June 2022 - PLAYWORKEATREPEAT

June

Hi!! It’s so great to be back again linking up with Shay and Sheaffer for this month’s What’s Up Wednesday post. I hope that you all had a great June. My head is spinning with how fast the year is flying by. How can June be over already?? Before we know it we’ll be putting up our Christmas trees again!! Well, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit but I really can’t believe that we are halfway through the year! Anyway, I’m really happy that you have stopped by to have a read and let me share with you what’s been going on for us this June. 1. What We’re Eating This Week Carbs, carbs, and more carbs!! I think the best thing about winter is the yummy comfort food. I’m always hungry and if I’m not eating I’m usually daydreaming about my next meal! So this week we have enjoyed some of my favourites like Meatloaf, mashed potato, roast pumpkin, and steamed veggies. With lots of gravy of course! Monday night I made Jambalaya for the first time and everyone declared it a winner. I also made a couple of spinach pastry rolls. I made up the same filling that I use when I make my spinach pie. Except that this time I didn’t have any puff pastry, so I used shortcrust instead. It still tasted good but I think I prefer the puff pastry. 2. What I’m Reminiscing About As this year is moving along at lightning speed I find myself thinking about how quickly my boys have grown up. My oldest son Luke has been living with his fiancee for about three years. Now my little Sam (as we affectionately call him even though he’s 6 ft tall) is finishing school in a few months. HOW??? He’s also trying to get his hours up with his driving. On Sunday he went to a safe drivers course which went for five hours. The great thing about this course is that it will give him an equivalent of twenty hours in his log book. Not sure how many more hours he needs to do before he can go for his driving test. That’s his Dad’s department because it’s too much for my head to cope with. He’s my baby!!! It honestly feels like it was only last week that he was driving around in his pop-pop bike. That’s what we used to call his little push-along bike with the plastic balls that would go pop pop pop as he drove around the house. Those years just went by way too fast. 3. What I’m Loving A short while ago I mentioned that a brand new Mecca store had opened up at our local Westfield and my head just about exploded with excitement. Well, I treated myself to a new moisturiser. Up until recently, I had been using the Sukin brand which was great. But I was coming to the end of the jar and I wanted to try a different brand. So based on the advice of the nice consultant in the shop I went ahead and bought this Sunday Riley ICE ceramide moisturising cream. Now I have no clue what ceramides are but the bright dazzling lights in the Mecca store had me in a trance. Also, the box said plump-looking baby-soft skin, and so I was immediately sold. The cream comes with a fancy ceramic scoop thing which I really love. It just feels so luxurious when I apply it to my face! And the great thing is that my skin does feel soft. This girl isn’t getting any younger and she needs all the help that box promises!! 4. What We’ve Been Up To The usual, juggling full-time work at preschool, blogging (not as often as I would like to. But slowly getting back into it). As a family we have also been doing our monthly dinners, we have our July one on Friday and I’m super excited about that. Steve and I have also been trying to go out for breakfast more often. A couple of Saturdays ago we tried a new cafe that we both really enjoyed. I had the shakshuka Steve had the poached eggs, halloumi and avocado We’re hoping to go back to the same cafe this Saturday because the last visit was so great. The staff were very friendly and the food was so good! I’ve also had a couple of fun outings with my sweet friend. We went to Vivid Sydney and The Sydney Museum recently. I love to schedule some fun things to look forward to. 5. What I’m Dreading Thankfully I’m not dreading anything at the moment. Phew! 6. What I’m Working On I have really been working on being more in the moment and trying to relax. Before I go to sleep every night I like to listen to a soothing guided meditation. I am a terrible jaw clencher and shallow breather. Two big no-no’s!! So this month has been more about self-care for me and I am feeling much better. As part of self-care, I have been doing cosy things like Lighting candles in the evening Using face masks Drinking tea and hot chocolate in my favourite mug. Watching favourite shows or reading on my comfy beanbag under a cosy blanket with my little cat Sushi keeping me warm. My apple watch is also really great for reminding me to breath and be mindful! 7. What I’m Excited About Winter break!! This is the last week of preschool before we break up for two weeks and I am beyond excited!! We aren’t going away anywhere but we have some fun things planned. I also want to paint my bedroom and the hallway. I know that this might not sound too exciting but I am actually looking forward to doing some painting. Well, I guess I’m mainly looking forward to seeing how fresh these two spaces will look once it’s done. I also don’t mind painting. I usually

