Pyjamas are the New Black

I love pyjama pants.  They are my favourite piece of attire.  My go to slop round the house choice of garment for winter, spring, summer and fall.  Of course they have to be Peter Alexanders, these give you the added excitement of a near death experience on at least a weekly basis, when you take a stride and your toe catches in their extra wide leg bottoms, you nearly go A over Tush just catching yourself before you go plummeting head first into the fridge or wall (although on occasion I have actually splattered onto the floor).  There is nothing like the adrenalin rush, it keeps you going on those days where there is nothing very eventful happening and gives you the lift you need in between breathing in the petrol fumes at the local garage when you fill up the car. (only joking).

Image from A place of my Own

My daughter posted an old  picture of her sister and herself, from a few Christmases back on Facebook the other day.  They were both in their new Peter Alexanders, which have become kind of a family tradition at Christmas.  It started years back.  There is nothing like pyjamas, we adopted them as our school uniform during our home schooling years, they saved us a lot of time.  We would have breakfast in our pyjamas and carry straight on into school work, non of that annoying showering and changing.  Uninvited visitors who turned up at 2pm would find us still in our pyjamas comfortably relaxed and busy with school work.

Our family think nothing of bringing pyjamas to family dinners, or to their friends so there is something comfortable to slip into when the party moves on to board games and cocoa later.  I mean why not, I am sure if we spread the word, more people will catch the idea, I know Oprah brought out a line of leisure wear that felt like pyjamas but looked a bit dressier for shopping etc., so I know our family is not alone.  The world is obviously over suits and ties.  I know years ago there was a trend among doctors to wear more casual attire, which resulted in specialists coming into hospital rooms to consult with patients clad in Hawaiian shirts.  I guess they may not evoke confidence in their professional ability if they were in their pyjamas, but I am sure pyjamas would be ok for most other situations.

I am almost positive that if you wore pyjamas to the shops, no one would notice.  You could try this during the Christmas rush when everyone is busy and see how you go.  I myself am taking baby steps at converting my friends.  I splashed tea down the leg of my white jeans the other night when we had visitors.  Not a problem I put them in a bucket to soak and came out wearing my pyjama bottoms instead.  It was quite late in the evening and my guests didn't bat an eye.  If they were in fact horrified and just good at hiding it, only time will tell.  If they don't ever come back then I will have to rethink my venture into reeducating the masses on comfortable hostess attire, but if they do I will assume I can take the next step and just be in my pj's when they arrive. Of course, what would really get the drums rolling and the streamers popping, going beyond my wildest dreams and signalling complete victory, would be if I opened the front door to my next dinner guests, and they had turned up in theirs.

Easy Thai Coleslaw

Just made Pete Evans Easy Thai Coleslaw for our Dinner Guests tonight.  I found it when I was wading through old Christmas menus looking for inspiration.  The mint and coriander were a delightful surprise and the light fresh dressing made a lovely change from our usual mayo sodden veggies I usually produce.

I will definitely be doing this again over Christmas and New Year.  If you make a large batch and only dress the bowl full you are using the rest will last in the fridge for days.  Pop a folded paper towel sheet under the extras in an airtight container, this will absorb any moisture.  If you don't like the full on flavour of whole coriander leaves (I think they call it cilantro in the US of A and Me-eecko) you can always pop a 1/4 tspn of powdered coriander in the dressing, then you will get the flavour without it being overbearing.

Yum!


