The last couple of months have been really tough. We have budgeted hard, we have gone without and we have been very, very careful. I could almost see the end (I need to qualify that we were getting some income again) as we were getting paid very soon. I keep saying that very soon not long to go and I am going to get a couple of things. Nothing big, just something that I would really like. A pair of boots, its cold and I could justify getting them and a pretty peacock feather cushion. We have a few big bills looming and well that is alright until today. Today things changed as the company has decided not to pay. No there was no problems with the work done, no problems with the invoicing, no problems with anything else really they just don't want to pay in spite of the promises to pay promptly. They want to blackmail us and get us to commit fraud instead of just paying the money they owe for services already rendered. I have to tell you that things really change in our thinking and how we operate it was like being retrenched all over again however this time there was no money coming, plus expenses have already been paid for and more were looming, no savings no safety net nothing. It has been quite some time since the last time we were paid any income and so we were very excited. We both decided a treat would be in order nothing to extravagant but something that we might really want or need. No harm in that. We have the school holidays coming up and we are broke before we even start. I do have a voucher for the movies however not quite enough for all of us. I have some money coming up for a survey but not quite yet.
So now we are back to survival mode.
I am again looking at what we can sell.... we can generate some money and quickly. How I can do more, work or something.
It was very hard to concentrate at school today.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
just one of those weeks!
I needed something to help lift my spirits. I have been having one of those weeks for a while now seems to be dragging on to one of those months. i found myself crying for hours the other day. I was so missing my girl, I was feeling sorry for myself and the tears continued to flow. My back is sore, my assignments are piling up, I am cold, tired and over most things. I think I need a bit of vitamin d from the Queensland sun and even that seems to be hiding at the moment, not that I have either the time or the money to go there!
So next best thing. Baking and making... just food. I have sewing plans however I cannot possible justify making anything until all my work is done and dusted.
My Petal has been very upset too. She is over watching her friends eat anything and everything that she cannot half. It is close to the end of term and well we are all tired and looking forward to a break. I thought a lovely treat of something pink might help and we couldn't resist the lovely raspberries (a very very rare treat for us budget conscious) so they were going to go into an organic ice cream Pink and wonderful. I am also going to pop some on top, they just look so pretty. We managed to get some very cheap organic cream and I have plans for the little bottles too!
I think they are just such a lovely looking fruit!
I find it difficult to capture the colour of the lovely pink ice cream but I am sure that you get the idea.
I also needed to make a date loaf. I have many missing people in my life. This really makes me think of them and smile.
I also needed a food that was U for my hurricanes morning tea at school. Sometimes you have to be very creative, we had udon noodles however it was not really a morning tea food, so the next thing that came to mind was an Un-iced cake and Unsalted butter.
Please don't look at the washing in the background it was to help stop the light flooding the picture and that is my story!
So next best thing. Baking and making... just food. I have sewing plans however I cannot possible justify making anything until all my work is done and dusted.
My Petal has been very upset too. She is over watching her friends eat anything and everything that she cannot half. It is close to the end of term and well we are all tired and looking forward to a break. I thought a lovely treat of something pink might help and we couldn't resist the lovely raspberries (a very very rare treat for us budget conscious) so they were going to go into an organic ice cream Pink and wonderful. I am also going to pop some on top, they just look so pretty. We managed to get some very cheap organic cream and I have plans for the little bottles too!
I think they are just such a lovely looking fruit!
I find it difficult to capture the colour of the lovely pink ice cream but I am sure that you get the idea.
I also needed to make a date loaf. I have many missing people in my life. This really makes me think of them and smile.
I also needed a food that was U for my hurricanes morning tea at school. Sometimes you have to be very creative, we had udon noodles however it was not really a morning tea food, so the next thing that came to mind was an Un-iced cake and Unsalted butter.
Please don't look at the washing in the background it was to help stop the light flooding the picture and that is my story!
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Come on Charlie!
Fridays used to be very different, massages, homework and assignments a bit of housework and catching up on things. Now my fridays are filled with helping care of my Other Half's father.
He has vascular dementia and alzeihmers so double dose of something insidious.
The progression from diagnosis to here has been very quick. I was warned my others, who had seen one of the diseases progression in family members, that it was VERY quick. I cannot believe and impress upon anyone how quick the demise is.