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‘Walking Through A Songline’

9 Comments / Discovering NSW Australia

It was a gorgeous winter weekend in Sydney. The sun shone brightly and the skies were a crisp brilliant blue. It was not very cold either and we reached temps around 19-20C. I know that many people who live in much colder climates would consider these to be summer temps. But for us Sydneysiders, we still think it’s cold so we wear our coats and winter jackets. Because the weather was just so beautiful I was keen to get out and about. So on Saturday my lovely sweet friend and I went to The Museum Of Sydney to see an exhibition called ‘Walking Through A Songline’. The Museum Of Sydney Up until Saturday, I had no clue that this museum even existed! I got it all confused with The Australian Museum which is also located in the city. Anyway, after some initial confusion mainly on my part, we found it thanks to my friend who is way better at navigating her way around the city than I am. The Museum Of Sydney is really small. Here you will find only two floors of exhibits. But it is full of so much interesting history that I am quite happy to go back again another time. The small modern museum is built around the remains of the first government house in Australia. The exhibits are all about the origins of Sydney and extend right through to what’s going on in Sydney today. Walking Through A Songline This exhibition was the main reason why we visited the Sydney Museum and I have to say that I really loved it. Walking Through A Songline is a multi-sensory digital installation held in a darkened round theatre where you can just stand, watch, and enjoy. There really wasn’t much seating available other than a couple of long cushioned seats. But that was fine because the whole experience only went for about ten minutes so we watched it twice. Furthermore, because it runs on a loop, you could just walk in at any time. Walking Through A Songline is an immersive light experience. Beautiful light projections recreate the experience of walking through a songline. Songlines, Dreamtime, And The Seven Sisters A songline is a navigational track that maps out the routes of ancestral spirits as they make their way across Australia and link significant sites and locations. Aboriginal Australians use songlines to explain their stories, values, knowledge, and laws. A Dreamtime story is how Aboriginal Australians describe the creation of the universe and humans. Therefore Dreamtime is the basis of Aboriginal religion and culture. The Seven Sisters refer to the ancestral beings who descended on the earth and were trailed by a group of men. So ‘Walking Through A Songline’ is all about a Dreamtime story featuring the footsteps of the Seven sisters. How they navigated their way across Australia as they were being pursued by a group of men. I put together this short video so you could see some of the beautiful images. The music on the video is not the original but there was a lot of background noise so I added this soundtrack to it. I hope you like it! Walking Through A Songline was really a beautiful experience and I am so happy that I went. It was such a great way to get a small glimpse into Aboriginal culture and beliefs. There is so much to learn and so much that I don’t know. I am so glad that I found this small but very important museum. Some More Fun Things About Sydney You can find some more articles about beautiful Sydney here and here. ********** Linking up with Holly and Sarah Sharing on

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Eight Favourites For This Week

