Family Life

Hi All I hope you are all having a great week so far. I’m super excited to be linking up with Sheaffer and Shay for this fun ‘What’s up Wednesday’ post. So let’s kick off! What We’re Eating~ Well, what can I say? Lockdown has us eating everything! My goal is to try super hard to not get stuck into too many treats this week. Is it me or is it an excuse? I just think Winter makes me hungrier! I always try and make sure I eat lots of veggies and I serve them up with every meal for the whole family. My Simple Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry is loaded full of delicious veggies. Certainly, a huge hit when I made it last week!! Delicious homemade Focaccia has also been on repeat around here and we are loving it! Recently, I discovered this! Slow-cooked pork shoulder with BBQ sauce. This was half price at Woolworths. So delicious and easy peasy. You just pop it in the oven for about 30 minutes to heat up and that’s it! We’ve eaten it in wraps with coleslaw for lunch and for dinner we’ve had it served with baked potatoes or rice and of course, veggies. A nice easy lunch or dinner for sure. What I’m Reminiscing About~ I’ve been thinking about all the fun times before lockdown when we were able to catch up with friends for dinner! We used to get together about once a week at a friend’s house and it was usually for ‘Mexican Monday’ or a ‘Friday Feast’  She would cook up some very delicious food and it was just so good to be together. We had so many laughs on those nights. I’m really missing this. What I’m Loving~ The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games!! Yes indeed! I just love the Olympic games, so many sports I would never normally watch. I have to confess that I’m not at all a sporty person, No Sir, I am not. But I do love watching The Olympics. I’ve also been really loving this Bio-Oil I bought it originally for my sixteen-year-old son. He fell off his scooter and scraped off a massive amount of the skin on his elbow (shudder). It is supposed to be really good for scars. I started using it recently as my skin has been just so dry. Probably a combination of the cold weather and ageing (sigh) Anyway it’s been really great. My skin feels much smoother and hydrated. Really recommend it. I don’t receive an affiliate commission for this, just letting you know about a good skin product that I’m loving. What We’ve Been Up to~ Not a whole lot really. You know, Lockdown. I guess I’ve just been enjoying staying home and keeping safe. We’ve been catching up on shows and eating. Yep, lots of eating! What I’m Dreading~ Thankfully I’m not really dreading anything at the moment. Other than the State Ministers 11 am Covid updates every day. I dread hearing how bad COVID  is at the moment in Sydney. I’m still in disbelief as I never saw this coming. Don’t think any of us did! What I’m working on~ Still working on this Blog! I think I’ve been blogging for about six weeks and really enjoying the challenge. Not so much the technical side of things, but I think I’ve developed some new neural pathways as a result, so that’s most definitely a bonus! What I’m excited about~ Spring! I’m pumped for spring and I’ll keep saying this until the end of Winter ha! I like this quote, I think it’s quite true! What I’m watching~ I’ve been going down memory lane and watching ‘The Golden Girls” on Stan. I just love having something on as I’m folding laundry or cooking. This show is so funny and I just love all the characters, they are each funny in their own unique way. This show holds a special place in my heart because I used to watch it as a kid. I  was about 13 when my mum and I visited my Uncle and Aunt who were living on Long Island NY at the time. Every night after dinner we would sit down with dessert and watch an episode. They were special times. What I’m Wearing~ Other than pyjamas and work clothes on workdays, it’s usually just Sloppy Joes and leggings, I think my American friends eat Sloppy Joes but in Australia we wear them. I’m referring to long-sleeved warm fleecy tops. like this one What I’m Looking forward to next month~ To tell you the truth not a whole lot! I’ve got my first Pfizer jab scheduled for next Tuesday. And this morning, The Premier of NSW announced that we were going to be in lockdown for a further four weeks. Stephen and I will still be working as we are classed as ‘Essential Workers’  and Sam will be doing school online. If we weren’t in lockdown I would have been looking forward to seeing ‘Hamilton’ at The Sydney Lyric Theatre. We had tickets I was given as a present for Mother’s day. But sadly it got cancelled, never mind maybe we’ll get to see it later this year or the next. Well, that’s about it for this month’s What’s up Wednesday. I really hope you have a fantastic rest of the week!!    