So on Friday, I help take care of him. It doesn't involve too much, a bit of toilet stuff, a bit of keeping him from running away. A bit of house re-arranging (mostly walking around behind him putting things back when he removes them from cupboards or shelves and hides them somewhere else) and help with visits if we have to go to the doctors. I also try to massage his wrist/hand and arm or provide aids that he might need for his ongoing health problems. I seem to have a calming influence on him, I am not sure how true this is, however well i talk to him, I try to make sense of things he saids, sometimes it's like doing a cryptic crossword other times it's just nonsense. I help him with quotes and sayings when he loses the words. I do homework and speak to others to find out what might help stop this progress or even stay it a little.
This friday I noticed that the conversations where very difficult mostly just nonsense.
Sometimes we laugh not at him but just try to find the funnier side. He joins in a laughs enjoying the fun and merryment. Mostly it is just really hard work. So hard looking at someone that you know and love and they are there but not there at all.
This friday there was a dog that was bothering him. He was calling to him and patting his leg and insisting that "Charlie" come to him and trying to persuade him however this dog was not making a move. He tried for a few minutes and then stopped.
He then moved rooms however he was keeping his eye on the dog just in case he tried to go out. The dog was resisting and in spite of his persistence the dog refused to budge much to his dismay. "Come on Charlie"
(Charlie is a term that is often used in the family a name for anyone that is endeared to the family. Come on Charlie is often said by my other half's mother to anyone that she needs to move along especially to his father. So hearing come on Charlie for the dog made perfect sense to me.)
We had a lovely conversation about the dog and that I didn't think he was going to be very obedient today or he might be having a nap. This seems to make sense......
He has vascular dementia and alzeihmers so double dose of something insidious.
The progression from diagnosis to here has been very quick. I was warned my others, who had seen one of the diseases progression in family members, that it was VERY quick. I cannot believe and impress upon anyone how quick the demise is.
So on Friday, I help take care of him. It doesn't involve too much, a bit of toilet stuff, a bit of keeping him from running away. A bit of house re-arranging (mostly walking around behind him putting things back when he removes them from cupboards or shelves and hides them somewhere else) and help with visits if we have to go to the doctors. I also try to massage his wrist/hand and arm or provide aids that he might need for his ongoing health problems. I seem to have a calming influence on him, I am not sure how true this is, however well i talk to him, I try to make sense of things he saids, sometimes it's like doing a cryptic crossword other times it's just nonsense. I help him with quotes and sayings when he loses the words. I do homework and speak to others to find out what might help stop this progress or even stay it a little.
This friday I noticed that the conversations where very difficult mostly just nonsense.
Sometimes we laugh not at him but just try to find the funnier side. He joins in a laughs enjoying the fun and merryment. Mostly it is just really hard work. So hard looking at someone that you know and love and they are there but not there at all.
This friday there was a dog that was bothering him. He was calling to him and patting his leg and insisting that "Charlie" come to him and trying to persuade him however this dog was not making a move. He tried for a few minutes and then stopped.
He then moved rooms however he was keeping his eye on the dog just in case he tried to go out. The dog was resisting and in spite of his persistence the dog refused to budge much to his dismay. "Come on Charlie"
(Charlie is a term that is often used in the family a name for anyone that is endeared to the family. Come on Charlie is often said by my other half's mother to anyone that she needs to move along especially to his father. So hearing come on Charlie for the dog made perfect sense to me.)
We had a lovely conversation about the dog and that I didn't think he was going to be very obedient today or he might be having a nap. This seems to make sense......
Monday, June 18, 2012
New Blogs
I was speaking to one of my class mates yesterday and found that we have a few things in common besides massage. One being that food is important to us and two is that she has a blog as well. I was thrilled to bits and asked if she would be happy to share this with me. Last night after getting home from class I received the link. I was so excited I decided to make something straight away. I quickly looked and found something that I thought would be lovely to make and eat. Ginger cup cakes was my choice, I announced to the children that they could help and I had one volunteer immediately. The hurricane wanted to finish his reader first so he was helping in a bit.
I think there is something really nice about the smell of baked goods filling the house, something special that everyone seems to get involved in, the licking the bowl, the watching the oven and the eating of when they are still hot!
There are so many lovely recipes on this blog that I am going to try. We did enjoy the cupcakes as something a bit different.
I think there is something really nice about the smell of baked goods filling the house, something special that everyone seems to get involved in, the licking the bowl, the watching the oven and the eating of when they are still hot!
There are so many lovely recipes on this blog that I am going to try. We did enjoy the cupcakes as something a bit different.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Biggest Morning Tea
Lots has been happening in between assignments, school, hospital visits and friends getting very sick. We had a moment to reflect on those that were fighting the good fight and those that had fought and lost the battle to cancer. My beautiful father (Poppy) being one of them.
We (the children and myself) went to Cathie's Biggest Morning Tea.
