always be flowing at our place. And you know what, it gets better, this time we got a RED Jura!!   The bloody rat is still in the old coffee machine though. Vick will not give up until the bugger is dead. I’ve moved on and I don’t care what happens now, as long as it doesn’t move into the new Jura. That would definitely piss me off. Yours, without the bollocks Andrea

My friends, I wanted to share a really remarkable moment for two of my great friends Duncan and Lee Ann McKee. Nine years ago, they launched STIX, Motivation Through Music. I was present at their very first corporate gig, and it was an amazing experience. Nearly 100 people, coming together, playing Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” with nothing more than a couple of plastic tubes. It was a special moment for everyone in the room. Lee Ann and Duncan in Action The specialness of the moment wasn’t just because I was witnessing two great people launching a dream, it was also because the majority of this group had never played a musical instrument in their lives. Yet here they were, playing a symphony. It was remarkable Roll the clock forward nearly a decade and STIX has been a great success. They work with the biggest brands all over the world, sharing their special message and motivation. In fact, if you’ve got a corporate meeting coming up, keep them in mind. But they’re not the kind of people to be idle, so they’ve been busy creating something else. For the last two years, they’ve focused on moving this skill beyond business, because they believe everyone can play music – young or old. But it’s not just about the music for Lee Ann and Duncan, they also have a strong desire to make a meaningful contribution in the world – both socially and environmentally. And that’s where Bambajam comes in. Duncan and Lee Ann created Bambajam so we can all experience the joy of playing music together. Many people miss out on music in their younger years, so being able to play later in life often feels like an impossible dream. Well it isn’t. Duncan has worked hard to create a musical notation system anyone can learn to read (see below – very colorful for the kids), and the Bambajam instrument can be played as separate tubes or with a small group of people sitting around the instrument together as a xylophone. This means everyone in a school CAN have an instrument to play. Can you see it in impoverished schools? I can. The top section is Duncan’s music – you can read that! I was lucky to grow up in a family devoted to music, but many do not have the opportunity. However, learning music isn’t just about exploring a new skill. All research in this area indicates that kids who have creative outlets – especially music – perform better across the board. In Asia, with academic success such a high priority, this is a key strength for Bambajam. Not to mention, the kids will be happier! A wonderful part of this story is its sustainability message. The Bambajam tubes (or xylophone) has been handcrafted and sourced from renewable bamboo in partnership with the East Bali Poverty Project. Lee Ann and Duncan are absolutely committed to ensuring the instrument is sustainable and ethical as well. As such, the East Bali Poverty Project are sourcing the bamboo and you can read more about this great organization here. Bamboo reforestation is critical for both sustainable social and economic development in this community. Therefore, by supporting Bambajam, you really can make a difference. How can you help? In the last week, Lee Ann and Duncan have launched an Indegogo crowd funding program and I urge you to check it out, make a donation, plant a bamboo, or better yet, buy the instrument. I think our order is already in, right Steve? Additionally: If you know someone in teaching, tell them about Bambajam. For a small investment, a classroom can play a symphony If you are a parent, buy one of these beautiful instruments, even if you’ve never played music yourself. You’ll be amazed how quickly you are playing a symphony with your family, or maybe some jazz, or a nursery rhyme – there’s lots of music to choose from Or just make a small donation to help them out or pay a small fee to plant some bamboo and help the wonderful people living in the mountains of Bali There are lots of ways you can participate – check out the right hand side of the Webpage here for ideas. I’m just thrilled to see two great people making such a beautiful impact on the community they live in, as well as sharing a new way for all of us to learn music. But we’ve got to help them out because…. Bambajam is the real deal. It’s created by two people with a wonderful, meaningful dream who are now delivering this to the world. It’s a business built from passion and it can change the world. It’s giving jobs to people who need them. It’s making a positive environmental contribution. It can get everyone playing music, no matter the skills or experience. But most importantly, it’s a business built from the heart. That alone is worth supporting. Who’s going to join me and give two social entrepreneurs a leg up on their awesome business? Thanks in advance if you decide to help them out. Cheers Andrea

 So we’ve finally got some pussy cats. It’s been a long time coming – 20 years for me personally, and I must admit I’ve missed having a cat every single one of those 7,300 days. I’m a cat person, but it’s impossible to have pets when you have a tendency to move countries on a regular basis. It’s just not fair on them. And of course, I believe it’s important for kids to have animals – they teach them so much – so after making the boys a promise we’d get cats, I’ve been nagged ever since. A promise is a promise. Bedtime loving… Our new family members are divine. A long-legged Munchkin called Riddick and a fluffy, cuddly Ragdoll called Luther. The sheer joy these little buggers immediately brought into our home has been something special. Animals really are one of life’s true joys. But see, here’s my problem. The boys are still young enough (at six and seven) not to have any real concept of death. Lex is starting to understand it, but the idea of an end of physical existence is not something they’ve grasped or been exposed to. That is not a bad thing of course. Many children around the world do not have the luxury of innocence. Butter wouldn’t melt As such, they’re swinging the cats around like bloody toys, and every moment I see them doing this, my heart skips a beat as I worry about the physical and emotional well-being of these cuties. Poor little buggers, but then again, I’m amazed at the flexibility of their bodies – thank god! The other challenge it’s brought is we’re always yelling at the boys to stop doing whatever they’re doing. For example, just now, I asked them to PLEASE STOP pretending to be doggies barking at the cats, because the cats are getting scared. Or PLEASE be kind, PLEASE stop flushing the cats in the toilet, and no they don’t like being thrown in the air, and no they don’t like being pulled out from underneath something (because they’re bloody hiding to escape you) by their tail, etc… And then I’ll experience moments when they’ll both be kissing and cuddling the cats, or going off to sleep with the kittens curled up beside them, or chilling while watching TV together. It’s a relief to have these moments of beauty. However, in the chaos of their rough and tumble play, it’s struck something deep inside me. The idea that my kids can be cruel is abhorrent to me. While I know in my heart of hearts that this is not a long-term possibility, it’s hard for this Mumma to watch. Equally, I understand that the boys do not understand the consequences of this play or how fragile these babies really are. Obviously my greatest concern is that one of those consequences is death. That’s one way they’ll learn about it I suppose… Then again, if it happens, I know my sensitive little lads will be devastated!!! Note Mum’s Ugg Boots I tried explaining what death could mean to Jax one night this week. I just needed him to understand that throwing a cat into a glass door was not a good idea and could kill it. Our chat didn’t go down very well. He sobbed and sobbed and sobbed… great work Mumma! But I want them to understand consequences before something heartbreaking does happen, because I think I need to protect them too. My boys would be inconsolable if they hurt the cats. Our new family members are not an easy experience for Mum and Dad at the moment – bloody hell, kittens and kids together – do we have rocks in our heads? But with them both circling my feet as I write, begging for attention, purring their joy at my company, I sure am happy to have cats in my life again. They’ve just got to survive the boys’ attention. But they survived their first week, so fingers crossed they’ll survive ‘til old age. Anyone else have to deal with rambunctious children and family pets? Yours, without the bollocks Andrea