Fireman Sam AKA Allan

Sitting having an afternoon coffee and having a bit of a read when the peace and quiet was interrupted by a terrible helicopter street sweeper kind of noise.  The dog started barking, the neighbour started banging at our front door, while calling the fire brigade with her other hand.  There is a fire at the back of your house she yelled.  Sure enough flames and smoke were licking over the back fence accompanied by the terrible noise.  Allan grabbed the hose and ran to start squirting the fire out.  Honestly we could have held the barking dog over the fence and let her pee on it, with all the good the water pressure in Lakelands does.  The home owners had run inside because they were terrified that the gas bottle which was in the thick of their barbecue furnace would explode.  Allan is very good in a crisis and doesn't panic, unlike me who had the same fear as the neighbours and was yelling at him to get away in case it blew up. (The noise was getting louder).  The home owner eventually felt bad and came out to help, the emergency was extinguished, just in time for the fire brigade to arrive.

Not all of us are good in stressful situations.  I once ran over our family cat - Rusty.  She would lay on the drive way and not bother to move for cars.  Troy who was a P plater at the time would roar in and out without giving Rusty a thought.  I would get out of the car and shoo her away.  I was always moving her, so why me?  I came into the car port one evening singing happily to myself.  Rusty saw me coming and though Mum's home, dinners up so ran across in front of me.  I thought I had killed her and was screaming for Allan to come and help me,  He was in his office playing his guitar (we were going to music practice at the Church in a while) and didn't hear a thing.  Finally, he responded to the mad woman banging on the office window and came to see what the screaming was about.  'Get the car off the cat' he yelled  That thought hadn't occurred to me.  I had assumed she was dead, when in fact she wasn't.  I also was scared to back out again in case I ran back over her.  I couldn't bear to look.  Anyway, the poor little thing died, and I still feel traumatised when I think about it.

In my defence I have occasionally stepped up to the plate though, when I was 8 months pregnant and  was home with three children all asleep, my neighbour opposite whose husband was also away called to say she heard someone in the carport.  I told her I would have a look.  I gathered up my trusty baseball bat that I kept handy when Allan was away, and set out across to investigate. I was standing on the verge of her house peering into the carport when the thought struck me that she was safely in her house, and I like an idiot, was very pregnant and on my own late at night on a dark road.  Thankfully, I didn't need to use my bat, although it was probably stupid as most women get weapons turned on themselves instead of getting to be heroines.  Another time I extracted  a 20 cent piece sized peppermint from quite a way down a choking two year olds throat, by turning it sideways and pulling it out.  I didn't cry till after the crisis was over.

Chick Pea Curry

Fry a diced onion in a little olive oil

add diced red or green capsicum

1 tin chick peas drained

2 cups vegetables diced (feel free to use fresh everything, 

I used frozen as I am post surgery and making things easy on myself)

1 tablespoon curry powder of choice

1 dessertspoon chicken stock powder

1 teaspoon garlic granules

1 tablespoon chives

1/2 cup sultanas

1/2 cup almonds or cashews

1/2 cup coconut cream

1 cup water

salt and pepper to taste

serve with rice or noodles

Very early this morning the text alarm went on my phone.  I checked it and saw it was from the Chemist, telling me they would be closed for Christmas but not to miss their huge 50% discounts on Boxing Day, it ended with a cheery 'Merry Christmas to you and your family'  It got me thinking what if for some people, that text from the Chemist was the only Merry Christmas they would get.  There would I am sure be many.  Those with no family, that offer to do the Christmas shift at work, so that those with families can be with theirs.  Hospitals don't close, airports don't close, trains and buses run and cyclones occasionally interrupt the festivities. My brother and sister in law were in Darwin back in 1974 when Cyclone Tracy went through.  Our Christmas day was very tense as we waited to get word that He and his family were ok.  Not till late on boxing day did we get the call and our family could breathe again.

I remember hearing that in some trenches during the first world war the fighting would stop for Christmas Day then resume straight after.  Unfortunately hardship and suffering doesn't care what day it is, at any given time all around the world their are children mistreated, wives beaten, thousands starving and people freezing with inadequate shelter.

So back to the text, I felt very blessed to be busy in my big kitchen, cooking happily for the bunch that are going to descend on us on Christmas Day, and thankful that I have such an abundance of loved ones to wish me Happy Christmas and certainly will not take it for granted.  In amongst the merriment lets remember to text someone we don't normally include when we are busy, you may make their day, they may just have been sitting at home alone wondering if the Chemist and his family had room for one more at Christmas lunch.

Caramel Popcorn

Just made a big batch of Caramel Popcorn for the Grandies on Christmas day.

I popped one bag of microwave popcorn
then melted and stirred bubbling for about 2 minutes:
3/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup glucose syrup
This gets very hot, so be careful, don't make this with little ones (i.e. toddlers, dogs) under your feet.

I poured it into a large bowl containing the popcorn and 2 cups mixed nuts

spread it on a large oven proof tray lined with baking paper, and baked it on 180 degrees c for about 20 minutes, stirring it a couple of times.

Cool and store in tin ready to gobble on Christmas Day.

Caution:
1.  Don't serve if anyone in your crowd is allergic to nuts (this will spoil Christmas Dinner when you have to dash to hospital emergency room).
2.  Try not to eat to much while preparing, from personal experience this makes you feel sick.