It was a lovely afternoon of cakes, crafts and beautiful people getting together and producing an amazing event. I even saw Curly Pops, I was too overwhelmed with all the amazing bloggers to even saw one word. I was happy to just know that I was in great company and I could quietly reflect on what this all meant.
The children had so many helpings of cake and biscuits and all the beautiful items i lost count. My Hurricane who was in a very disagreeable mood was so happy there and on the way home, I got hugs and sorry mummy and more hugs and kisses.
We managed to win one of the many raffles and I came home with a lovely big slice of cake for my other half and pillows and hearts and very happy children.
We (the children and myself) went to Cathie's Biggest Morning Tea.
It was a lovely afternoon of cakes, crafts and beautiful people getting together and producing an amazing event. I even saw Curly Pops, I was too overwhelmed with all the amazing bloggers to even saw one word. I was happy to just know that I was in great company and I could quietly reflect on what this all meant.
The children had so many helpings of cake and biscuits and all the beautiful items i lost count. My Hurricane who was in a very disagreeable mood was so happy there and on the way home, I got hugs and sorry mummy and more hugs and kisses.
We managed to win one of the many raffles and I came home with a lovely big slice of cake for my other half and pillows and hearts and very happy children.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Saturday, June 9, 2012
off to market
Today instead of going to a farmers market we had booked ourselves in for a tour. We have already done Victoria Market tour, that was fabulous and when we saw a tour for the Prahran Market we decided that this would be another great opportunity.
So we dashed across town to a very busy and great area Prahran. That in itself was an adventure, the roads were closed, a car accident and lots of adventure with parking. We managed to contact them and tell them we were late. I was hoping that this would help however the tour guide seemed to have her own ideas.
Anyhow after a few hiccups were were happy tasting at our first stop of all things today, Galati. Lovely. no cream added (I personally didn't think that cream was added however what do I know). I managed to get 2 little tastings (very vanilla, and when I told the lovely women serving that I really enjoyed vanilla, she handed me another one to try BEAUTIFUL) I realised if this first tasting was anything to go by then they were going to be very very small.
Next was yoghurt, another interesting choice for a particularly cold and wet day. Here we also had some creme brulee macaroon. They were beautiful, so lovely and fresh and what a wonderful choice of flavours. We had very small tastings again and it was put back with some left over, I was feeling very hungry (it was lunchtime) and so decided that everyone could enjoy another go. The yoghurt was plain and rich and lovely, again no cream and no added sugar.
Next we headed to 2 amazing stalls. One specialises in Potatoes (including the variety that was recently on a Heston Blume show) and the other stalls speciality was Mushrooms.
We were shown, lovely purple, purple congo and pink viking potatoes. These were not just the skins but the inside. We were advised by Michael (the stall holder) that we could make gnocchi with these varieties and would come up a beautiful colour. We went back and purchased these and were inspired by Masterchef to make gnocchi and then when ricing the potatoes to cook the skins instead of just composting them Oh my goodness crispy skins were lovely (so pretty with all the colours).
We were given a taste of a yam, yes raw and yes lovely and crisp and like a sweet water chestnut very agreeable. This was the largest tasting so far. Looking at all this lovely food and discussing it was making me very hungry.
We moved on to the mushroom stall, an amazing character who we talked to quite extensively. His knowledge of food like his potato counterpart was amazing. He had black truffles. My Red Headed Hurricane had found a lovely recipe that he wanted to try that involved truffles. At $4000kg I am not so sure that we will be trying this however well who knows! They had the most amazing flavour that I have ever smelt, I was not thinking that I would like even the smell and yet it was beautiful. Rich, earthy and dark like red wine. They are in season now and only stay in season for about 6-8 weeks.
We went back and purchased some other lovely products from this stall as well.
We moved on taste of victoria stall. In our travels and our farmers market adventures we knew of quite a few of these products. We did try a couple that we didn't know about and enjoyed them immensely. This stall changes according to season and products available.
Then on a chocolate stall that is waiting for a permanent spot. The real hot chocolate taste was quite a new experience of learning. Hot chocolate is not that if it's made from a powder; it's only cocoa powder and therefore a cocoa drink. This was made with melted chocolate and lovely!
We had a lovely tasting at the dried fruit stall. Dates, apricot kernels, pistachio's and something else. Still quite hungry but at least we are enjoying all sorts of tastings, 2 more tastings and that was it. We tried some amazing gluten free bread. Nothing stodgy and dense like I have had before this was light and wonderful.
The last tasting was baclava. What a lovely way to end the market tour. Very different to the Queen Victoria Market tour. We were given a lot more tastings, a lot more information especially at the stall and the produce and the history of the market as well.
