School holiday - Week 1

We didn't really have any plans for the first week of the school holidays this September.  Well Miss R had one special day planned but the rest of the time we intended to go with the flow and meander along. 

 We've really enjoyed mixing in a few outings with plenty of at home time.  There has been sleepovers at Grandparents places as well and it's just been a lovely balance of things.

  As I type I'm looking out the window to the lovely dark, drizzly, rainy Sunday morning and listening to the thunder rumbling around.  I love days that start like this, especially when I can potter about at home and don't need to be anywhere.  It's the perfect ending to our week.

The first weekend of the holidays saw us go on an expedition to various seafood markets around the Sunshine Coast as hubby was on a mission to buy a decent quantity of mullet so he and his cousin could go fishing.  That meant a stop off at a playground and lunch for us at one of the fish markets in Mooloolaba.

Hubby and his cousin did head out for a fish and brought back some lovely parrot fish (don't know it's true name).  They went about 20 miles off shore from Mooloolaba in his cousin's boat as our little tinny is made more for the rivers and estuaries.

The fish was delicious by the way.

We also went visiting while the boys sorted boat fishing things out.  The kids had fun with their cousins (2nd or 3rd cousins, I can never remember how to work it out - easier to just say cousins).

The pool was the most fun part though.  I still think it's a bit to cool to go for a swim at this time of year but the kids don't seem to worry about that.

I did mention that Miss R had a special day planned.  Well she went off to the Zoo for one of their Zookeeper for a Day programs.  She joined in one of the Zookeeper Extreme programs (for 11-15 year olds) nearly 2 years ago and loved it.  She really wanted to do the Extreme Reptile program and  got the opportunity to join in these holidays.

They only do two of the Reptile experiences a year.  One in the Easter school holidays and one in the September school holidays because that's the best weather around here for the reptiles.  There are only 10 places in each group so if you want to experience the Reptile program you need to book in quick because there are only 20 places each year.

I've been doing some crochet too of course.  I'm working on a shoulder bag which I've been itching to start for awhile but had decided that it would be a school holiday project so I was very good and waited until this week to begin.  I'm really loving how it's coming together.

There has also been a little cooking.  Not as much as some school holidays as I've been very lethargic in my kitchen duties lately.

Miss R loves lemon butter and wanted to make some.  Luckily we have a microwave lemon butter recipe that is really quick and easy and makes one jar full so she made that.  It's a great project for her.

I don't know where I got the recipe for this from originally as it was scribbled on a bit of paper so I'm sorry if I've stepped on any toes publishing this but here goes:

Microwave Lemon Butter

Zest and juice of one lemon

1/2 cup of caster sugar

75 grams butter

2 eggs

Place juice, zest and sugar in a microwave safe jug (1 litre) or bowl.  Whisk in the eggs then add the butter (I like to cube the butter).  Cover with a lid or cling wrap and microwave on High (800w) for 3 minutes, giving it a good whisk after each minute. (Best to do it in one minute bursts)  Cool slightly and pour into a jar.  Enjoy!

We didn't have a fresh lemon handy so we used bottled lemon juice which works well although I think that you can taste the difference between fresh and bottled.  Miss R and hubby can't seem to tell though.  If using bottled you can use 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup.  We used 1/4 and it's quite thick but still very lemony.  We also have a 1100w microwave so we cooked it on Medium/High.

Oh and make sure you give it a good whisk each time otherwise you get egg white chunks through it.

I hope you have all been having a wonderful week.  We're heading a little further south to northern New South Wales this coming week and intend to enjoy a bit of a rare family trip away.  

xx Susan

Bath day

Otherwise known as:  How to traumatise your dog day!

Patch gets a hydro bath once every fortnight and our lovely, gentle, happy dog turns into a quivering mess.

He can run through and play in clean puddles, muddy puddles and any kind of puddles in between very happily (next photo case in point), but getting him into his bath is akin to torture.

We are lucky that there are plenty of mobile hydro pet grooming services in our area and Lynda turns up once a fortnight so we don't even have to leave our yard.

The fun begins before she arrives though as I have to work out how to trick Patch.  He KNOWS what day of the fortnight it is too.  Every other day he will come to me happily but on bath day he has some inner radar that tells him what day it is and he refuses to come anywhere near me.

He stays in his favourite spot of all, in the red dirt under the house by the front door (great door bell by the way, especially when strangers turn up and he barks at them right when they reach the steps).  I usually trick him into thinking that we're going for a walk and tie him in the back of the ute so he can't escape.  Then we put the lead on and drag walk him to the trailer when the bath arrives.  

