Anyone for coffee? ... hang on, need to go on a course first!

NEVER thought I'd hear myself say this but ..."Thank heaven for rain." Not so much for the environmental and ecological issues for the country ... but so I can get on with my ironing.

Yes, I do have all day to myself these days while the boys are at school and husband is at work but when it's so nice outside who wants to be attached to a hot steamy thing for hours on end??

So while the colourful expanse of fabrics on the living room floor outgrows its linen basket home and grows further, I continue to accept invitations from my newfound friends to frequent the local wineries to sample their cheese platters and Chardonnay. What's the point of being in the heart of wine country when you can't get around and sample their wares?

I keep explaining to disgruntled other half that it's all in the name of PR. When our flocks of visitors come over and ask us for somewhere to go, I need to be armed with the information they want to hear. And for that, homework and research needs to be done in copious amounts (do you think he'll fall for THAT???)

So while he continues to leave the house at 4.30am to earn a crust, I grab another three hours of beauty sleep and wake to thoughts of how to fill my day. I always imagined I'd get bored being a housewife but I'm absolutely loving it. Although I am due an interview with the jobseekers company we signed up with when we first arrived.

Having been registered with them for 10 weeks, they offer an appointment to help with job applications and interview techniques. I didn't have the heart to tell them that I've only been seeking work for the past week or two, with half opened eyes casting over intermittent sits-vac newspaper columns. I came out here with a view of trying something new, be it bar work or supermarket shelf stacking.

But as time goes on, I'm discovering that to work in a bar you need to pass a college course on serving alcohol and there's even a licence required for making public coffee. $100 for a couple of hours on a course learning how to make a cappucino? Sounds outrageous but if that's what the public wants, that's what the public gets.

Maybe there's a certain way on how to froth up the foam or even shake the chocolate powder onto the finished work of art?

Whatever happened to learning on the job?