7 Comments / Friday Favorites

Hi everyone, hope you are all well and have enjoyed a great week. I think that I say this every week. But I really am always genuinely amazed at how fast the week goes by. I know that when I wake up on Monday mornings it doesn’t feel like that at all. But sure enough, Friday rolls around pretty fast. Again, thanks so much for stopping by to have a read and letting me share with you eight favourites for this week. 1. A Muddy Front Garden There was a broken water pipe in the front of my house. While this is definitely not on my list of favourites. I am relieved that the plumbers have now fixed it. The grass was so wet for weeks and we just thought that it was due to all the rain we had been having…….ummm no! When we started to see a puddle forming on top of the grass and there had been no rain for quite a while we soon realised that it must be a broken water pipe. The plumbers had to dig down really deep to fix it and they did try to save the grass but because it was so wet and muddy. It just wasn’t possible, so now we are looking into getting the lawn back to the way it was before. Oh well, at least the pipe is all fixed now. 2. Top Gun Maverick Tuesday night we finally went to see Top Gun Maverick and friends you were right it did not disappoint! If you haven’t gone to see it you totally have to. It was fantastic and I loved it way better than the first one. Steve and I went to see the movie with another couple of friends. After the movie, we went to the local pub for dinner where the food was meh…. but the wine was great! We had such a fun night with some really proper belly laughs. I have not laughed so hard in ages and it felt so good! 3. New Shoes I ordered some very practical and comfortable (but not very good-looking) shoes for work and they arrived earlier this week. My kitty was so happy with the box! 4. Work Lunches It’s nearly the end of term and I am just so over packing work lunches. So this week it’s really mainly been toast with vegemite and avocado. Good thing that the avocado and vegemite combo is a big favourite for me! 5. No Covid After the super fun 80th birthday lunch for my dear uncle last weekend. My cousin rang to say that a couple of people from the party had tested positive. I was chatting and hugged one of these lovely relatives but so far I have no symptoms. Fingers crossed!!!! 6. The Amazing Race I know that I am super late to the party but I am currently watching the latest season of The Amazing Race. Somehow I have managed to not find out who wins so that’s great! I am really enjoying it. The Amazing Race is one of my favourite shows. 7. Chicken Bolognese I made chicken bolognese instead of the usual beef bolognese and it was delicious! My son’s lovely girlfriend doesn’t eat red meat. So lately I have been using chicken instead of meat when I know that she is staying for dinner. 8. New Coffee Cups At preschool, we drink out of super-safe cups that will not spill. The cups that we were using were gradually starting to fall apart. So one of our lovely colleagues ordered some new ones and they arrived today. They are very different to the old ones we had and I like these ones much better! We even picked the colours we wanted. We ordered them from the Frank Green website which allowed us to choose the colour of the lid, base and even the colour of the top button. I went with pink, pink and hot pink. *********** That’s it for now, eight favourites for this week. I look forward to seeing you back here on Monday and I really hope that you have an amazing weekend! Happy Friday! Linking up with Andrea and Erika

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A Few Fun Events

6 Comments / Hello Monday

Hi friends, I hope you are all well and were able to enjoy a great weekend. They always seem to go by so fast, don’t they? I am happy to report that I am feeling well again. The antibiotics have done their work and my sinus infection is gone. My head feels clear and I no longer need a tissue box stuck to me. Yay!! I felt so much better on Friday and I was super relieved that I didn’t have to miss out on a few fun events that we had planned for the weekend. A Trophy! Ha! not a trophy for me but a trophy for my husband. From October to March, he swims with an amateur swim club. This year he won a trophy for the 50m freestyle championship and the presentation night was on Friday night. Because Steve had to work he wasn’t able to go so I went to collect it on his behalf. He was relieved that by Friday evening I was well enough to go to the presentation night. He was just itching to get his trophy home and place it in his special trophy cabinet. Yep, he has a trophy cabinet. I have never won a trophy in my life and if you know me you’ll know that I am the least sporty or competitive person ever. Steve is the complete opposite, hence the trophy cabinet! Anyway, it was fun collecting it for him. Two Birthday Parties on Saturday! My Uncle’s 80th Saturday I was so happy to go to my uncle’s 80th birthday lunch. Although we are not blood-related, my uncle’s mum and my grandmother were besties all the way back in the 1930s. The bonds of friendship have lasted down three generations and now we regard each other as family. He and his lovely wife who I refer to as my aunt have children around my age and we all call each other cousins. My uncle is such a sweet, kind, and gentle man. So it was really lovely to be with the family and celebrate. My aunt is an amazing cook and so we had a really delicious lunch! We finished off with a really yummy birthday cake filled with caramel and fruit. My Aunts Birthday After my uncle’s party, I raced home and quickly changed for the next party which started in the evening. This party was to celebrate another aunt from another side of the family. Again more fun, more food, and more cake! I really should have fasted for three days before so that I could have eaten more!! This aunty loves to dance and so that’s what we did for most of the night. We danced until my feet were sore and it was such a fun night of salsa and conga lines!! I wish that I had remembered to take more photos. We stayed until almost everyone except the immediate family had left. We pitched in and did a bit of cleaning up and then didn’t get home until 1.30 am. Sleepy Sunday After such a festive Saturday we all just slept in. I got up a bit earlier than everyone else and did a few chores. With such a busy couple of days, I hadn’t done much laundry. So I got onto that because I’m sure you all know that the laundry can quickly snowball into a huge mountain if you miss a couple of days! Here was one of my big piles that needed folding. We skipped breakfast like we sometimes do on a Sunday and I didn’t make it to church. But we enjoyed lunch together and then Steve went to work. Sam did some school work and I pottered around the house doing a few things. In the evening I made a beef casserole for Monday night’s dinner. After a big Sunday lunch, we didn’t feel very hungry for dinner so I just made ham, cheese, and tomato toasties. Yum, a hot toastie is always so good on a cold night! I am so happy that I made the beef casserole and won’t have to cook on Monday night. I feel like a hero when I am ahead with a meal!! My meal planning has completely gone out the window! I started off strong this year then life went haywire and now I’m off track. It’s my goal to get back to planning my weekly meals because it does make life so much easier! ********* That’s All Folks Well, that wraps up my weekend. Saturday sure was a fun one!! We have two more weeks left of preschool before the winter holidays. But who’s counting? 😉. I hope you all had a great weekend and are ready for a brand new week. Thanks for stopping by to have a read, I always appreciate you taking the time to do so! Happy Monday friends! Linking up with Sarah and Holly