Easy Thai Coleslaw

Combine
1/2 Savoy cabbage - shredded  (I used ordinary)
1/4 purple cabbage - shredded
4 lebanese cucumbers, sliced lengthways, seeded and sliced thinly
1 large or two small carrots peeled and grated
1 bunch each picked and washed mint and coriander leaves
1 tablespoon each white and black sesame seeds toasted (dry roast in hot pan with no oil till they start to go golden)
Toss with Dressing

Dressing:-
whisk together
1/2 cup grape seed oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 1/2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon mirin (Mirin is sometimes called Rice Wine and is made from glutenous rice, with a low alcohol level but quite a high level of sugar, I used sherry instead and cooked my dressing to get rid of the alcohol.  We usually have it for when we cook sushi rice, but were all out)
1 lemon, juiced

Making Peace at Christmas

I passed a couple who were pulled over in their car yesterday, they were having a full on barney and at least were sensible enough not to fight and drive, shortly after the four wheel drive in the lane next to  me nearly ran up the car in the front's backside because he was yelling at his kids in the back.  The little boy closest to me turned and looked forlornly out of the window.  I thought here we are, silly season has arrived.  The rushing, spending and shoving that we get caught up in, taking it out on everyone within the blast radius until we finally arrive hot and frazzled at Christmas lunch,

and explode all over the relatives we don't see from one year till the next.  Kind of makes me wonder if this really captures what God had in mind when he out of His great love for mankind sent his only very loved Son into the World to save us, and saving us is exactly what we need.  The good news the angels declared was peace, and yet when we look around there is little peace on the outside, someone once told me that at any one time there is at least 25 wars in progress, somewhere on the planet, so world peace is probably not what Jesus was talking about.  It is hard to get two people to agree on anything, so getting 7 billion of us to is probably out of the question.  But, if I can encourage you to just stop for a moment, and take a deep breathe.  Allowing God's love into our life changes us on the inside, and while we may never see the 'World Peace' the beauty pageant winners are talking about, you will have the peace that the Angels were talking about at that first Christmas, so long ago to the Shepherds, that peace that comes on the inside and passes all understanding, that makes you be able to move about calmly in the middle of the chaos, and hopefully be able to share that peace and love with the next frazzled person who asks you why you are calm and not going crazy like the other mortals.  God bless you this Christmas, and remember, the next time you are tempted to do more than you are physically capable of right now, remind yourself that we are celebrating Christ's birthday and that He wont care if you buy fruit mince pies instead of baking them yourself.  Merry Christmas xx Evie

The Reason for the Season

I had fun on Saturday afternoon putting up my Christmas tree alone with Michael Buble' playing away in the background.  The Man of the House who will subsequently will be referred to as Moth wasn't keen to thread ribbon through a tree.  Anyway I came across some little red apples and tartan ribbon while sifting through the baubles and had a moment of nostalgia as I remembered that Christmas many years ago with two young children at the time and not a lot of decorating budget I clad the tree from top to toe with the little red apples (about 20 for $1) and tartan ribbon bows (the wooden duck on the coffee table also got a bow).

 It made me realise how our situation has changed over the years and how I have changed also.  My taste has developed with age and the elegant tree I have now is a far cry from its cheap and cheerful but loved at the time cousin from years ago.

 I don't like a lot of the same things I liked years ago, or think the same about life as I did years ago, with age and the help of God's love in my own life I can try to accept that other people can change too and not hold things against them from a time when they may have been different than they are now.  Christmas is all about forgiveness, it is a good time to invite forgiveness into your life, forgiveness for those that have hurt you, forgiveness for yourself if you have hurt others and asking them to forgive you.    I realise that much of the change that has happened to me is because God's love has changed me, and I would hope you would allow Him to heal hurts in your life, but even if you have never had an encounter with the Reason for this Season, Jesus, forgiveness still works.  Harbouring things eats us up, forgiving releases us.  Some wrongs are really bad and hard to forget, but we can only do our bit, by letting the hurt go and leave it up to God to sort the other person out.  Have a wonderful day!

