Tag Archives: holidays

The Christmas Menu

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As you know we are staying in a holiday apartment so Christmas this year is a little different.  I do have access to some basic oils and condiments, however, the full range of pantry ‘essentials’ that I take for granted at home are not all here.

On Sunday evening I finally made some effort to plan our Christmas Day menu but it was still really flexible when we went shopping at the Queen Victoria Markets yesterday.  The plan evolved as I found various items.  Today I went to the local shops to pick up the last few things I would need and I have started the preparation.

Here is the menu.

NIBBLES

Cracker biscuits and vegie sticks with dips – beetroot, pumpkin, carrot & coriander and 1 other which I can’t remember.

ENTREE

Grilled prosciutto-wrapped haloumi and grilled asparagus with roasted capsicum salsa

MAINS

Chicken roll with spinach and pinenut stuffing
Seared Atlantic salmon with lime and cucumberPotato salad with herbed mayonnaise dressing
Roasted balsamic pumpkin, red onion and feta salad
Rocket, avocado, tomato and capsicum salad

DESSERT

Berry meringue smash

It is designed to be a simple yet special meal which I can prepare in an unfamiliar kitchen with minimal extra ingredients.  I have made the pumpkin salad, cooked the potatoes, wrapped the haloumi in prosciutto, roasted the capsicum and made the salsa.

Kitchen
Tomorrow I will assemble the other salads, roast the chicken and make the dessert.  The Duke will cook the asparagus, haloumi and salmon on the BBQ.

BBQ
I am looking forward to sharing a relaxing day with my family.

 

 

Habits

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This morning as we were standing on the platform at the railway station, The Duke realised that not only had he forgotten to put a handkerchief in his pocket but he had forgotten his belt.  Luckily the belt is not essential for his trousers to stay up but it certainly gives a finished look to his work attire.

Billy-Getting-Dressed

I thought that it was great that he forgot these things because to me it meant that the 2 weeks away from the office had been a real holiday for him.

How long do you need to be away from something to lose a routine or habit?

Holiday Fun

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No organising happening here today as we are too busy having fun.  Miss O and Izz are staying for a couple of nights as it is school holidays here.

It has been a full day which included picking strawberries at a local farm as well as buying some fruit and vegetables and getting hair cut.  That was just this morning!

Then it was time for lunch.

Lunch
A platter which included freshly picked carrots and avocadoes plus some cracker biscuits.  A cup of water and some strawberries rounded off a healthy lunch.

The weather has been really quite hot the past few days but even though it was much cooler today it was still warm enough to play in the pool.

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Climbing ‘mountains’, hide and seek and racing around the yard used up some excess energy.

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And taking a moment to smell the roses AKA cannas.

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Slow Living – March

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This year I have joined with Slow Living Essentials so here we are again with a review of March.  This will be interesting as we spent 16 days on holidays.  We took a road trip to NSW, Victoria and Canberra and enjoyed a relaxing time.  If you want to know where we went and what we did you can see more here.  Meanwhile, I will try to fill in the categories below.

Here are the Slow Living categories:

{Nourish}  While it was not spectacularly interesting, we did manage to feed ourselves each and every day.

{Prepare}  The first half of the month was spent preparing to go on holidays.

{Reduce}  The contents of the refrigerator and freezer were reduced to almost zero before we headed off on our holiday.

{Green}  We took our picnic set and our own food for lunches when we were travelling so no takeaways and no disposable containers.

Lunch

{Grow}  The seedlings which we planted towards the end of February continued to grow while we were away and we are now picking and eating the bok choy.  We are also reaping the fruits of self-sown cucumbers.  These came up from cucumbers that fell and rotted from the summer crop.  This is the second year that we have had a follow-on crop of cucumbers.  The great thing about growing them in autumn is that the cucumbers are not as prolific nor do they ripen as quickly so we are generally able to keep up with them.

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We also harvested a pineapple and mangoes.

2013-03-10 012013-03-06 01{Create}  The holiday theme is evident again in this suit bag that I made to transport the suit that The Duke wore to a wedding while we were away.

 

{Discover}  New places and new adventures.

Woodside Beach

River

{Enhance}  Sadly, death was the catalyst to renew some friendships that had languished.  We were reminded of the fragility of life and the importance of nurturing relationships.  However, there was happiness as well.