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A Few Favourites For This Week

4 Comments / Friday Favorites

Hi everyone, it’s so great to see Friday again and I really hope you are all well and have had a great week. I’m just dropping by to share a few favourites for this week. I was sick with a cold last week and I thought that I was shaking it off really well. But I started going downhill again on Wednesday and I ended up with a sinus infection. So now I’m on antibiotics and I had to take a couple of days off from work. Thankfully I am feeling much better now. Anyway, I still had a few favourites sprinkled into my week aside from just being in bed and looking at this tissue box for most of Thursday. 1. Last weekend I made a trip into the city with my sweet friend and her two lovely kids. We went in for the Vivid Sydney light festival. It was a really fun night and we enjoyed looking at the beautiful light displays around Circular Quay. There were also some cool light sculptures and SO many people out and about on a cold winter’s night. You can watch a little video that I made which shows some really beautiful light projections and read all about it here. 2. We stopped off at a little store for some snacks on our way back to the train station after Vivid. I spotted my favourite chocolate bars. They were $6.00 each!! I didn’t buy any and I was happy to know that I still had one left at home. My cousin had been to the U.S.A last year and she brought some back for me. Baby Ruth’s are hard to find in Australia so they are always a big treat and I always make sure to make them last! 3. It was the Queen’s Birthday Long weekend last weekend so Monday was a public holiday. Some of my friends came over for dinner and to watch Top Gun. We are all excited to go and see Top Gun Maverick next week. We had some drinks and enjoyed a cheeseboard while we watched the movie. Then for dinner, we had some penne pasta with Vodka sauce that I made. 4. I felt really unwell all day on Wednesday while I was at work and I couldn’t stop sneezing AGAIN!! I didn’t have the best day. Steve had the night off from work and he had this waiting for me when I got home. We also had plans to go out for dinner later on. I was determined to go even though I just felt so sick that I wanted to crawl into bed. We don’t get many evenings together as Steve works nights. I was not going to give in to a cold!!! I had a shower and took some panadol and Dimetapp (not together). And we went out. We both had delicious steaks, a couple of drinks and we shared a dessert. We had a lovely time and got home at around 8.50 and I was in bed by 9. I made it!! And that was it for me, I woke up with pain above my eye the next morning and I knew that I had a sinus infection. 5. Thursday I went to the doctors who put me on some antibiotics. In the afternoon my kind aunty dropped off some herbal teas for me and then I mostly had soup and stayed in bed for the next couple of days. 6. My favourite kitty came to see me. She was confused because it was well past midday and I was still in bed on Thursday. Or maybe she was annoyed that I was home and she couldn’t secretly lie on my bed. Thankfully I am feeling much better again and I am looking forward to a nice weekend. I hope you have the best weekend too. Thank you so much for stopping by and letting me share with you a few of this week’s favourites. Happy Friday! Linking up with Andrea and Erika for today’s Friday Favourites post