Putting on Your Best Face

It is probably because I am vein but am I the only one who hates having their photo taken. Photos never live up to my expectation of myself, I find my self saying "That's not what I look like" and my friends say "Yeah that is, exactly what you look like".  I see myself as tall and slender when in fact I am only average and rather round.  It doesn't help that the camera is meant to add ten pounds.  This being the case, I can ignore the back fat and rolls that seem to be showing through my T shirt when someone kindly takes a photo of me from behind.  At least with digital cameras and phones we can just delete what we don't like and pretend we look exactly like the good shots, you know, posed perfectly, smiling with your teeth slightly apart and standing just at a slight angle so you look your slimmest.  I always tell my husband he has to stand in front of me (the person up front looks the biggest) after so many horrible pictures where he looks tiny in the background and I look like Big Bertha in the foreground.  The Egyptians had it right.  The kings and queens we found out when studying their Ancient customs during our homeschooling years, would only have themselves painted slim.  They wore wigs for all their official occasions and had shaved heads to be cool for the rest of the time, hence all the Egyptians looking slim and with the same cleopatra bob hairdo in all the historical records.  At least back then they got to have some honest artist put down if he dared paint what he really saw, now we have no chance, the minute anything the least bit embarrassing happens to anyone, there it is on facebook or You Tube.  I can only be glad that I am not famous, so not many people care what I am doing, but just imagine for a moment that you are Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie, no ducking down to get some milk without doing your hair for them.

I have this monkey magnet on my fridge that says "They suit you - really!"

I personally would like to do something quite nasty to the person who invented mirrors, (cameras started out with mirrors in them, so it is all linked) but, I don't think they really know who did invent them, we progressed from looking into still water, ( if you didn't like your reflection you could stir it up a bit and blame the wind for the wrinkles) to shiny metal.  When I checked google I found out that apparently when the Biami people of Papua New Guinea were first introduced to mirrors by an anthropologist they reacted to their reflections with terror.  The Biami's aren't the only ones.  My reflection is getting scarier and scarier the older I get, especially that first look when staggering out of bed in the morning with my hair standing on end.  The only options I can see is to get rid of all my mirrors, never look at pictures taken of myself, never look at Facebook or You Tube or stop wearing my glasses so everything looks fuzzy but lovely or maybe I could just be glad I have made it to sixty two and know that when I am eighty I will wish I still looked like I did now and be grateful that I have my eyesight, all my arms and legs and my faculties are still in tact (I heard that laugh).

Walnut and Rice Roast

This is a great vegetarian, budget meal that I have made for years from my old $55 a week cook book by Cynthia and Peter Mayne.

the gravy looks a little sick, but it was actually delicious

Combine in a bowl
50g chopped Walnuts
95g rice (cook till tender about 20 minutes) or l l/12 cups cooked left over rice
1 medium onion chopped
75 g breadcrumbs soaked in 3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
3 tablespoons chopped parsley

mix together and pour into greased oven proof dish
bake for 30 - 40 minutes till golden
serve with hot with gravy

Gravy
Dry fry two tablespoons floor in a frypan on a medium heat till it starts to turn brown (it burns very quickly so keep an eye on it)
add water while stirring to avoid lumps until you have the consistancy you require
add salt and pepper as desired
1 tspn stock powder
also good with parsley, worcestershire sauce or soy sauce added

I believe in Miracles

clipart from PhilipPhysics-contact force

Miracles are fantastic to read about when they happened to other people a long time ago, but, don’t you love it when God does a miracle for you unexpectedly in your own life.  When our four children were young we were travelling back from a holiday at night by car and were on the last leg of our 13 hour journey, four children sleeping peacefully in back and our alternator decided to die, leaving us with no head lights, it was one o'clock in the morning.  We pulled in at the small roadside garage still an hour and a half from the Perth City outskirts.  My husband got talking to the driver of the only other car in the place and he agreed to let us follow him down to Midland where we would then have to go our own way, to wherever we lived in the metro area.

We were stunned by what happened next and reminded of what an awesome God we serve, when the two men continued to talk and we discovered that out of the one and a half million people who live in the City of Perth, and of all the suburbs and of all the streets he could have lived , God had sent us a Good Samaritan, who lived a couple of hundred metres from where we did, in the same suburb of Kelmscott.

