24 June 2015

The school holidays lurgy

Well its that time again where school holidays are just around the corner and what do you know, I am sick again! I. am. over. it! I don't know what it is but for some reason I seem to catch whatever lurgy the girls have had, but get it worse, right in time for school holidays!!

Maybe I'm rundown and in need of a "Mummy holiday"....oh I wish, I guess a girl can dream.

Anyway I'm going to keep this short, as I have a cracker of a headache. I thought I would leave with you some happy snaps and wish you a nice break over the school holidays. I'll be taking a little break from the blog and will be back at it when school goes back.

I am hoping by then I'll be feeling much better and be able to write more than a couple paragraphs :)

Now here's the happy snaps!!

It was a freezing cold day on Sunday and what did the girls want as a treat....an iceblock!
After a couple weeks of scooting, Popette rode her bike without
training wheels for the 1st time!!

Yaaay!! She did it!! A very happy Popette.

19 June 2015

Recipe: Orange cake

Orange cake (serves 8-10 people)



Ingredients:

90g butter
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
3 tablespoon orange juice
1/2 cups of water
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar#
1 1/4 cup self raising flour, sifted

Method:

Grease and line 20cm round cake tin with grease-proof baking paper.

Place butter, orange rind, orange juice & water in a saucepan and stir until butter has melted.

In a separate bowl beat eggs & sugar until thick & creamy.

Fold sifted flour into egg mixture. Then lightly fold hot liquid into flour and egg mixture.

Pour into tin and bake in moderate oven at 180 degrees* for 35 to 40 minutes.

Turn onto rack & cool.


This is a lovely cake. Its very light and quite moist. Next time I made it I would add more grated orange rind, as the flavour is quite subtle.

Suggestions

# Since I didn't have any caster sugar in the pantry I substituted it for raw sugar, which still made the cake very light.

I have made this cake before for my Mum's 70th (shown below), as a double-layer cake with whipped cream spread in the middle using a 23cm round springform cake tin, which took 35 minutes to cook in a 160 degree (fan forced) oven.


*Timing and temperature may vary depending on your type of oven.


12 June 2015

Being grateful: Trusting my gut

Last week I wrote a post about trusting yourself. As a parent I need to trust myself more, and not worry so much about what others think. I need to go with my gut feeling when I think something is wrong with my girls, and not doubt those feelings. Thankfully this week I did just that. 

Last week Cherub was sick with a high temperature, congestion, runny eyes and cough. I thought she had picked up the same cold as Popette and myself had been suffering, so kept her home from preschool on Tuesday while she was on the mend.

Then I thought about taking her to the "special" playgroup we had been attending on Wednesdays, but thought I'd give her one more day at home. I didn't want her catching something else if one of the other kids was sick with something.

Cherub enjoying some colouring-in on a recent outing

Of course Cherub complained, she wanted to get out of the house and play with other kids. So I made a deal with her, if she was okay by Thursday we would go to playgroup. 

So off we went to playgroup. We had a lovely morning catching up with friends. Cherub had fun riding trikes and playing with the kids outside. 

Then when we got home I noticed a rash behind her ears and on her face. At first I thought she might have been bitten by something, then thinking about how she was sick the week before I decided to take her to the doctor's.

Call it mothers intuition I must have sensed something was not quite right with her. Not that she seemed tired or grumpy, she was her happy little self and kept telling me "I'm fine Mumma". 

It was when the doctor told me so matter-of-factly that Cherub had german measles. Aaarggh!! I must have looked worried, as he reassured me that if we were all vaccinated (yep), I wasn't pregnant or have a baby then there was nothing to worry about. There was no cure for it, and really nothing I could do except keep her home for 4 days while she had the rash.

After we picked up Popette from school, I rang everyone I could think of informing them that Cherub had contracted german measles. What I wasn't expecting was a phone call from the local Health Unit giving me the 3rd degree about my daughter. 

Our conversation went something like this.

"Is your daughter vaccinated?"
"Yes she's fully vaccinated".
"How old is she?"
"She will be 4 in September".
"Has she had her 4 year needles yet?"
"No, as she hasn't turned 4 yet"!!??
"Well she can have her 4 year needles from 3 1/2 years of age" (I didn't know that)

She went on and on asking me questions, making me feel like it was my fault that Cherub had contracted german measles! It got me so mad as I had done the right thing informing everyone, taking her to the doctor, having her vaccinated at the appropriate ages (ok maybe not her 4 year needles yet!!), what else could I do to protect my daughter?

Cherub had been to so many places she could have picked it up anywhere. One friend asked if she had picked it up from an unvaccinated child from preschool. I have no idea. 

I'm just grateful that I trusted my gut and took her to the doctor's when I did, otherwise we wouldn't have known that she had german measles and she may have infected more children. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that none of her little friends from playgroup come down with it.

Have you ever experienced german measles? Have you ever experienced mothers intuition? Do you trust your gut?

02 June 2015

Trusting yourself

I remember the time my husband and I went hiking in Tasmania. We were walking along Marion's Lookout, which is one of the tougher routes to the top of Cradle Mountain. I wasn't a very fit person, or an experienced hiker so I was a little worried whether I could push myself along the medium to hard hike. What also didn't help me was my fear of heights. 

There was a moment I started to stress about how I would get myself down. On the way up I read a plaque where a woman had fallen to her death, so it freaked me out and I started to doubt my ability. I remember saying to my husband that I hoped a helicopter could land on top of the mountain, because that's the only way I would be getting down from here. 


Marion's lookout - me pointing at the cliff I had to climb!
We were at a point of the hike where we needed to climb a sheer cliff using a chain fence. It was at that moment my fear of heights really set in and I was so afraid to move my feet. I really didn't think I'd be able to manage the rest of the hike. Thankfully my Hubby came to my rescue, and went all Drill Sergeant ordering me to 'Get your ass up there woman!' and telling me that he knew I could do it.

It was at that moment I knew I had to trust myself and climb the cliff.

Amazingly I did it. 

I climbed the freaking cliff and found myself at the top of Cradle Mountain looking over Dove Lake and the beautiful surrounds.

We were so fortunate to have a clear, crisp winter's day with the most spectacular of views. This was 11 years ago, so before we had a mobile with a camera!


The spectacular view of Cradle Mountain, Tasmania
On the top of the mountain I felt exhilarated and proud of myself for reaching the top. I felt as though I could do anything! After feeding myself so much doubt, I did it!


I did it! I climbed the freaking cliff!
 When it was time to hike back down, I didn't stress that much as I felt confident. I trusted myself and my ability.  

Why am I sharing this story I hear you ask.

I guess I haven't been trusting myself enough lately, and needed to remember a time when I did. I have been second-guessing my decisions and not being honest with myself.

As a parent I need to trust myself more. I need to trust in what I believe is the right thing, and trust what my husband and I are doing as parents is right and not care what others say.

When was the last time you trusted your gut? Have you ever doubted yourself? Are you afraid of heights?