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Vivid Sydney

3 Comments / Discovering NSW Australia

Vivid Sydney is held every year and it is a festival of light and music. It runs for three weeks in May and June. Every year Sydney lights up with amazing building projections on famous landmarks and buildings throughout the city of Sydney. There are also beautiful light sculptures and Sydney truly comes alive during those three weeks. This fun festival brings thousands of people into the city during the winter. This year was extra special and exciting because Vivid Sydney sadly had to be canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID. But this year it was back, bigger and better than ever before! My Visit To Vivid Sydney I ventured into the city with a friend last week to have a look at the dazzling light displays around Circular Quay. It was a cold night and I made sure to wear an extra warm jacket. But with so many people around I hardly felt cold at all. It was super crowded as I had expected but I really felt that it was really well organised. There were lots of staff giving clear directions. And many areas were blocked off so that the flow of people went in one way and out another. This meant that there were no jams and although everyone walked at a snail’s pace. The flow of the crowds ran pretty smoothly. I hadn’t been to Vivid for many years so I really noticed a dramatic difference in how well it was organised. There were so many food stalls offering delicious food options right in the middle of all the light action. Cafes, restaurants, and pubs were all open so it was easy to find somewhere to enjoy a meal. This was really great because when I went to Vivid many years before we really struggled to find somewhere to eat where the queues weren’t a kilometre long and were starving! I loved the projections onto this building which is called Customs House The beautiful Opera House A light sculpture Circular Quay foreshore So many people! A Video of Vivid Sydney I have added a quick video I did but I am not sure of the quality or if it will play back properly for you. It’s the first time I have tried this so fingers crossed that it works. 🤞🏼 It was a beautiful night and I had a lot of fun seeing the Vivid Sydney festival. If you would like to see a previous post about Beautiful Sydney during the day, you can find it here.

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Dream Travel Locations

8 Comments / Home

Hi friends, today I am looking at dream travel locations! What a fun topic, I love the idea of visiting many dream destinations BUT as I have mentioned many times before. I am totally afraid of flying so unfortunately some of these locations will always remain a dream for me! I have to say though that my fear will NOT stop me from traveling. So if I am invited to a destination wedding like I have been for January next year. Then I will get on THAT plane. If I won a trip around the world then I would definitely go. I would just be paralyzed with fear and not want anyone around me to speak to me. You see I would be too busy concentrating on making sure the plane was flying along nicely as it should be. (because I would really know if something was wrong….not). I am thankful that I have put my fear aside and have been on a plane many times before and traveled to a few really beautiful destinations. So I have listed some dream locations that I have already visited and added a few that I haven’t. Disneyland I just love love love Disneyland and I have been very fortunate enough to visit it three times. I first went when I was 10, 14, and 30. It truly is such a magical place and I remember feeling so emotional when I walked through the entrance the last time I went. I still get all choked up thinking about it. The Netherlands My husband was born in Australia but his family is from The Netherlands. I have seen such beautiful photos of the buildings, landscapes, and scenery. All looks so breathtaking plus I love the sound of the language. I tried learning Dutch a while ago but I just couldn’t get my head around it! Machu Pichu I was born in Peru but my family moved to Australia when I was an eight-month-old baby. So aside from visiting family when I was ten, I haven’t been back and I never got to see any of the touristy places. Machu Pichu does look like an amazingly interesting place to visit. Hawaii Hawaii is just beautiful! The people are so relaxed and friendly, the pace is so much slower than in the big cities. It definitely makes my list of dream travel locations. I have family who actually lives in Hawaii so I really should visit more often. The last time I went was back in 2004. New Zealand I was lucky enough to visit New Zealand in 2007. My cousin had the most spectacular wedding there as his wife is from New Zealand. We stayed in Christchurch and loved every minute of our stay. So much beautiful scenery and interesting places to visit like The Antarctic Centre. Fiji I have never been to Fiji but have heard that it is beautiful and that the people are extremely friendly. Bula! Lord Howe Island This is where Steve and I went on our honeymoon and we spent two glorious weeks on Lord Howe Island. It’s an amazingly beautiful place to visit. Lord Howe Island is a tiny Australian island in the Tasman sea. It has crystal clear waters and the most gorgeous beaches. There are not many people living on the island and they only allow a certain number of tourists in to visit at any one time. So this means that it is never crowded, you can literally have an entire beach to yourselves!! Furthermore, what totally surprised me was that you can leave your hotel room unlocked and leave any valuables on the beach and nobody steals anything! Nantucket I hear about Nantucket a lot from many blogs I read and it just sounds like the most fantastic place! I don’t know much about it other than that it looks like such a cute place to visit. Canada Canada looks just glorious! A friend of mine visited a few years ago and she went to places like Lake Louise and Whistler. Her photos of the scenery looked absolutely spectacular. Someone once described Canada to me like this “Canada is like Australia only way better”???hahaha!! Sweden I watched a show called “Wallander” a few years ago. This show was set in Sweden and I think I loved looking at the background scenery as much as I loved the show. Sweden fascinates me but I think that I would have to visit in the Summer. If I can’t cope with Australian winters which are mild compared to most of the world. Then there is no way I could cope with a Swedish winter! ******** So these are my dream destinations. Some of these places I would love to go back to. Others I would really love to visit in the future. Thank you so much for stopping by to have a read and I really hope that you have the best week! Linking up with Sarah and Joanne for today’s post Sharing on