It sounds so easy saying that but it's not.  It's not AT ALL.

Over the years I have tried nearly every trick in the book.  Some have worked but then he remembers what you have done and it won't work the next fortnight.  (Dogs definitely are NOT stupid).

We eventually get him into the bath, often by half dragging him because his bum is firmly stuck to the ground and sprouting strong roots.

Then the nice warm water torture begins and he turns from being a very dirty dog into a lovely and clean, nice smelling white dog again (I'm lucky if he stays like this for one day).

Of course we can't put him through all of that without some kind of treat and for him that's the best part of his bath.  The second he's out he turns into a quivering dog of another kind waiting (not very patiently) for his treat.

I'm pleased to say that Lynda has got away with still having all her fingers again this week.  Honestly, you would think his mother would have taught him some manners :)  

So bath day is done and dusted again and I now have two weeks to think up some more ways to trick him and get him out from under the house next time.

I did take him for a drive afterwards so he's happy now and likes his Mum again.

I hope you are all having a wonderful week.

xx Susan

Water fun at the zoo

To get the kids off their screens last weekend, we went up to the zoo for an hour.

They have new fountains which the kids have wanted to play in and as it was quite a warm weekend, I thought I would let them cool off and have some fun.

I can tell that this is going to be very popular during our long, hot, sticky, humid summers.

They've made this section into a lovely area for families to sit and relax and take some time out of wandering around the zoo.  There's plenty of picnic tables and seats as well as lots of grass to loll about on.  I may need to bring a picnic blanket with me in future in case I can't get a seat.

It's also right near the Dingo Diner so you can grab something to eat or even just a coffee as you watch the kids play.  It looks like there's a new café and toilet block about to open right near it as well so I'm sure that will be popular over the summer months.

Being the zoo it's not your usual big water bucket spilling water onto the kids.  It happens to be a big frog that croaks then periodically a waterfall rushes out and then there's plenty of excited squealing.

A kookaburra joins in the fun as well and there's a crocodile and a very relaxed looking koala for the kids to climb on too.

As usual, I took the chance to start something new on my hook.  I had to unravel and start it a couple of times until I had something I was happy with as I've only got a small amount to work with.  This yarn is from my stash that I just sorted and I've only got about 3/4 of a skein of Noro yarn left from a project I worked on a while ago.

The kids wanted ice-cream afterwards but the clouds started to roll in and it cooled off pretty quickly.  I had told them it was a quick play time today and we weren't buying anything.  I want them to learn that you don't have to buy something every time you go out and it is possible to have fun without spending any money.  

Having said that, we do often buy an ice-cream in summer when we pop up for an hour or two.

I told you it was a relaxed koala.

I hope you have all been having some fun lately.

xx Susan

For those lovely new followers and readers that I have, you may not realise that we live only 3 kilometres from Australia Zoo, the home of Steve Irwin.  We've had annual passes since the kids were toddlers and head up there for a couple of hours every now and then to get out of the house and just enjoy the place.  If you want to see more of our adventures at the zoo over the years just click on the Australia Zoo section on the side bar.

Crochet update

I have been busy on the crochet front since I finished Miss R's blanket a few weeks ago.  

I've had a few portable projects on the go for when I've been out and about, or just to work on something quick when I'm at home.

My 'go to' projects seem to be dishcloths.  I love to try out new stitches and different brands of cotton and this is one of the best ways of doing that.  They're something that can be whipped up fairly quickly, they're useful and they're good for the environment so it's win-win all around.

I use a fresh one each day and then toss them in the washing machine with the tea towels once a week.  When they get old, stretched, smelly and just plain old manky, I throw them out knowing I've got some more lovely ones stashed away that I can use.

I've also been known to give them away as gifts when I get quite a pile of them.

The day after I finished Miss R's blanket I started on a shawl using Drops alpaca/silk.  It's gorgeous to work with and I finished it last week but have yet to block it.  I'll photograph the finished item and show you once I've got myself organised but below is a sneak preview of when it was being made.

Master M requested a scarf in some of the leftover colours from Miss R's blanket.  It's a basic treble crochet scarf in the back loop that came together quickly and easily.  He loves it!

I then decided to make a beanie to match which was quite fun to make except it's too big for him.  I made it in an adult male size for some reason but I do have enough yarn leftover to make one that's right for him.

There's no rush to get it done right now though as the weather is starting to warm up quickly so scarves and beanies will be put away until next year.  I'll try not to wait until next year though as I know the project will hang around the back of my thoughts, nagging at me until I get it done.

