The Super Saturday Sausage Sizzle...

1470 sausage sizzles across the land today...

...'without sausages there can be no democracy...'

That's it! Across the land, except in the Western States, the sausage sizzles are over, the last snag has been cooked, and all that remains is the counting...

'How did it go?' I asked a friend working at a local Polling Station for today's Australian General Election.

'We sold hundreds of sausages, our best one yet.'...
'No. Not the sausages! The day?'
'Oh that was good, without a hitch....'

Lucky them. This is not exactly how my daughter would describe it where we went.. I tried to take a photo to show you, and had the Polling Station Official tap me on the shoulder...

'Excuse me, I'll have to ask you to put your camera away, no photos are allowed, in case you inadvertently take an image of someones ballot form'

Daughter Number two disowned me there and then.

'Are you two together?' The next official asked

'Yes,' 'No' we responded in unison.

Oh, Rats! And I'd thought it would be such a lovely family bonding moment shared together. Our first time voting at an Australian Election since we'd become Aussie Citizens and she'd come of age.... Together we could have enjoyed a celebratory sausage, this moment so much more than the voting in of our next Australian Government...

Photo courtesy of AEC website

We're in separate cardboard booths at different ends of the room. I managed with the House of Representatives ballot paper for our local candidate. It was fairly straight forward. I need to give all eight candidates a number between 1- 8, otherwise none of it counts. Tick

Now, the Senate ballot paper is a whole different matter. I'm handed a white sheet the length of an unfurled toilet roll. I kid you not if I stretched my arms wide open holding one end in each, the paper would not be taut. I have two choices. I can choose one party above the line, or vote below the line for specific candidates. However this comes with an inherent risk, if I read all this and attempt a below the line vote, all the sausages could be gone...

Looking over my shoulder, daughter Number Two, with a partially completed Commerce degree, has completed her form having done her voting homework prior to arriving, and is smugly heading for the door.

All of a fluster, I sense I'm losing the moment amidst a sea of names.... The door opens and in walks our local Member of Parliament along with quite a gaggle of paparazzi, all clicking away with the most enormous cameras...

'Double standards' I mutter...as I smile posing next to him for a photo

Hours later I emerge blinking in the bright sunlight... daughter Number Two has already legged it.

'Excuse me, where's the sausage sizzle?'

'Oh sorry, we don't have one, we have a cake stall and we have lots of sushi'.

I love that Australia is soooo multi-cultural but to quote Kevin Rudd (soon to be the Ex Prime Minister of Australia) give me 'a fair shake of the sauce bottle' I need a snag (sausage) after all that effort!!!

The great Aussie sausage sizzle is a great Australian event. Every weekend sports clubs use the opportunity to raise some funds by barbecuing sausages on portable gas BBQ's. The sausage is usually offered in white bread (brown, if your lucky) and in a roll, if they're trying to be posh. Often it is accompanied by chopped onions and there is a choice of tomato sauce or sometimes brown sauce.

But today we choose the wrong polling station. We later find out here is a whole website dedicated to showing the facilities at your local polling place - sausage sizzle, cake stall and/or arts and crafts stall.

I buy up big at the cake stall, and head home.

Daughter Number One arrives home from her job working at the canteen our soccer club with a huge plate of cooked sausages. The crazy poodle goes ballistic and given the number of sausages we've got, he scores a small treat...

'There were loads of sausages left over today, everyone said they'd already eaten them when they went to vote!'

Not, where we were!

Oh, well I do have a lovely Gingerbread cake for tea...

All typos for the pleasure of those who enjoy finding!

Autumn Spice and everything nice!

Hey, what ever happened to Summer? I hope yours was lovely, mine was pretty amazing! It feels like my whole year has whizzed past in a flash, how about yours? I've had a year of saying "yes" to everything offered to me. It has been exciting to put it out to the Universe to see where I should be. We feel very fortunate to be able to do this in my husband's early years of retirement. I'm just back in Asia from the US. I never feel my year is quite right without seeing British daffodils in the Spring and a pumpkin and the leaves turning in Autumn. Yay, the world nailed it this year, thank you. Read on to find out what happened when my ultimate yes occurred on a trip to Montana to meet Ruth, an IG friend. I know Bloggers will smile and not be at all concerned, we've been meeting up around the globe for years, haven't we...?! But let's just say some of my family and friends were, you're doing what?! But first some Little Wren updates! France I had so

Taipei Adventures, naked - moi?!

I have to tell you all about my little adventure in Taipei recently, naked at the Hot Springs! I can't believe that I have never been to Taiwan, I certainly urge you all to go if you ever get the chance. For me, I loved the combination of influences of two countries I enjoy. Street views from Downtown Taipei The Chinese left some interesting historical influences and stunning architecture, which combined with a Japanese legacy and efficiency in transportation, makes Taipei an easy place to visit, with so much to see. Nowadays, Taiwan has emerged as a thoroughly modern city, I loved my time there. It felt exotic and safe until I had to get my kit off. It was a spur of the moment decisions to join my husband on his Taiwanese business trip, prompted by the delay in the arrival of our furniture into Bangkok, and ‘no room at the inn’ where we had been staying. Given that I’m commitment and fancy-free in Thailand; there’s no job, no kids, no dog and absolutely nothing in

It's a funny old world!

Welcome to Racha Island Hello everyone and greetings from Phuket, Thailand THAILAND THOUGHTS Thailand where we have now reopened the country and are ready to welcome international fully vaccinated arrivals without quarantine to our beautiful island. For all the details check out Phuket Sandbox: Would you, should you, could you? This month another southern island Koh Samui followed along. There are slightly different arrangements with guests to stay within their arrival hotel for three days before supplying a negative Covid test. This gives freedom to roam the island, after 7 days, visitors can also visit the islands of Koh Phangan and Koh Tao. For all the details check out: Welcome back to Thailand via Koh Samui plus All this as Thailand records the highest Covid numbers and death rates ever recorded and stricter measures have been released across the worst affected Provinces. There is a plan for more of the country to open and the idea was for Thailand to fully reopen to vaccinat

Little Wandering Wren …. chats!

Search This Blog