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Good To Welcome Back Friday

7 Comments / Friday Favorites

Hi friends, hope you are all well and have had a great week. It’s always good to welcome back Friday after a busy few days. As usual, I am really happy to be linking up with Andrea and Erika for today’s Friday favourites post! We Are Going To A Wedding! Well, it’s still ages away but our invitation to our niece’s wedding arrived in the post earlier this week. It’s not until January next year BUT it’s a destination wedding so we will be having a five-night holiday too. Steve’s niece is getting married in Noosa which is a resort area on Queensland’s sunshine coast. I have never been but it looks absolutely beautiful. I am super excited! The only part that I am not excited about is the flying part. I’m scared of flying so I’m trying not to think about that and concentrate on how fun it will be. After all, it’s only a 1-hour and 30-minute flight. (Yep, I’ll be all good 😬) Dinner At The Club We had our usual first Monday of the month dinner catch-up with friends. It was a fun night and I ordered my usual steamed barramundi. It comes with lots of broccoli and a side of rice. Very delicious!! That night I wore one of my favourite jumpers that I got last winter from Witchery. This jumper is so soft and warm. I also really love the colour. It’s a bit hard to see in the photo but it’s a lovely soft pastel mint. An Early Start My son had a school excursion to Wollongong University. He is in his final year of school and so this excursion was to show his class what a day in the life of a Uni student looks like. When I asked Sam how it went. He happily told me that the Uni has a great op-shop and that he bought a vintage Jacket. I kind of would have liked to hear more about the courses and how inspired he was by the campus. (insert eye roll here) Anyway, I had to drop Sam off at school really early so that he could catch the bus with his class to the excursion. It was about 7.15 am and the Winter sun was so strong! It was hitting me directly in the eyes and I could hardly see while I was driving. Thankfully the roads weren’t busy at that time. Because I had so much extra time I stopped off to get a coffee at our local corner cafe called Stevie’s. Such a cute place where they sell the best coffee. They also have a lovely selection of gourmet food items, preprepared meals, and delicious things to either eat there or take away. I just had my coffee in the warm car and did my morning devotions with the YouVersion Bible app on my phone and then got to work really early. It was a lovely way to start the day and I should do it more often! This was the prayer on the app for that day. I Got Sick Wednesday I started to get a sore throat and I was gargling salt water to try and make it go away. I did a COVID test at home but thankfully it was negative. I ploughed on and even went to Bible study that night even though I was very tempted to stay home. I’m glad that I went and met up with some wonderful encouraging friends. Thursday morning I felt worse, again I did another test but still negative. I went to work and just deteriorated as the day went on. We had a staff meeting after work that went until 5.30 pm. At one point I was feeling so unwell that I even started dozing off. I looked up and my funny, sweet, kind colleague gave me a look that woke me up Haha!! Friday I just stayed home and in bed for most of the day. My husband brought home some yummy treats from a really nice cafe for lunch to cheer me up. Favourites From Preschool It was another windy and freezing week in the playground but the kids had a wonderful time….. Fishing Digging and baking cakes in the sandpit Making long trains with mobilo During inside play, the kids liked making patterns with the pretty glass beads. The resident artist visited again to paint native animal tracks with the children. This Weekend It’s the Queen’s Birthday long weekend!! And I am determined to get better fast as we have some fun plans. Anyway, I’ll see how I feel in the morning after a day at home and a good night’s rest. I am grateful that I don’t have COVID and it’s just an annoying cold. What are you guys up to this weekend? I really hope you have a great one! Take care and have fun, thanks so much for stopping by to have a read. Happy Friday!

