Holiday Tips for Hi-Tech Campers

One of the ways we keep our family holidays affordable is to camp. For us, that means hooking up our caravan and settling at various caravan parks. After all, hot showers and flushing loo's make life that much more enjoyable. Over the years they’ve ranged in comfort from bare necessities to beautiful grassed sites and plenty of amenities….like a swimming pool only 3 sites from our van. Perfect!
We also cook for ourselves. As much as the idea of not cooking is somewhat appealing, at some point we would tire of it. And we'd become quite plump, I suspect. And we'd have to mortgage the house to feed our lot....hungry monsters that they are. Besides, we are able to enjoy lots of barbecue's, eat outside, have our normal wide variety of meals. Remind me again why eating out is so appealing?
To this end, I usually pack myself a clutch of cookbooks that I simply cannot do without. This year, I’ve had myself a light bulb moment. We always take the laptop away with us so that the kids can watch movies during inclement weather or rare moments of boredom,....or rare moments of illness. Why not put my recipes on the laptop too? So I’ve been digging around and going through past menu plans for what we’ve eaten on our holidays in years gone past and begun putting together a holiday recipe file.
No more excess packing for me. No…I’ll save my book space for more important things. Like novels. I have 12 on my holiday stack!!!!

'The Sound of Sleigh Bells' by Cindy Woodsmall

One of the things I've managed to do is catch up on some of my reading and book reviewing, since school finished. Poor Rel has been somewhat inundated with three reviews landing in her inbox within almost as many days.

Rel has posted the first of the three I sent her ~ 'The Sound of Sleigh Bells' by Cindy Woodsmall, and there is a giveaway included. So make sure you click your little mouse in her direction to check out my review and enter the giveaway. Cindy Woodsmall is an amazing author and this book is one worthy of a place on the bookshelves of readers everywhere.

Monday's Summer Holiday Menu Plan

I suspect my menu plans will be quite irrelevant to those in the northern hemisphere. However, for those of us below the equator, we're just beginning to enjoy summer....barbecue's, salads, alfresco dining. Many people flock to seaside areas to camp....or find accommodations a little more upmarket, but nevertheless, close to the sea.

We're not quite into the full-on heat of summer where I am, so my menus reflect my husband's desire for bbq's mixed with the reality that it is still cool enough to have a hot meal!

Monday: Ricotta fritters, vegies or salad
Tuesday: Warm Chicken Salad
Wednesday: Sweet & Sour Pork Meatballs, rice
Thursday: BBQ pork rissoles, salad, potato cubes
Friday: Singapore Noodles
Saturday: Nachos
Sunday: BBQ chicken fillets, salad, potato cubes

Bathers

Once Christmas has come, been enjoyed and gone again we Aussie's then look ahead to summer holidays. Guess what that means for us who live in the way south? Bathers.

I have faced my fear of buying bathers head-on. I won the battle by the skin of my teeth.

My last set of bathers was in the form of a long tankini top and board shorts .... ladies ones, of course. I bought them nine long years ago when Mr Busy was but a babe in arms. They were jolly expensive, as I recall, but they've lasted a really long time. They were perfect ~ swimwear that covers all the scary bits you don't want anyone to see from neck to knee! Last summer I noticed that the fabric on the tankini was stretching and deteriorating. I hate shopping for bathers so you can imagine I was not happy that they were not going to last forever!

Miss Sunshine had the onorous task of judging the suitablity of my choice this time around. She assures me they look OK and I figure a 13yo girl who would be happy to see Mum in that top would know. I found new board shorts to match and we became much the poorer for my expensive, but limited choice. Last night I was reading the tags...impressive claims about making one look their best. Not sure about that, but they feel comfortable and I reckon I could spend the day wearing them, as we're inclined to do on 37C days and not feel all wobbly and uncomfortable.

Hopefully I'm set for another 9-10 years or so.

Merry Christmas

Our tree is sparkling with lots of gifts beneath, just waiting for the morning to arrive. I think even I am all ready now, having finished preparing my food offerings for tomorrow's family gathering. I hope you're ready too!

Tonight we enjoy the Carols by Candlelight live from Melbourne. It's the one constant Christmas tradition we've managed to maintain every year!

I hope and pray that each one of you experience and blessed and precious Christmas. One that is filled with laughter, joy, family and all the traditions that make the day special to your family. Most importantly, may you be filled with the wonder and awe God's most incredible gift to us.

Slow Starts and Busy Days

I had the strangest start to today....I got up and got started....and then went back to sleep around 8.00am. The kids were most surprised to see me still in bed at 9am. Too bad they couldn't see that I was dressed for the day LOL.

I've a busy day ahead. A day that will include cooking, cleaning, baking, and preparing for next week. I may even get a load of laundry washed and hung...by my own hand. Dh does all our laundry, usually, but I'm pretty sure the children and I will manage just fine. And there's time yet for him to fit another load in before the weekend. He starts to prowl the house looking for something to wash if he doesn't get to do some for more than a week.

So...time to really get started. We've got friends coming for dinner and the little boy I work with in Mr Busy's class is coming by to drop off something for Mr Busy later today as well.

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My little simple joy for today: My SIL dug up some oregano out of her flourishing garden for me, and this morning I got it planted. It wasn't looking too happy, but it was still green! I've been wanting oregano and my last little plant was killed along with the nearby weeds.

Family, Fun and Food

I feel a bit like all we've done over the last three days is munch our way through vast amounts of food, not unlike the picture above!

Our 'overseas' family members have returned to the in-laws and we've returned home to finish some Christmas shopping and recuperate from a few too many late nights in a row. Our niece looked about ready to burst into tears at having to leave Family Camp. However, we hugged and farewelled with the promise of catching up next week ~ our last opportunity before they head back to the US.

After such a relaxed interlude before Christmas, I've almost forgotten about all the preparations I need to make for the days ahead LOL.