Home from the holiday

And what a holiday it turned out to be.

Now I need a new plan - where can I go that isn't going to turn into a natural disaster zone two days after arriving?
Suggestions anyone?

It looks as though we would have perhaps been better off running the potential pitfalls of Frank Bainimarama's current escapades in Fiji than visiting our next door neighbour over the ditch.

Surfers Paradise turned out to not be quite the paradise we were hoping for.  In fact, it became a natural disaster zone some two days after arriving thanks to a rather nasty low off the south Queensland coast.  A man even lost his life just a kilometre up the road from where we were staying.  Nasty freak accident involving flying debris and smashing windows.

From our 16th floor vantage point, facing away from the sea (thank goodness), we could see all manner of deck furniture whizzing along the footpaths and roads.  No flooding near us, but the beach decided that the footpath might be retaken from man's interference.

Then one day, having ventured out in the rain to the nearest shopping mall in an attempt to fight off the cabin fever that comes from being stuck in an apartment with an energetic toddler, I discovered that our accommodation was situated on one of the worst wind tunnel corners in the neighbourhood.  This would have been fine, but for the fact that when I got off the bus with the toddler's push chair something in my brain did not register this potential.  And while crossing the road I found to my horror that it could become something of a windsail if I actually unfolded it.
Mercifully the breeze had dropped to just gale force and the rain was slightly less than horizontal meaning that I made it across the road only slightly worse for wear.   Quickly finding the least damp place I folded said windsail back down and proceeded to attempt "the corner" only to find that the gale force winds had gained a bit of momentum and the rain had resumed horizontal service.  Even folded down the windsail proved to be a problem.  Ducking around a large real estate sign flapping in the breeze I found myself confronted with "the corner" and barely made it across still on my own feet.  I genuinely thought that I was going to do a comic turn for those watching from the safety of their hotels or apartments.  The only unknown factor was: would I look like Mary Poppins or a very bad mime act doing the old "bear walking against wind" chestnut.
All members of the Oh Waily household made it safely to their digs, wet and windswept, but grateful to be indoors again.

And there really isn't much more to say about the holiday - wet, windy, expensive (talk about fleece the tourists) - and it is the first time in my memory that I actually looked forward to coming home much more than staying where we were.

***

Just a note on Q1.
We booked through a third party, so the following comments may not apply to the Q1 managed apartments.

1. Definitely not luxury apartments.
In fact we decided, based on the real estate information in their own retail area, we were staying in a 1 bedroom plus study not the "2 bedroom compact" described.
2. Nothing to do indoors, so when bad weather hits it's your room or the lobby for undercover entertainment. Or a fairly long dash across the open pool areas to the games room (arcade games of all descriptions) and the indoor gym.

I have stayed in much nicer hotel and resort accommodation.  It was tidy and had we spent lots of time outside at the pool, would probably have seemed a lot better than it actually is.  However, the apartment amenities were just in fair condition and certainly don't deserve to be raved about.  (Nasty weather aside.)
It was the worst place I have ever slept.  Frosted glass doors meant light leakage from everywhere to the extent that I could have almost read in bed without a single light turned on.  No lock on the bathroom door - makes for interesting possibilities should you be sharing the accommodation as we were. The second bedroom sounded like an aircraft hanger when the air-conditioning was turned on and there was an unexplained background droning noise that we couldn't discover the source of too.

So, if tempted to stay here - don't be.  The marketing pictures are beautiful, but the stated costs per night do NOT warrant the quality of facilities provided.  Go to the Sheraton or the Westin in Fiji - they've both been done up in the last few years (one is more modern in style than the other), and on the whole provide a much better quality of experience.  At least they don't promise more than they provide.

Right, that's negative reviewer mode off.  Hope you were all well while we were away.

Holiday Time

This is just a quick note to say that the Oh Waily family will be on holiday from tomorrow until the same time next week.

We are all looking forward to it, and if I have the time and am able to, I will try to drop a short note here. Otherwise, if we do anything other than lie around reading books I will give a full report on our return.

Handy Home Hints - I

Okay, so I'm not Martha Stewart nor Delia Smith.   Normally I don't even venture into the land of handy household hints.  However I caved in to my personal gazingus pin about a week ago and purchased an Australian magazine called Notebook.

I reached the Home Life section and lo and behold there was a little informational section on how to select the best linen and have it last a lifetime.  I won't bore you with tales of thread count, sources of cotton or the ever increasing eco-interest in bamboo alternatives.  What did catch my eye enough to have me re-organising my linen storage was the suggested method of keeping all those pesky fitted and flat sheets together with their pillowcases.

I try, honestly I do. But somehow pillowcases decide that they don't want to stay with their sheets, or their duvet covers.  Sometimes they burrow down below a whole different set and hide amongst the florals and bows.  Don't laugh - I added that for artistic exaggeration - as you will know I am the least flower and bow type person you're likely to meet.