Psalm 91;14  The Lord says “I will rescue those who love me, I will protect those who trust in my name.” (LB) 

God seldom rescues us in a way we were expecting, but, He does promise to rescue those who love Him.   When the Israelites were backed up against the Red Sea with the Egyptian army pounding down on them with their chariots and horses, Ps 77 (LB) says God made a path for them no one knew was there, parting the waters for them to cross to safety. 

Remember, all things are possible with God (Matt 19:26), expect great things from Him, no matter what it is you need rescuing from in your life, He will never leave you or forsake you (Heb 13:5).  Expect that He will make a path for you that you never knew was there.                                                                                     

Homemade Laundry Liquid

I have been making my own laundry powder for months, I got the recipe from Rhonda Hetzel at Down to Earth, one of my favorite blogs (4 cups lux flakes or grated pure soap, 1 cup borax, 1 cup washing soda mixed thoroughly ( use about 2 tablespoons per wash, this gives really good results but works out to about 20 cents a wash, probably not super cheap but at least you are getting a good mix with no fillers or suds enhancers) I planned to make the liquid version but kept putting in off because it just seemed too daunting.  This morning I bit the bullet as it is soooo cheap! It works out to about a cent a wash less than $2 for about 10 litres.

From beginning to end it took about 25 minutes to have it made and bottled.

Stir over low heat 1 cup pure soap flakes, 1/2 cup Borax, 1/2 cup washing soda mixed with 1 1/2 litres water till everything is dissolved

Add soap mixture to about 8 litres of water in a 10 litre bucket.   Stir thoroughly


pour into a jug for easy decanting into bottles or containers stirring before each jug full                

Within about 20 minutes I had almost 10 litres of washing liquid ready to use

The big bottles are to store in a cupboard and the smaller glass bottles for display on the laundry bench along with my glass jar of home made washing powder. This will probably last the two of us a year, so that is a very economical 25 minute investment.
Thanks Rhonda!

Chargers Ready to Go

It was a very sad day yesterday.  Our oldest daughter along with her husband and three children, headed off to the Eastern States to a new home, job and life.  We were a bunch of blubbering messes as we waved them off and wished them well.  I can't believe the grandkids wont be running in my front door every second day as they usually do.  It is very hard to part with them, as the youngest one was born during the time they lived with us while their home was being built, so we are very close.  Boo Hoo I only have 10 grandchildren left now in this State, so I will have to make do with them.

I was impressed with how organised Sarah was with her packing and thought I should share it with you as I know I will use this idea myself in the future.  She plugged all chargers, camera, phones, DS, and Computer cords etc into a power board with the right amount of holes, ready to plug into a socket at the hotel when they stopped for the night, all set for their owners.  I did think to take a double adaptor with me overseas to stretch our charging power with the one adaptor that we had for each country we visited, but will definitely be doing this next time we travel.

Camping at the Beach/Camping list

Last New year we decided that our whole family (twenty three of us) would see the New Year in at the beach.  We all bought camping equipment, a porta potty (which we didn't use - the loo ended up being wherever you wanted it to be in the sand dunes).  When we planned our trip we didn't realise that it would be 42 degrees that day which is 108 Fahrenheit.  It didn't even cool down over night and was the most excruciating experience of my life.  To get to the ocean the children had to cross back and forth across the four wheel drive track, which made me as a Grandparent rather uptight, as cars sped through past our site quite regularly leaving Granny screaming at children to look out for cars.  Walking through soft beach sand for 24 hours causes muscles unaccustomed to the exercise to cramp and by the end you are wondering if your bladder couldn't just be obliging and hang on till you get home, another walk to the sand dunes seems just too daunting.

