Tuesday, January 29

Still here!

It has been an incredibly busy week. The school holidays are all but over (today is the last day) For the most part I have enjoyed the time but I will be glad in some small ways to have the majority of the day back to myself.

For all the joy that children bring they are sure able to double the pain at times. For some reason bed time here is a never ending battle. In fact it is more than a battle it is nothing short of a nightmare!

I have had trouble finding things to write about at the moment. Mainly because I feel slightly hypocritical, though some would say it shows I am just human! Most of my articles are basically parenting advice, however at the moment I am asking myself what advice I could possibly have to offer when I can't even get my own kids to go to bed when they are meant to!

live and learn hey live and learn!

Friday, January 18

Recipe: Potato and tomato delight

The other night I devised this beautiful recipe for potatoes. They are a staple in most people's diet yet it sometimes so difficult to find a new way to serve.

Never fear Chef Rhianna is here!

This is quick and easy, plus it is super, super yummy. I wish I had of thought to take a photo to include, I will next time I make, which I am sure won't be that far away.

When I made this I got 2 large adult serves, and 2 child serves. There was also a heap left for the dog. Adjust quantities to suit your needs

Ingredients
Potatoes (I used 8 small-medium)
Tomatoes (I used 4)
Grated cheese (of which my family loves melted so I used a lot!)
Butter for frying (or whatever you like to cook in)

Method
Scrub potatoes and cook in microwave on high for approx 10 minutes
Cut into bite size cubes and leave to cool
Dice tomato and microwave on high for 1 minute
Add potato to large fry pan with heated butter
Fry till outside of potato is golden and crunchy. Add some rock salt for extra flavor and texture
Combine tomato and potato an place in a ceramic dish
Cover with as much (or little) cheese as you desire
Heat until cheese melts. ( I heated in the microwave on high for 5 minutes and it was perfect but you could get the same (or better) from an oven or under the grill

Thursday, January 17

That's a lot of cars!


In the aftermaths of cyclone Helen the other week the local rubbish deposit centre (aka the dump), reported over 3000 cars on one day, all with green waste. This is an amazing number given the overall population.

I have heard it reported that over 800 trees fell (literally) victim to the cyclonic winds. Personally I have witnessed a huge number of trees down but that number is huge so I am a bit dubious about the truth to that number. I think perhaps someone may have missed a few, though my sources assure me it is correct.

Anyways, we were one of the 3000 people that ventured out to dispose of plant matter on that day. For a trip to the dump it was pretty amazing and the piles of rubbish that were being created were unlike anything I have seen before.

Lucky for me I had my camera on hand. While it is no prize winning shot, I thought I would include it anyway!

Oh so very happy!

Today started off as holding the promise of sadness. I couldn't put my finger on it but something was just not right. Everything bugged me. My poor girls couldn't do a thing right no matter how hard they tried and believe me they were trying. Plain and simple it was just an off day.

I struggled through as best I could, trying not to take my unexplained frustrations on anyone and everything around me.

However now as I write this I am far from this terrible mood. While it may only have been an incredibly small and insignificant event. One that will probably only hold meaning to myself. I discovered something today that had the ability to erase the worries and troubles of my day instantly.

Upon returning home this afternoon, I decided a quick check of my email was needed. (You never know what publishers may have seen my work and wanted more.) While my inbox was empty of publisher requests it was not completely empty.

To my delight I had a total of 14 responses to my two new myLot posts. Though my joy does not end here. I decided that I would quickly log in and have a quick read of what was said.

The comments were all positive and the black cloud that had covered me all day was slowly lifting, the best was still to come.

As I logged out and was taken to the home page and my eyes scanned through the most popular discussions. Low and behold, both my discussions were featured!

Black cloud be gone! In an instant it was like today was the most wonderful day ever.

Now I don't care if they were only there because no one else had posted any. The fact of the matter remains that at least for a few hours I was in the limelight.

Stardom here I come.

Sunday, January 13

Quoteable

I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind.
Some come from ahead, and some from behind.
But I've bought a big bat. I'm ready you'll see.
Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me.

Dr Seuss
As seen in the Northern Territory News Sat Jan 12 pg25

Even though he writes kids stuff I think there is something in there for all of us!

Live, love and learn. Be all that you can

Decrowd your house!

I have been absent of late due to the fact we decided to decrowd the house. For those of you not familiar with the term it refers to a process which involves relocating or removing unnecessary clutter. The trick though is in ensuring that relocations do not overcrowd another area.

Here is a brief idea of what we had to do

  • move child 2 in with child 1
  • move small table from bedroom 2 to bedroom 1
  • move bed of child 1 to other side of the room (sounds easy hey but this bed is solid timber from a 200 year old tree, it don't move all that well!)
  • move drawers upstairs to bedroom 2
  • move table down stairs
  • move another table upstairs
  • move drawers in bedroom 1 to other wall
  • move tv in bedroom 1
There goes a weekend. My husband thought it would only take an hour! Huh what does he know! He never thought about all the sorting of toys and clothes and all the rest of it.

Monday, January 7

Greetings to one and all

Hi, hello, welcome, G'day, greetings and good tidings to everyone.

I am very excited about the journey on which we are about to embark and I am very pleased to have you on board.

The road ahead is one full of excitement and adventure. You will witness an unveiling of character and strength as one young woman endeavors to achieve a childhood dream.

Becoming a writer has always been my passion. I remember as a teenager making a point of trying to write every day, as that was what all the real did. Unfortunately self discipline was weak, even back then!

Fingers crossed that has all changed now though.

I plan to regularly update this page with fresh and humorous thoughts so subscription is a fantastic idea!

May the rest of your day be all that you want

Beware of gusty winds!

So I live in the tropics and cyclones are a part of life at this time of year. While they can be dangerous and deadly they don't occur all that often and generally they seem to pass by without too much hassle.

We just had a cyclone pass through on the weekend. The damage is not too bad, though quite a few big trees have been blown over and there is plant matter every where. All in all where I live was quite lucky, but I know that the damage 100kms away is much worse. Thankfully it is not a highly populated area.

Anyway the point to this rant is.... If I hear another stupid person tell me they wish it was worse I will clobber them one. Why would anyone wish for greater damage to be caused by a natural disaster?