Two Years in Adelaide

Next week marks the second anniversary of our new life here in Adelaide.  I can't believe how the time has flown.

I still feel like a newcomer in many ways, I expect because Adelaide still feels fresh - I haven't started to take it for granted yet.  And there are so many places in South Australia that we have yet to visit.

A few days Rhonda from Down to Earth wrote about blooming wherever we are planted.  I think she makes some excellent points.  The secret to a satisfying life seems to be embracing whatever circumstances life throws at us and not just making the best of things, but choosing to thrive.

Some of the things that I am grateful for in Adelaide are:

• four beautiful, healthy children who have learnt much about resilience and turning strangers into friends
• a church community that immediately made us feel at home
• wonderful friends who have welcomed us into their lives
• our new house which strikes me anew with her beauty every day
• a garden which I am slowly turning into my own, which will one day be full of fruit trees and roses and vegetables and herbs, and hopefully even a few chooks.

“Home is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to, in the strongest conjuration.”

 

 Charles Dickens

A Productive Day

I just love Fridays. Friday is the only weekday that I don't go to work.

I start the day by walking my youngest son to school and helping out in his first-grade classroom, before heading off to a cafe with a couple of the other mums.  Then the rest of the day stretches out before me like a holiday.

Today I decided to give a good clean to as much of the house as I could manage during school hours.

I scrubbed the bathrooms,

and hung washing before folding it,

and gave the kitchen a really good clean.

I also cleaned the laundry and mopped the floors.  The bedrooms still need work but the family can help with them.

Now to enjoy the weekend!

Stinger Suit

This surely is a photo destined to be brought out at an 18th or 21st birthday party one day.  Isn't he cute!

During our recent trip to Queensland we went on a day trip to the outer reef of the Great Barrier Reef.  Those planning to snorkel were offered these 'stinger suits' to protect against box jellyfish stings.

This photo of my youngest son was taken by my American friend Cheryl and I stole it from her Facebook page.  I hope she doesn't mind.

As you can see, the suits leave very little to the imagination. Be thankful that I am not choosing to share any images of myself dressed in one!

Excited About Seeds

Now that the days are growing longer I am getting super-excited about my spring vegetable garden.  I can hardly wait to have tomatoes and sweetcorn and peppers and cucumbers waiting to be picked just outside my back door.   This will be my first vegie patch since we moved to Adelaide and my fingers are very, very itchy to get working.

Unfortunately, it's far too early to plant summer vegies but I can still think, plan and dream.

I can also keenly watch the growth of the things I have already planted: broccoli and onions, garlic, broadbeans, radishes, cos lettuces and silverbeet (Swiss chard).  On the weekend I even planted out a few early potatoes under compost and straw.

By the way, is it 'veggie' or 'vegie'?

I always thought the latter spelling was correct until I saw the kids' TV show Veggie Tales, and now I alternate between the two - which is traumatic for a spelling pedant such as myself.

Do you grow your own vegetables?  If so, what kinds?

Sea Fever

 Palm Cove July 2010 

This post is dedicated to my mum, who used to quote 'Sea Fever' to me when I was a little girl.

Sea Fever

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.


I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.


I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

by John Masefield, 1902

Egg Carton Seedling Trays

Rather than starting seedlings in commercial peat pots or plastic seedling trays, a cheaper alternative is to use cardboard egg cartons.  Once your seedlings are big enough, you can cut the cartons up and plant them straight into the ground, which will reduce transplantation shock.  Eventually the cardboard will break down, leaving you with healthy, strong plants.

In a month or two, when the weather warms up, I'll be planting my tomato seeds in egg cartons - it's much less expensive than buying tomato seedlings.  This method also reduces plastic waste as commercial seedlings inevitably come in plastic seedling trays.

The seedlings in today's photo are baby cos lettuces from my winter veggie garden.  As they needed thinning, I dug some up and put them in an egg carton to give to my friend Lisa.  She's just starting her veggie patch.