I love being organised, so was completely miffed when, after weeks of careful packing and planning for the big camp out, my strategically arranged car was thrown into chaos.  All of us didn't have four wheel drives, so had to pile in together to get to our chosen site, and pile in we did, along with all the extra stuff from the pile- ers, resulting in my neatly arranged camping gear being buried under a mountain of hitchhikers extras never to be seen again till we arrived home.  Everyone was too hot and bothered to bother.  Unpacking never happened, I could never reach my stuff, so I just gave up.  I have however, left the list here for those of you who are able to go camping without any intruders disorganising you.  Please let me know how it turns out!!

My husband who isn't well and wasn't fairing too well in the heat collapsed into bed early. I use the term bed loosely, as our half blown up mattress felt like we were sleeping on a hot marshmallow which kept sliding down the hill the tent was erected on and banging us into the tent exit. The man was out cold so there was no question of fixing the situation, I just had to survive the night.

Even though the experience left me feeling like I had been tortured and thanking The Good Lord for my air conditioned home, the children had a wonderful time, so I at least felt it had been worth the huge effort to get there for the memories we created.  It has made me realise what a pamper baby I am, and has me looking at things with new eyes. War movies take on new meaning as I feel for soldiers in salty water soaked full combat gear tromping up beaches feeling hot and uncomfortable and how horrible it would have been living in squalid fox holes with no facilities for weeks on end.  There has risen in me a new appreciation for the terrible conditions so many people around the world live in. I recently listened to a young man from India who has been educated by the wonderful sponsorship of Compassion, as he explained that the Community he comes from has about 10,000 people and just 2 toilets to service them all.  The house they live in is a tiny room for his three family members, with sewerage tainted water coming in on the floor every time there is a huge downpour of rain.

Western Australia is a great place to live, and although there are street people here and homeless, there are structures in place to give Assistance for those that need it, which isn't always the case in many countries. We really are very blessed.

It turned out we weren't meant to be camping on the beach and were asked to move by the ranger (luckily just as we were packing up to go home)  Mind you if he had come earlier we might have had to go to some Camp site that had electricity and toilets as well as running water.  Boy would that have been terrible!  Rangers must be like policeman, there is never one around when you need one.

CAMPING LIST

Camp table with hooks for tea towels

Paper towels

Clothes pegs

Ash pan & brush

Mat

Cling wrap/foil

Salt/pepper/seasoning

Thermos

Hammer

stove

Soap on tap

Frozen milk bottles

Food Cover large

Garb Bags

Cubes-Planks-storage

Bowls/dish liquid/ rubber gloves

Sponge, dish cloth/scourer

Barbecue wipes

Cutlery Utensils / caddy / plates / sauces etc, tongs/scissors

Spray oil or olive oil

Cups/mugs/paper

Can opener

Cutting board

frypan

Picnic basket

Plates/paper

Tea towels

Serviettes

chairs /large folding table

Tent

Tent pegs

Mattress

Plug in inflator

Pillows

Bedding (mattress protector, sheet, quilt)

Clothes bathers hat/sunglasses

Toiletries (toothpaste, brush, comb, hairspray, makeup wipes, moisturizer)

Phone (charger, plug in)

Sunscreen

whistle

tissues

Bug repellent/outdoor fogger

First aid kit (headache pills etc bandaids) – tweezers, antiseptic cream, ipecac

Bamboo  beach lights/bug repellers, matches

Solar lights/torches

Shovel

Fishing stuff – container for fish

2 x Bucket for flushing fetching water/Toilet/tent

Loo rolls/step

Aquium gel

Soap

Towels

Baby wipes

FOOD

Cereal (jars)

Milk

Eggs/bacon/ bread rolls

Sugar/tea/coffee

Sandwich loaf/butter

Fried chicken/coleslaw

Bean salad

Drinks/water/beer

Barbecue meat/salad

cookies

Snacks (muffins, cheese or dip crackers)

Nuts/chips/pretzels

Fruit

Serving tray for dips

Decorating the House for Christmas

 

I am not big on lots of loud colours around me during the Christmas season, so everything has to blend or harmonise with the decor in the house, otherwise I want to rip it all down after a week as it feels untidy.