Reason for the Season

Ya! only three more sleeps to Christmas.  I tried to play the gee I've been diagnosed with cancer card, but that didn't work, everyone is coming to our house for Christmas and I am making most of the food.  Today I'm making Pavlova and Hayley will bring her amazing Black Forrest Trifle, the recipe is from her friend Mel, absolutely disgustingly rich and decadent (the trifle, not Mel).  What a lovely girl Hayley is, last Friday while stacking shelves with stock in a store down Mandurah way (she is a rep for Coca Cola) an elderly lady was asking her about flavoured pump bottles, which the store didn't stock.  While they chatted Hayley found out that the ladys' husband was going through chemotherapy and not doing well.  One of the only things he could taste and enjoy was the lemon pump.   After they parted Hayley felt very strongly to give the woman some money as it sound like she was doing it tough but, couldn't find her in the car park when she looked.  Being resourceful Hayley asked on Facebook, if anyone knew a lady with a husband seriously ill with cancer in the area where the lady had told her she lived.  The response was amazing,  someone replied that they had asked their neighbour with a very sick husband if she had spoken to a coca cola rep the day before and she said yes.  Several people gave money and Hayley went and bought all the stock of lemon Pumps she could find on the way and turned up at the couples home bearing her gifts.  She apologised for visiting without an invitation and explained how she had tracked her down.  It was a very teary exchange, as both were overwhelmed.  The lady with a stranger's kindness, and Hayley with the joy of being able to bless someone else.  Kindness and giving for no personal gain always gives us an overwhelming sense of well being.  I think that is why we are told it is more blessed to give than to receive.  There is nothing like it, and speaks to us of what Christmas is all about.

Take a moment to breathe, during the preparations.  If you are getting cranky at the shops, work or with family, reassess your to do list, and cross some things off, it is not worth the grief.  No one really cares if the floor was just mopped, or if there are fingermarks on the sliding door.  Once everyone starts spilling drinks and throwing wrapping paper around, your beautifully laid plans for a perfect Christmas will have to be re thought.  So remember that God's love is the motivation behind us celebrating Christmas, so take a deep breath and relax, don't sweat the small stuff

Christmas Lights Canal Cruise

Had a fabulous time with our daughter Hayley, Ben and our grandson Beau on Thursday night cruising the Christmas Lights on the Mandurah Canals.  It was extra special because Sarah was with us as well as Ben's parents.  Sarah flew in from Sydney as a surprise.  The whole family has been thrown into a bit of state since my being diagnosed with breast cancer last week.  Sarah was tortured being so far away and not being able to be here for me, so a beautiful couple at their Church, paid for her to fly home.  Her mum-in-law and a wonderful friend, flew to Sydney to help look after their three active children.  How blessed am I.  The Christmas Cruise was brought forward as I was due to see the Surgeon the next day, and find out what surgery I could expect to have and how quickly.

We had a great night, but, I couldn't help thinking about the previous year.  We always pull up at the pier to get fish and chips, which we did last Christmas on our cruise.  I am an absolute tea-totaller and as it was a hot day, I had raided my husbands fridge and grabbed what I thought was two small bottles of lemon, lime and bitters, not a problem.  We just sat down at the outside tables to eat the delicious smelling fish and chips and I pulled out a drink and took a big swig.  My throat started to burn, my eyes watered up and the first thought that flashed through my mind, was that the lime was off.  The second thought registered that it wasn't cool drink at all but alcoholic.  My husband by this time had realised what was happening and in between hysterical laughter, managed to splutter out a "where did you get those bottles from".  "Out of your bar fridge of course".  He continued to laugh some more, but finally cleared up the mystery.  Apparently the source of my burnt throat was due to the drink not being regular fizzy but in fact Grappa, that a mate of his at darts makes himself, and is probably about 100% proof.  Needless to say, I stayed out of the bar fridge, this time round.

The Mouse Hunt

It's that time of the year, when spurred on by the need of Ms Mouse to have a home, Mr Mouse keen to please the love of his life sets out to find her one.  Sadly, they chose our house, and although we are in a 4 x 2 with just the Moth (Man of the House) and myself residing here, we weren't taking tenants.  They would have been ok if they had flown under the radar, but before they had unpacked their belongings, Ms Mouse decided to come and watch TV with us the other night and sadly that would be the last programme she would see.  I screamed and ran to call our daughter Hayley who having lived by the beach for a couple of years is armed with loads of mouse traps.  These furry little intruders are invading as more and more as land gets cleared to make way for new estates.

If your a catch and release person you may not wish to continue reading.  I gave the Moth a cup of coffee in bed and informed him that our happy home maker had been snapped and that we would have to dispose of it, and that by we I meant him (funny that we assume that men are automatically born able to take care of mice, spiders, fuses and fix leaking taps.  We caught her mate the next night and we hope we are now mouse free.

All this does leave you kind of jumpy though,   I was vacuuming this morning and went to suck up a tail thing that had been poking out of the lounge for two days, it moved under the couch when the vacuum head touched it, I screamed, the Moth came running.  Dashing to rescue his damsel in distress, he lifted the lounge and grandson Beau scooped up the object of my terror - a blue plastic mouse phone with a black tail.  In hind sight I should have known a mouse would not have stayed in the same position for two days.