Orange and Apple Jam

I was looking for a way to use some of the oranges on our orange tree when I found a recipe for Orange and Apple Jam in a Country Women's Association cookbook.

I had never thought to cook oranges and apples together to make jam until I saw this recipe, but since I had a good supply of Granny Smith apples in the fridge, I thought it was worth a try.  The reason for the apples, I imagine, is to provide pectin to help the jam to set, as the oranges dominate in the finished product.

First published in1937, the cookbook assumes that you will know to peel, core and slice the apples before cooking them. I love the minimalism of very old cookbooks, although it's sometimes not very helpful!

Orange and Apple Jam

3 large oranges, 3 Granny Smith apples, 2.7kg (12 1/4 C) sugar

Cut the oranges and soak for 36 hours in 2.75 litres (11 cups) water.  Put in a saucepan with the apples and boil until tender.  Add the sugar and boil for about 30 minutes, or until it jellies.

From The Country Women's Association Cookbook: Seventy Years in the Kitchen, (reprinted in 2009).

After School

When I looked around me after school today I could see my 11 year old with his feet in the air reading a Horrible History book about the Normans.  My seven year old was snuggled up under a quilt with his older sister and he was reading to her.  My eldest boy was at the table doing homework.

I looked at them all, happy and peaceful, and thought that this is exactly how I wish all our afternoons could be: happy and busy and calm and industrious.

A Lazy Day

Today I woke up feeling lazy.  Too lazy to get up.  My bed was warm and cosy and rain was drumming on the roof.

My husband made me breakfast in bed, although I got up to eat it.  There were soft-boiled eggs and buttered toast, toast with raspberry jam and freshly-squeezed orange juice made from oranges from our tree.  He followed up with a cup of freshly-ground coffee.  What a sweetheart!

I did go for an hour-long walk in the afternoon, despite the toe-numbing cold, so I suppose I redeemed myself a bit.

Can you believe that we've lived in this house for three and a half months already?  I can't.  I have a list of things to get for the house that I haven't done anything about.  All in good time, I guess.  I still don't know the best places to go in Adelaide for good deals on furniture, either second-hand or new.

However, furniture shopping can wait until I feel more energetic.  Maybe in the spring.

Managing a Holiday Budget

Holidays give us some of our happiest memories, yet they can also be very, very expensive.  Many of us suffer from holiday credit card bills long after the event.  Yet there are many ways to make going on vacation more financially manageable.

 

Decide what your priorities are: What do you enjoy doing on holiday?  Are you hoping for luxury accommodation or is that unimportant?  Are you focusing on activities suitable for young children, or maybe teens?  Do you plan to eat out or are you hoping to self-cater?  These are just some of the questions you might consider before choosing a venue and accommodation.

Plan ahead:  Research things you would like to do online or by visiting a travel agent.  Make a rough list of likely expenses and start setting aside funds.  

 

Learn about your destination: Check weather reports in the weeks before you travel so that you are well-equipped with appropriate clothing, sunscreen, etc., and aren't forced to pay exorbitant prices at the other end.  Will you have a car?  If not, is there a grocery store withing walking distance?  Will you have access to a kitchen?  A cot? A highchair?  Will you need to provide or hire bedlinen? 

Pay ahead as much as possible:  If you can pay for accommodation one month, for example, and airfares a month or two later, well before you make your trip, you are less likely to feel burdened by holiday costs.

Expect to need some splurge money:  Holidays are meant to be fun, and should have some spontaneity.  Have some funds available so that you can eat out on a whim, or take an extra tour, or buy souvenirs, or whatever else takes your fancy.

Do you have any other suggestions on how to manage a holiday budget?  Please leave a comment?

A Pain in the Neck

Today my neck is very stiff and sore.  I think it's the result of sleeping badly and returning to work this week where I work on a computer all day long.  Tonight I am going to bed with a hot water bottle.  If I am nice to my children and husband someone might give me a massage too.

My daughter has a friend for a sleepover tonight.  I wanted to cook a special meal but discovered that my kids seem to have eaten most of the food, so we ended up eating pasta with a chicken and vegetable sauce.  However, I had just enough cocoa to make a saucy chocolate pudding for dessert. Let's hope there's still some ice cream.