I cemented a stick into an old plant pot which I had sprayed gold this is topped with a polystyrene ball.  I then used pearl head pins to secure. various Christmas balls and twigs into the foam.  I have used this same ball with christmas wrapped toffees or chocolates attached ready to eat during the festivities.  But, they have to be topped up quite regularly as they seem to disappear.  Toffees can be removed by putting a finger on the pin head and pulling gently, removing toffee and leaving pin securely in ball.  Small children should be supervised. 

 I have made the toffee version as a family gift when visiting friends with large families at Christmas.  Just be aware that a tennis ball sized polystyrene ball takes at least one hundred toffees. (I usually by 2kg bulk bags at the Cash and Carry)

Travel Fitness

Paris Workout
We certainly increased our fitness level on our trip around the world.  Our Paris apartment was on the 5th floor.

 I hurt my knee just before we left, and even though it had swollen up because of the walking and stair climbing in England before Paris, we two seniors climbed up and down the 5 flights several times a day.  The little windy steps made it very easy to manage. By the end of our trip we were a lot fitter than when we started.  Now there was a lift = exhibit A

but there was no way I was travelling in this.  I did however, shove macho man above into with the cases when we first arrived and he lived to tell the tale.  He did say it wasn't that bad, but I noticed he didn't go in it again!

Pancakes

I made pancakes yesterday morning, so when I had cooked enough for breakfast, I thinned out the mixture and made 4 crepe style pancakes, to use in another dish.  These can freeze well for filling and rolling with savoury meat or chicken and topping with cheese for grilling at another time.  These four made two nights desserts filled and rolled with apple, peeled, diced and stewed till tender with a small amount of water some blueberries and a little sugar, (sometimes I use sultanas).  A sprinkle with icing sugar and a plop of cream made for a delicious dessert.  Store the pancakes covered with cling film or in an airtight container for freezing.

Pancakes: Beat together 2 cups S/R flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 dessertspoon sugar, about 1 cup milk, 1 egg.  Beat for 1 minute then add 1 tablespoon melted butter. Let mixture stand for 10 minutes before cooking.

Lentil Burgers

The key to doing things like Lentil Burgers is to do some pre cooking, otherwise it is just too daunting to start from scratch at 5 o'clock when everyone is hungry.  I cook up some lentils with water just covering, stirring occasionally so they don't stick.  Use half for a lentil stew one night topped with mashed potato and cheese (Lentil pot pie).  Second night pull cold lentils out of fridge add:-
onion chopped fine
spring onion chopped fine
grated carrot
parsley chopped fine
walnuts chopped
salt, pepper
1 egg to combine
Form into patties and roll in a little seasoned flour.  Shallow fry in Olive oil.
I've served mine with Cauliflower Cheese and shredded cabbage. Delish
These freeze well and make a quick lunch with salad or another meal, hot or cold.

Chicken Soup

This delicious soup was the result of a simmered frozen chicken carcass (I never waste them), removed and chicken pulled off a set aside in fridge.  Add to pot bay leaf, then any vegetables you have left over in the fridge, mine has onion, corn, zucchini, tomato, carrot, (all chopped in the Kitchen Wizz), then add a hand full of lentils to thicken, salt and pepper and simmer for about thirty minutes (or hours on the stove set on very low or in a crock pot, to give that lovely winters day swell to the house) and add half a cup of broken rice noodles, vermicelli noodles or risoni and a handful of chopped parsley, and your set aside chicken 10 minutes before you want to eat).  Serve with crusty bread. Yum.

Mistle-Toes - Cute and Cheap

Cute and Cheap

I got this great little gift idea from Pinterest.  10 bottles of $2 red nail polish, tied with a red bow and Mistle-Toes tag will make a cute Christmas gift for my Connect Group girls. I was going to attach a file, but couldn't wait while I ordered them on line, so decided just to stick with the nail polish.