So here are the little gems that I picked up and implemented:

• Three sheet sets are all you need for each bed in the house: one on the bed, one ready and waiting in the cupboard and one in the wash.  The same applies for towels.


• Keep sheet sets tidy by folding one pillowcase and the fitted and flat sheets into a small square the size of half a pillowcase and then slipping them into the remaining pillowcase.  This way, king, queen and even single sets are folded to the same length and width, just a different depth, and can easily be stacked.

Okay don't laugh.  It's simple, it's obvious, but it didn't occur to me to keep everything together in a pillowcase.  I have used the same methodology with our duvet covers and matching pillowcases.  I'm sure it will be a vast improvement over the hit-and-miss storage in a box that I was previously using.  It may even weed out some useless and lonely singletons that should be put to other uses or, better yet, chucked out.

Just so the lovely folk at Notebook don't get the hump with me reproducing this snippet here - here's their website for you to visit and browse.  No doubt there will be lots of other nifty ideas to implement around the house.

And for those of you who may be unfamiliar with the term gazingus pin, let me introduce you to Your Money or Your Life.
The definition of a gazingus pin is:

A gazingus pin is any item that you just can't pass by without buying.

Magazines fell into the gazingus pin category for me pre-YMOYL.  You know how tempting they are at the supermarket checkout - pictures of lithe, sporty women on the fitness magazines; pristine, pretty, tidy rooms on the House and Garden magazines.  How can anyone resist them?
Well, at nearly $10 a  shot now, they have moved into being occasional treats instead. Otherwise the Oh Waily household would be moving inexorably towards bankruptcy and a house full of piles of glossy magazines with tiny winding trails between the stacks.  Ah, to have averted the "old lady's house" syndrome.  ;)

The Power of Kindness - Piero Ferrucci

This little gem of a book from Piero Ferrucci will probably be one of the few this year that may make a permanent place on my bookshelf.

It has been a very long time since I have read a book that I feel I can genuinely recommend to everyone I know.  It may or may not resonate deeply with you, but it should at least stimulate some thought about the place of kindness in its many forms in your daily life.

There are nineteen chapters, including the conclusion.  Each chapter is named for and discusses an experience, behaviour or emotional trait that impacts on and is impacted by kindness.  Here is the list: honesty; warmth; forgiveness; contact; sense of belonging; trust; mindfulness; empathy; humility; patience; generosity; respect; flexibility; memory; loyalty; gratitude; service; joy; and the conclusion.

It is quite hard to pull out a few quotes to give you an idea of what the book is about and how it is thought provoking.  Everyone who reads it will undoubtedly get something different from it based on their own life experience and current situation.  Naturally some aspects of Ferrucci's examples and explanations resonate more as they apply to your own life.

However I have attempted to pull out some snippets to give you a taster of what is inside.  I could have quoted half the book but one has to be sensible about these things.  I just hope my choices will stimulate an interest in a visit to your local library to read the rest.

In the chapter on Respect.

It may seem strange that by changing a thought in my mind I can change a trait in another person.  Yet it is only strange if we undervalue the importance of our mind, and if we forget the many ways in which we continually interact.  Various studies have demonstrated the Pygmalion phenomenon - if I change my perception of you, you will change.  The students who are seen by the teacher as the most intelligent become the most intelligent.  The employees who are seen by their bosses as the most competent and efficient become the most competent and efficient.  Our perception is like a ray of light falling on a plant - it makes it more visible, nourishes it, stimulates its growth.  Think of how many talents and qualities in everyone that are not fully manifest because they are not seen.

In the chapter on Warmth.

Like babies, we adults also need warmth - psychological warmth. Physical, too: sometimes we need to be touched and cuddled like babies.  But mostly we need someone to talk to, someone who knows and appreciates us.  Someone who cares about us.  Warmth then becomes a metaphor.  It is no longer a biological necessity, it is a quality we see in someone's eyes, hear in her voice, sense in the way she greets us.  It is at the very heart of kindness.

In the chapter on Mindfulness.

Attention is thus a form of kindness, and lack of attention is the greatest form of rudeness.  Sometimes it is a form of violence, especially when children are concerned. Negligence is justifiably regarded as abuse when it reaches an unacceptable level, but in small doses it is one of the most common childhood ignominies.  In someone else's presence we can hang up the sign "Back soon" and keep thinking our own thoughts. Inside our heads are thousands of possible trains of thought, seductive and terrifying, all clamoring for our attention.  We can listen to them, lose ourselves in them, and the person in front of us might not even notice.  But we can also pay attention.  Inattention is cold and hard.  Attention is warm and caring.  It makes our best possibilities flower.

And the final paragraph of the conclusion:

Strange perhaps, and paradoxical, but true: The most sensible way to further our own interests, to find our own freedom, and to glimpse our own happiness, is often not to pursue these goals directly, but to look after other people's interests, to help other people be freer from fear and pain, to contribute to their happiness.  Ultimately, it is all very simple.  There is no choice between being kind to others and being kind to ourselves.  It is the same thing.