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kindness counts t-shirt for why it's important to be kind post

Why Kindness Is Important- 10 Ways To Be Kinder

17 Comments / Health and Well Being

I recently lost my mum and I am so sad. Some days I can’t shake off my sadness and other days I can thankfully make it through the day. In the weeks leading up to her passing when she was first diagnosed as terminal and then in the many weeks after she passed. I have been shown so much kindness and it has left me feeling really humbled. It has also made me stop and think about why kindness is important. This period in my life is really making me re-evaluate and question myself and my actions towards others. How kind am I? What can I do to show kindness to others? How can I ever express how truly grateful I am to my many friends and family who have showered me with kindness. How?? I guess the only answer I can come up with is…..”Do unto others” “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets” Matthew 7:12 There Are Many Benefits To Being Kind Indeed there are many benefits to being kind. Some of these are You will develop more friendships Being kind may have many important health benefits such as lowering inflammation, boosting your immune system, and may reduce blood pressure. Showing kindness can be good for your mental health as acts of kindness can reduce anxiety. Being kind may even mean you live longer It’s great that showing kindness towards others can have many important benefits. BUT I think that real kindness needs to come from a selfless attitude. I think we all need to be kind just because it’s important to be kind. Full stop. Kindness should come naturally and it should be our first instinct. It’s so easy to be kind to the sweet but not so easy to be kind to the sours of this world. You know the ones I mean. The people who cut you off when you’re driving. The ones who push in front of you at the supermarket. The grumpy, rude, mean-spirited people we come across in our everyday life. Yep, it’s not easy to be kind to them, sigh! Why Are People So Unkind? I have a really sweet friend who has an amazing ability to see things from the point of view of others. I have learnt a lot from her. She has this gift of understanding why people behave the way they do. On many occasions, I have expressed my irritation to her about certain people’s behaviour and she has gently explained that maybe they are going through a rough time. Sometimes people are unkind because… They Are Afraid Of Change Sometimes people who are afraid of change can feel threatened and not in control. And this can cause them to behave in a mean way. They Have Poor Self Esteem When people are brought up to believe that they are not good enough, they can often behave rudely as a way of trying to prove to others that they deserve to be seen and respected. They Feel Vulnerable If people have been abused in their lives. They may feel the need to act tough and aggressive in order to squash any feelings of vulnerability. They May Have Personal Problems Sometimes people may have personal problems that are causing them to feel incredibly anxious and overwhelmed. Anxiety can make people lash out in anger or cause them to behave rudely or in a controlling manner. How Can We Be Kinder There are many ways we can all be kinder. All it takes is a conscious decision and a change of mindset. We can CHOOSE to be kind no matter what. Here are some suggestions for ways we can be kinder. Kinder to others, kinder to ourselves, and even kinder to our world. 1. Smile! This is an easy starting point on your journey to be kinder. Just give someone a friendly smile next time you are at the shops, going for a walk, or running an errand. Years ago I was at the supermarket and I had just been to the doctor who had given me some very welcomed news. I was pregnant! And I was so happy that I couldn’t stop smiling. I smiled at an elderly gentleman in the Dairy aisle and he said to me words I will never forget. He said,” Thank you so much for smiling at me, you have no idea how much that meant to me”. I was taken aback, firstly I was glad that he appreciated my smile but then I felt almost felt guilty because my smile came from my own good news. Would I have smiled at him if I hadn’t received this news? I hope so. 2. Surprise someone with a visit or phone call Don’t assume that people are too busy, go ahead and visit or make that phone call. Just to be sure you’re not interrupting or catching someone at a bad time you could always send them a quick text beforehand. Then they will be able to let you know if it’s a good time or not. They will also be happy to know that you are thinking of them and you might even be able to reschedule for another time. 3. Use a kind voice Always try and use a kind voice, even if sometimes you might have to fake it because that person is irritating you. At least you know that you tried and I have found that on many occasions a kind word can turn away anger. 4. Drop off a care package During COVID lockdown I had some friends drop me off care packages. I thanked them profusely but I don’t know if they will ever fully know how much I appreciated this and how truly grateful I am for their kind gesture. 5. Drop off a meal When my mum was dying in hospital, the last thing I felt like doing was cooking