It was very enjoyable. (Do not do this tour on an empty stomach or close to lunch!)
So we dashed across town to a very busy and great area Prahran. That in itself was an adventure, the roads were closed, a car accident and lots of adventure with parking. We managed to contact them and tell them we were late. I was hoping that this would help however the tour guide seemed to have her own ideas.
Anyhow after a few hiccups were were happy tasting at our first stop of all things today, Galati. Lovely. no cream added (I personally didn't think that cream was added however what do I know). I managed to get 2 little tastings (very vanilla, and when I told the lovely women serving that I really enjoyed vanilla, she handed me another one to try BEAUTIFUL) I realised if this first tasting was anything to go by then they were going to be very very small.
Next was yoghurt, another interesting choice for a particularly cold and wet day. Here we also had some creme brulee macaroon. They were beautiful, so lovely and fresh and what a wonderful choice of flavours. We had very small tastings again and it was put back with some left over, I was feeling very hungry (it was lunchtime) and so decided that everyone could enjoy another go. The yoghurt was plain and rich and lovely, again no cream and no added sugar.
Next we headed to 2 amazing stalls. One specialises in Potatoes (including the variety that was recently on a Heston Blume show) and the other stalls speciality was Mushrooms.
We were shown, lovely purple, purple congo and pink viking potatoes. These were not just the skins but the inside. We were advised by Michael (the stall holder) that we could make gnocchi with these varieties and would come up a beautiful colour. We went back and purchased these and were inspired by Masterchef to make gnocchi and then when ricing the potatoes to cook the skins instead of just composting them Oh my goodness crispy skins were lovely (so pretty with all the colours).
We were given a taste of a yam, yes raw and yes lovely and crisp and like a sweet water chestnut very agreeable. This was the largest tasting so far. Looking at all this lovely food and discussing it was making me very hungry.
We moved on to the mushroom stall, an amazing character who we talked to quite extensively. His knowledge of food like his potato counterpart was amazing. He had black truffles. My Red Headed Hurricane had found a lovely recipe that he wanted to try that involved truffles. At $4000kg I am not so sure that we will be trying this however well who knows! They had the most amazing flavour that I have ever smelt, I was not thinking that I would like even the smell and yet it was beautiful. Rich, earthy and dark like red wine. They are in season now and only stay in season for about 6-8 weeks.
We went back and purchased some other lovely products from this stall as well.
We moved on taste of victoria stall. In our travels and our farmers market adventures we knew of quite a few of these products. We did try a couple that we didn't know about and enjoyed them immensely. This stall changes according to season and products available.
Then on a chocolate stall that is waiting for a permanent spot. The real hot chocolate taste was quite a new experience of learning. Hot chocolate is not that if it's made from a powder; it's only cocoa powder and therefore a cocoa drink. This was made with melted chocolate and lovely!
We had a lovely tasting at the dried fruit stall. Dates, apricot kernels, pistachio's and something else. Still quite hungry but at least we are enjoying all sorts of tastings, 2 more tastings and that was it. We tried some amazing gluten free bread. Nothing stodgy and dense like I have had before this was light and wonderful.
The last tasting was baclava. What a lovely way to end the market tour. Very different to the Queen Victoria Market tour. We were given a lot more tastings, a lot more information especially at the stall and the produce and the history of the market as well.
It was very enjoyable. (Do not do this tour on an empty stomach or close to lunch!)
Monday, June 4, 2012
working on the face
So now that my Petal is out of the acute stage and her earache is starting to lessen I am working on remedial massage to help get some movement back into her face. If nothing else it will provide some relaxation and comfort.
I went to school on Thursday with the sole purpose of asking what to do. I have all this amazing medical knowledge at my disposal and I had to use it.
So firstly we are starting on a simple face massage, building up to a full face massage, working especially on the areas that are not working. I have also notice some other tight spot areas forming on her neck and shoulders so i am starting some remedial work there too.
So many assignments and catching up on all the housework that has been ignored whilst my Petal has been sick.
On Wednesday afternoon we are back to the hospital for our follow up appointment.
I went to school on Thursday with the sole purpose of asking what to do. I have all this amazing medical knowledge at my disposal and I had to use it.
So firstly we are starting on a simple face massage, building up to a full face massage, working especially on the areas that are not working. I have also notice some other tight spot areas forming on her neck and shoulders so i am starting some remedial work there too.
So many assignments and catching up on all the housework that has been ignored whilst my Petal has been sick.
On Wednesday afternoon we are back to the hospital for our follow up appointment.
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