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.