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My Go-To Summer Lunches

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Hi everyone, I am super excited to link up with Shay and Erika for today’s “Let’s Look” Post where the topic for this month is My go-to Summer lunches. It’s Winter here in Sydney at the moment but I still have a whole lot of yummy go-to Summer lunches that I really wanted to share with you even though I am freezing cold as I type this Brrrrr!! Salads Of Course! During the Summer months, whether I’m at work or at home I eat salad for lunch almost every day. Most of the time I jazz up my salads with a can of tuna, boiled egg, or chicken. My favourite type of salad is a good old Greek salad full of crunchy cucumbers, lettuce, tomato, and generous handfuls of olives and feta cheese. Yum!! But of course, any salad with crunch makes me happy. I have recently started buying shredded carrots and washed lettuce. So easy to throw together a quick salad with these. Quiche During Summer I like to make an easy quiche that usually lasts a couple of days for lunches. I can take a slice to work and my son can take a nice big slice to school in his lunchbox. So easy, delicious and healthy!! Spinach Pie This spinach pie is just delicious and is always a favourite in my house. You can eat it hot or cold and it will still taste great either way. Spinach pie is great to pack for a fun Summer picnic or it makes a great lunch when you are spending a day by the pool. Everyone is always hungry after a big swim and this pie hits the spot! Turkey Burgers My family prefers a turkey burger over a beef burger. If you use turkey mince instead of beef, your burgers are just so much juicer. I like to make a batch of turkey patties for burgers and they are definitely on the list of my go-to Summer lunches. Tuna Patties These tuna patties are perfect with any salad but my family especially likes to eat them with potato salad. They are neither too heavy nor too light. If you make a big batch they are just delicious for an easy summer lunch that you can eat over a couple of days or even freeze for another time. We sometimes like to eat them in a sandwich as an alternative to other lunch meats. They are also a fantastic healthy snack as your kids can just grab them out of the fridge whenever they are hungry. These taste great warm or cold. Hummus If you’re looking for a lighter Summer lunch option then I really recommend this delicious and easy hummus recipe. Long hot Summer days sometimes mean that you might not really feel like a heavy lunch. On days like this, I like to cut up some fresh crisp veggies like carrots, cucumber, and capsicum to dip into my hummus. So easy, and sometimes I will also add some multigrain rice crackers too. Good Old Bread Rolls We have a great bakery not too far from where we live and they sell amazing bread rolls. During the Summer holidays, I will sometimes go and grab a few for lunch. When I get home I will fill them with all sorts of different fillings. It will usually depend on what I have in the fridge. On most days I just fill these crispy bread rolls with ham, cheese, pickles, salad, a nice dollop of mayonnaise, and serve it with a side of corn chips. Yum! Keeping Things Simple Summer days mean that the last thing that I want to do is spend a long time in the kitchen. So I will usually make something that will last for a couple of days. I have a teenage son who is always hungry so I like to make sure that there is something substantial available for lunch in the fridge. Things like spinach pie, tuna patties, and quiche are so easy and best of all they keep everyone fed and happy. Happy Summer friends, all the way from wintry Sydney!

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