***

I hope you receive and recognise an act of kindness in your life today.  Ideally, I hope that you give an act of kindness to someone who needs it today too.  A smile, a five minute chat, an offer to pick up something from the supermarket and save someone else the effort.  All of which go a long way to bringing a spot of kindness and goodwill into another person's life.

Have a happy day !

Around the World in 80 Clicks meme

I was tagged by Charlotte recently and I am finally getting around to catching up.

This is a global conversation about motherhood, specifically what (if anything) we enjoy about being a mother.  Are there differences between cultures, countries or even your friends down the road?   To get a better idea of what started this off, take a visit to the original post and blogger in Canada, Her Bad Mother.

I am now joining the conversation of Around The World Mums, and here are five things I like and/or dislike about being a Mum.

1. I love the exuberant cuddles and laughter of my daughter.  There truly is nothing quite like her unadulterated love and affection to bring an enormous smile to my face and a warm fuzzy feeling to my heart.


2. I love being able to watch her mind growing.  I find myself constantly amazed by her ability to learn new skills and fearlessly explore her environment.  Such curiosity and adventure is wonderful to watch.  It does make me slightly wistful to think how much of that natural ability we tend to lose as we grow older.


3. I don't always love the constancy of being a parent.  It's darned hard work being "on duty" all of the time, and it has been taking me quite a while to balance out my conflict of interest - Mummy-duty vs Individuality-maintenance.   I guess it's the mother's equivalent of work-life balance issues.


4. It's been an interesting adventure in self-discovery.  Motherhood has definitely been a patience-teacher and a flaw-exposer.  This is a double edged sword.  The realisation that some of your bad habits are bound to turn up in your children is not a wonderful epiphany.  The upside is that at least you know what you want to work on not passing on.   And, of course, you know that your good qualities are going to make the trip too.


5. I love the ability to share experiences, fun, knowledge and skills.   What better thing can there be than watching your children becoming a "person" with their own distinct personality and preferences?  For me, it's one of the best things about being a Mum.

Okay, now is the hard part.  I culled my blog reading a while ago as it was taking up so much time, and that leaves me with only a few potential onward links.  Funny though, the remaining blogs tend to have a mother as their author even if the blog has little or nothing specifically to do with family life.  What that means is: a couple of these folk may be surprised by the link - as I tend to lurk and enjoy their various forms of creativity. I hope they don't mind the intrusion.

Here are my mothers:  Andie in NZ; Sol in the UK; Patricia in the US; and Heidi in the US.

Crepes

A while ago I posted a recipe for Apple Crepes.  It was a two parter, involving the basic crepes recipe and the apple sauce.

Well, I have an improvement on that offering.  I know.  I didn't think I'd find a better recipe, but I have.
This little gem came from one of my lovely birthday presents and provided for a yummy weekend breakfast.

Source: James Martin Desserts

Crêpes

Ingredients:

125g plain flour
2 good pinches of salt (optional)
1 large egg
1 tablespoon melted butter, plus extra for frying
300 mls milk

Method:

1. Place the flour and salt in a bowl and add the egg, melted butter and half the milk.  Whisk until smooth and creamy, then mix in the remaining milk.


2. Leave the batter to rest for 10 minutes if you wish, although this is no longer deemed to be necessary as flours are now so thoroughly refined.


3. Heat a pancake pan (approximately 20cm) over a high heat and grease with a knob of butter.  Ladle the batter in, swirling to coat the base of the pan and cook the crêpes fro 1-2 minutes on each side, until golden.


4. You should get about 12-16 if you make thin ones.  Add you choice of filling and cream, ice cream or sauce and serve.


5. If you are making these in advance, layer them with squares of greaseproof and place in the freezer.  To serve, defrost and reheat either by placing in a pan with a touch of butter, microwaving for a couple of seconds or heating in the oven for 1 minute at 200C/400F/Gas mark 6.

James' Notes:
I've worked with some chefs who say you should rest the batter after mixing, while others say the opposite.  For me, the real secret of a good pancake or crêpe is, firstly, not to make the batter too eggy.  Secondly, make it quite liquid and not too thick as this will enable the mixture to spread more quickly and thinly into the pan.  Always fry in butter too (never olive oil or other oils) as it adds to the flavour, and because the quick cooking the butter will also add colour to the crêpe.

Ms OWW's Notes:
Our batch made about 7 or 8 using the stated quantities.  Our pan was probably larger than 20cm, but I think our flour may have been thirstier too.  And I whole-heartedly agree about the batter not being eggy.  It made a huge difference to the taste of these crêpes.  For the record, I made a bit of a mixed berry sauce to go with them and it was very loosely based on one of James's  recipes.