The happy couple

{Enjoy}  We did enjoy our travels and recharged our batteries so now it is time to get back to the things we do every day and I hope my slow-living round up for the end of April is a bit more interesting.

Winter's day

Til next month………..

A Year in Review

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Here we are, almost at the end of another year and as usual I try to take time to think about what I have done and my plans for the new year.

I was looking back at some of my posts from around 12 moths ago and although I have achieved a lot this year, some of my lofty ideals did not come to fruition.  You can check out my goals here.  The photo project was an epic failure but everything else (and much besides was done).

The organising for Christmas also fell by the wayside but it was all achieved before 25th December.  My goal is to do better in 2013.

The important thing when you find that the achievement did not measure up to the goal you set is to simply pick yourself up, dust off and try again.  That is what I love about a new year – it is a clean slate.

I have my 2013 diary and have resolved to use it properly this year instead of cluttering my brain with 1001 things I have to remember.  An Excel spreadsheet is set up to record our spending so that we can see where the money goes.  The emails are sorted/deleted/archived/actioned/unsubscribed as required and I will keep this up-to-date each week.

Our holiday in March is planned and booked.

How was your 2012?  What do you plan to achieve or do differently next year?

The Week That Was

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I have been making good progress on several fronts here.

Yesterday I spent the day sewing so have something to show for it.  I started by drafting a pattern using an existing purchased skirt.  I had some fabric that had been given to me and this is what I created.  I have yet to do the hem and the handstitching inside the waistband but you get the general idea.  I am not entirely happy with the fit over the hips and also the side pockets are not sitting perfectly but that will improved on in the next attempt.

2012-11-30 01I will still be happy to wear this as the shirt I am going to make will cover the less than perfect area.  This is going to be the top (also gifted fabric).  The colour match of the yellow flowers with the top is much better than the photograph would lead you to believe.

2012-11-30 02The other project has been slowly but surely working through the various piles of ‘pending’ paperwork.

2012-11-30 03This is some that I had been carrying around in my bag for a couple of weeks.  Today I actioned most of it – emails sent, phone calls made and most of it now shredded.  There is still a little to go back in the filing cabinet.

2012-11-30 04This pile is on the small table in the guest room.  It is mostly from our USA trip from over 2 months ago so my goal is to get it sorted out this weekend.  I have finally culled and sorted they photographs from our trip which has been quite a big job.

Tomorrow we are having lunch with friends and are looking forward to sharing the photos from our trip with them.

Have a relaxing weekend wherever you are.

Information Request

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I hope some of my US readers will be able to help with tips and information for our upcoming trip.

We will be spending 4 weeks in the north-east  of the United States later this year.  It will be be late August and into mid  September.

We are flying into Washington DC and spending 4 nights there .  Our accommodation is booked for those nights.  The rest of the trip is still flexible so would love your ideas.  I am thinking of 2 nights in Philadelphia, 4 nights New York City, 2-3 nights in Boston.  From there we hope to hire an RV and have about 15 nights touring.  We hope to travel as far as Bangor, ME as well as travelling through New Hampshire, Vermont and New York State.  Other things I have heard/read about which interest me include lighthouses along the Maine coastline, Mt Washington and fall scenery, Woodstock and Watertown,NY.

We have never been to the United States before and would like to make sure we maximise our time there.

Thanks again for your help.

Holiday Planning

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We have started looking at possible holiday destinations.  The first question was Australia or overseas.

I wanted to go to Central Australia  (Uluru and Alice Springs), Darwin and Kakadu National Park.  Due to the wet season, timing is crucial and accommodation is outrageously expensive and limited availability.

Due to the strength of the Australian dollar an overseas trip looked feasible.  Apart from New Zealand, our only other overseas trip was to British Columbia in 2007.  The East Coast of USA has always appealed so we are now looking at possibly going to Washington, Philadelphia, New York and Boston in September/October.

I have downloaded a couple of different Lonely Planet guides to my Kindle and am quickly learning some US geography.  We have friends who know this area quite well as tourists so caught up with them today and have come away with loads of ideas.  Now I need to distill the information and find what we want to see and do.

How do you decide where to take a holiday?  How much do you plan and book in advance or do you leave it to chance?

Any ideas or suggestions gratefully received.