I love having an extra girl in the house.  The one staying tonight is a lovely creature with beautiful manners.  I am proud of my daughter for picking such great friends.

Tomorrow I want to write about how to manage a budget on holidays.  I have been thinking about this all week but just haven't done anything about it yet.

Resort Living

I think I could get used to living in a tropical resort,although the sticky summers would do me in.   However, wintering in the tropics every year would be fabulous, and you would avoid many of the tropical nasties like mosquitoes and box jellyfish that come with the hot weather.

Yet as with most things, even a super-luxurious tropical lifestyle could pall, I expect, if it was achieved easily.  Perhaps the real thrill is in saving and dreaming then having a taste of how 'the other half lives'.

Winning a trip (even if you have to pay half) is pretty good too!

Palm Cove Cultural Exchange

We have now returned from our prize holiday at Palm Cove on the Great Barrier Reef north of Cairns and it was fabulous.

We lounged by the pool (a lot), visited the tropical zoo, travelled on the skyrail and snorkelled in the outer reef.  We revelled in the intense green of the surrounding rainforests and the vivid hues of the tropical flowers.

On the first morning our children befriended some American kids at the resort pool.  The Morgans from South Carolina were staying at Palm Cove on their way to visit missionary friends in Papua New Guinea.  They had two boys and a girl, all similar ages  to our eldest three kids and very compatible in personality.  The adults really liked each other too.  For the rest of the week we travelled, relaxed and drank cocktails together (the adults, not the kids!)

Everyone had fun with the cultural exchange.  They had just discovered Tim Tams and had bought several packets.  Given that it was a beach holiday we were able to educate them about budgie smugglers (first, we had to explain that budgies are what Americans call parakeets).  And they were amused that we call flip-flops, thongs.  We discovered that the American and Australian definitions of 'fanny' are different, and it is not a wise expression to use in Australia.

By the end of the week they were referring to MacDonald's as Maccas, like true Aussies.

Over the next few days I'll post more pictures.  I took today's from the beach at Palm Cove.

Flying High

My husband and I must be the only two people on the planet who could win a week-long, romantic trip for two to Thailand and not be excited about it.

That's right, last December my husband won a trip but all we could think was, "What will we do about the kids?"  We had no one to look after them and we couldn't exactly leave them behind unattended.  Moreover, we have always had the view that if we travel, we want the kids to come and have the experience too.

Fortunately, the prize provider very generously agreed to exchange the Thailand trip for a family holiday to tropical north Queenland and the Great Barrier Reef.  We will have to pay for about half of the trip as travelling with four kids is very expensive, but will be able to afford a much more luxurious stay than would otherwise be possible. Given the riots in Thailand earlier this year we are very glad that we didn't arrange a Thailand holiday!

After a six month wait, today is the day and we are flying to Cairns this evening.  I think I may be even more excited than the kids.  We have plans for snorkelling and sleeping and eating and lazing by the pool.  We will be going from freezing weather to warmth and sunshine.

For those not familiar with Australian geography, the map below shows the approximate trip on a road map, right from the bottom of continental Australia to the top.You can zoom in or out if you wish for a clearer picture.

View Larger Map

I'm planning to take lots of photos and look forward to sharing them with you on my return next Saturday.

Bye for now!

Image of Port Douglas is from www.makemystay.com.au/queensland/accommodation/

Hot Water Bottle Jumper

An Aussie joke

Question: What do you get when you cross a sheep with a kangaroo?

Answer: A woolly jumper.

Way back in 2007 one of my first ever blog posts was about this jumper that I knitted for my hot water bottle.*

It's shabbier now than it was back then but just as wonderful at warming my icy toes on these cold winter nights.  

I think my husband is also glad that I put my freezing feet on my hot water bottle and not all over him!

What do you use to keep you warm on winter nights?

*If the 2007 post doesn't show up properly in Internet Explorer, it is due to the issues described here.