I have also bought some more fabric.  I do know I just decluttered my stash after the ant nest incident but I have a specific project in mind and the below fabric fits the bill.  I'll be using some of my stash as well so I'll keep you posted on this project.

Last weekend I decided that I really needed to sort through my yarn stash and ended up piling it all up on my bed.  It was a bit overwhelming to see it all in one place and realising just how much I had.

I've now sorted it into cotton, acrylic, wool, alpaca and any other special mixes that I have.  I've logged it, weighed some of the leftover yarn from projects (very organised I know), and now have a plethora of project ideas flitting around inside my head.  I'm starting to jot some of them down too so I can just look at my list and decide what I want to start on next.

(This is a pile of 200gm balls of pure alpaca yarn.  My lovely Mum gave most of them to me as she decided she wasn't going to use them and thought I would appreciate them and make something nice.  Isn't she sweet.)

We're in our last week of school for the term and lovely hubby is already off on holidays.  He's taken a few work blocks off which ends up giving him nearly 6 weeks at home with us. 

We do have plans to go away over the holidays but a lot of that time will just be doing family things together.  Hubby also plans to go fishing in the boat quite a bit so lets hope that it won't be too windy so that he will be able to get out on the water.  

I hope you're having a wonderful week and thank you so much for your lovely comments on my last post.  They were really appreciated and helped lift the mood.  Blogland really is such a lovely, caring community.

xx Susan

Off-Kilter

Off-Kilter

1. Out of equilibrium; not straight, level, or aligned properly, in a state of confusion or chaos. 

2. Not working correctly or properly; out of order; out of w(h)ack. 

There must be something in the air or the water lately to make so many people feel a little off-kilter in the last week or so.

I know I haven't seemed to be firing on all cylinders and after a little reading on blogland, I've realised that many of you are experiencing something similar.

I've been well and feeling good mostly but everything seems to be taking just a little more effort and motivation to do things.  Then there's all the little extra things that seem to crop up and need to be dealt with when it's the last thing you really need at the time.  I just concentrate on one thing at a time and tell myself it's all okay.

Being busier and out and about a bit more always seems to send me a little askew and that has certainly been the case lately.  I'm very much a home person and love to potter about in my space.  Sometimes I really need to force myself to leave the house and have to give myself a stern talking to as to how good it would be for me to get out for a bit.

After all the years of lovely hubby working away and being gone for good chunks of time, I've found that the kids and I have developed some pretty good routines for ourselves, mainly so that I can cope with partial single parenting.

  I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned it before but both my kids have Autism.  They are on the higher functioning end of the spectrum and the past couple of years have been quite challenging as they started to get older and new 'triggers' came into play. 

It was all mainly to do with school, especially with Master M and at times it really can take its toll on me.  There's regular appointments with various support networks for both children and then last year the school seemed to have me on a hotline because Master M just wasn't coping.

Things have been so much better this year so far with both kids.  Their school's have been fantastic and supportive and we've got some really good strategies and care in place for them.

Having said that, I had Master M home for 3 days last week and it brought up the thoughts of whether I would have to home school him.  It's been a consideration over the past couple of years but not so much this year when he's been reasonably happy where he is.

I looked at the pros and cons of it all and realised that right now, he's better off at school.  He does like it most of the time, there are however some pretty huge moments when he doesn't cope.  Sometimes I have to pick him up early and sometimes they put me on speaker phone and hearing my voice seems to help get him back on track.  I usually end up being an emotional wreck after those calls though.

His three days at home made me realise that I wouldn't cope with home schooling.  With a husband that's gone a lot of the time for work, I find that I really need that time when the kids are at school to help me function better when everyone's at home.

I struggled with this for awhile but after feeling like I've been out in the woods for a couple of years, it's nice to get myself back on track and do things that are important for me.  I've been so much happier and content in the past few months and the kids are feeling that too because they seem to be happier and more content (most days) as well.  I'm the one constant for my family and so they respond to my moods and emotions.  I've only just come to realise this and it's made me realise just how important self care is.

It doesn't matter if what I do is big or small, long or short.  It just needs to be something that helps me out at different stages of the day or week and often it can be something that I do for just 5 to 10 minutes.

When things have been a particular trial I'll often have a day out with just me, myself and I.  That usually happens when lovely hubby is home and I will say that he's always been supportive of me having the time I need right from the moment we first had Miss R.  That might have something to do with him being gone for 10 days at a time back then and me, with extreme lack of sleep and blathering about 'his turn' virtually throwing a baby into his arms as I headed out the door. :)

I often go to the shops for a bit but then I find them too noisy and I really don't need anything half the time.  Sometimes I'll go to a movie if there's anything on that I might like to see (rare), and other times I've taken a book and lay down on a picnic blanket somewhere relaxing and quiet.  Often it's in a quiet spot with a view of the ocean.  I always find that those moments recharge the soul.

I walk the dog.  Patch and I drop the kids off at school then head down to our favourite  place to walk and just enjoy the quiet.  Sometimes I'm blissfully happy just being out in nature, sometimes I've got way too much running through my head and other times I have a good cry if that's what's needed at the time.  It's a good way to get my head together before really starting my day and Patch loves his walk too.

I crochet.  I love it and I've realised recently how much I seem to need to be crocheting and sometimes sewing to help keep those happy molecules hurtling around.

Occasionally I just lay on my bed with my eyes closed for 15 minutes and concentrate on my breathing.  This happens if I've had a busy day and realise it's not long until I have to pick the kids up from school.  Of course I have to set an alarm because I have found myself drifting off momentarily on the odd occasion.

I love sitting out in our backyard of an afternoon.  I haven't done this much over the winter months and now the weather's warming up I'm realising how much I've missed it.  I usually crochet or write while enjoying a cup of tea and the kids often gravitate to where I am and play outside which gets them away from their screens.

On a weekend if lovely hubby is home that cup of tea has been known to change to a glass of wine.....
or two.

I love sitting around our backyard fire of an evening too.  This mainly happens on a weekend and usually only if hubby is home.  I don't know why as I'm perfectly capable of lighting one myself.  We've had fire bans here because it has been so dry but with some recent rain, those bans have been lifted in our area and I'm looking forward to enjoying more fires in the near future.

One of the main things I do that helps right the axis is write in my journal.  I treat it as if I'm writing a letter to a friend about what I've been up to.  I often go for days without talking to another adult so I've found that my journals are like having a conversation and are one of the quickest ways to get myself back in balance.

I would really love to know what do you do in some of those precious rare moments to help keep yourselves sane.

Whatever you are doing this week, I hope you are able to snatch some time just for yourself where you don't feel guilty about it and know that you truly deserve it.

xx Susan

A Coastal Walk - Golden Beach

Lately I've been going down to Caloundra quite a bit.  It's a beautiful place and only about a 20 minute drive from our house so it's not far to go when you need a bit of an ocean fix.

Today I'm going to show you the Golden Beach area which is not quite as touristy as other areas of Caloundra.

Golden Beach is along the Bribie Passage and has no surf like the other beaches as it's protected from the ocean by the northern tip of Bribie Island.

In the next photo you will see what looks like a white building peeking over the top of the vegetation.  That's actually a container ship out in the ocean, making its way either in or out of Brisbane.  

All ships going into Brisbane have to go past Caloundra as it's the only passage deep enough because of Moreton Island a little further off the coast.

There are also some small beach areas on the western side of Bribie Island which you can see in this post from New Years day when we took the boat out for a picnic and the kids and I had some fun on the surf side.

Golden Beach is also home to sections of mangroves which you can explore on a short section of boardwalks.

There's always plenty of watercraft out and about whether it's sailing boats, fishing boats (tinnies), jet ski's, kayaks and plenty of other vessels that float.  No surfboards though because there's no surf here.

The canal estates of Pelican Waters have access to the ocean from here too so the area is split into two sections because of the main canal entrance.

I love that there's so much parkland in the area.  On the weekends all throughout the year people are out in force but there's plenty of space for everyone this end of town.  There's free barbeques dotted all through the parks as there are in most places in Australia.

Playgrounds are plentiful and popular with the littlies, especially with the sun shades to protect them during the hotter months.

Of course you can find plenty of spots to enjoy a quiet lunch and just enjoy the view.

(Thai squid cakes with a chilli lime dipping sauce.  Holy YUM!)

There are the obligatory fish and chip shops as all coastal towns have.  

I have a strong suspicion lovely hubby has pulled the boat up on the beach across for this one and bought some lunch one day when he was out fishing!

If you do catch some fish then you can fillet it freshly at the waters edge so you don't stink out your own bin at home.

Wildlife of the coastal kind is plentiful here too with seagulls and pelicans always flying, floating or wandering around.

There's plenty of evidence of crabs but they're not often seen.

I also love the fact that right down the southern end of Golden Beach you will often see black swans. They are such beautiful creatures and there's quite a few in this area busy diving for food.

So that gives you a little taste of Golden Beach.  Thanks for joining me as it reminded me how much I love that section of town and has given me more ideas of things to do with the kids now the weather's starting to warm up again.

xx Susan