Hi all Just thought I’d stop by and share a few things I’ve been up to for the last four weeks, since the beginning of lockdown. I am currently only going in to work about two or three times a week instead of the usual full-time. This means I have so much more time.  It is just so surprising to me how much I have been cramming into my everyday! Up until now, that is. Enjoying a couple of Books- I have this beautiful Chanel book sitting on my coffee table and I have only just started reading it. It not only has beautiful photographs and drawings, but it also delves into the history of Chanel’s creations and iconic style. I have also been spending time sitting in the sun reading ‘Finding Freedom’ Harry and Meghan’s biography. Very interesting! Especially since I watched that interview. Shows I have Been Watching- I have a list of shows I have been wanting to watch. I thought I would have to wait until I was in the nursing home before I would ever get to see any of them. The Office- Now this is one funny show. I had not seen a single episode until recently but now I have started. I can NOT stop! Mother and Son- This is a very old Australian show and it is hilarious and a bit sad at the same time. I like to watch this one with my own mum. She thinks it’s funny too! It’s about a son looking after his ageing and forgetful mother. 9-1-1 Lone Star- I’ve only just started watching this and it stars Rob Lowe, my eighties crush. Hasn’t he aged well? Anyway, back to the show. Yes, it is full of drama and has me gripped. Virgin River- I started this a couple of times and could not get into it. To be fair, I kept falling asleep. Not from boredom, only from exhaustion. I have restarted and now I’m understanding why everyone loves it. Seinfeld- Ok, so this is my all-time favourite show ever!! But I have never watched all of the episodes. So I am now! I just love all the characters so much. On a side note, I am waiting for the Seinfeld Lego set to arrive in Australia. I can not wait!! Cooking- I am enjoying cooking without rushing to get dinner on the table! Usually, I come home from work and it’s a mad dash to get dinner ready. This I am not good at. I am always determined to cook from scratch, but the downside is that it takes so long and dinner is usually late. Sorry family. I have been leisurely cooking AND making dessert. We probably won’t fit into our clothes once lockdown ends. But dessert in winter is soooo good! Cleaning and Organising- I love a clean and tidy home. I have this routine where I do a bit every day so I can keep on top of everything. It works very well too. But now with all this extra time, I am not rushing to get it all done. Plus I have been able to re-organize things like my linen cupboard and wardrobe. Chatting to Friends and Family- As everyone is mostly home, I find we have been reaching out more. Normally days would go by and I wouldn’t chat with any of my friends and family. But now with lockdown, I find that we are all checking in with each other more often. It certainly doesn’t mean that this is in any way ideal as there is nothing better than getting together. But it is nice that we are trying hard to connect. The Hard Part of Being in Lockdown- Lockdown is hard friends. Maybe not so much for me as I am definitely more of an introvert. But it is sad to watch the news and see the stress and isolation it is causing so many, not to mention the financial hardship that many are facing. My younger son like so many other young people is missing his friends and going to the gym. I guess up until now we had not truly felt the hard impact of COVID for such an extended period of time. This Delta strain has hit us hard and we are facing many more weeks of lockdown. Something I think none of us living in Sydney thought we would see. I guess we are all trying to make the best of it and doing everything we can to stay safe. Take care everyone.

Hi All Well, this lockdown has definitely taken us all by surprise. We are now in week three and facing two more. Although I strongly suspect that it will be much longer just based on the number of growing COVID cases. This has changed my shopping habits and as we are under strict ‘stay at home’ orders I am only shopping once a week. Consequently, we ran out of bread, we actually ran out of a lot of things. I tend to shop after work so we rarely ever run out of anything and this was a new experience. Anyway, I thought ‘Hey, lets make focaccia’ So we did. I found this super easy recipe here. And now I have to confess that I actually didn’t contribute much to the focaccia-making process as my husband did most (nearly all) of it. But I have to tell you, the focaccia turned out absolutely delicious and he will definitely have to make it more often. It was very easy too, which surprised me as something that has such a fancy name should surely take ages to make. But no it didn’t at all. This was my contribution. I grated some fresh garlic and chopped up rosemary from our garden and added thyme (not from our garden because we’re not that good). I gently fried it in Olive oil. Oh my goodness it smelled so good. Steve mixed the rest of the ingredients, kneaded it, and left it to rise covered under a warm damp tea towel. We love olives so we added them! Into the oven, it went, and then it came out all golden, crunchy, and smelling divine! You have to try this recipe. It was really super easy and the focaccia was absolutely sensational. I wish you could have heard us all ummming and ahhhhhing as we tried it!! A big winner! Hope this post inspires you to try making some for yourselves, you will not regret it.

Happy Wednesday Everyone! This is my very first link up and I’m linking up with Sheaffer and  Shay I’m excited to share a mixture of things from what I’ve been eating, What I’ve been reminiscing about lately and what I’ve been watching etc. So here goes…. What I’m eating… All the soups and comfort food. Yes sir! It’s winter here and SO cold! I’m not a huge fan of the cold weather but I do love the casseroles, soups, and all the carbs! Yum!   What I’m reminiscing about… Up until a few weeks ago, we had zero COVID cases here in Sydney Australia. Everything felt “Normal” again. We were mask-free, going about our day-to-day, eating out at restaurants, and having family gatherings. Of course, we still maintained hand sanitizing, QR check-in, and other safe COVID practices. But then we had one COVID case which then rapidly grew to many many more and once again we are in lockdown for two weeks until 9th July. I know we have been incredibly fortunate to have been so safe here and I know that most of the rest of the world has had a terrible time and continues to do so. But it was a huge wake-up call to every single one of us. Just a week before COVID hit us all over again, my Aunty had a party to celebrate her 60th. We ate and danced so much! It was a really fun time.   Then two weeks before this we were able to celebrate our beautiful Niece’s Engagement party! What I’m dreading… I’m not really dreading anything thankfully. I’m on two weeks end of term break. My friend from work and I had a list of fun things we wanted to do in the holidays. But instead, because of lockdown we’ve been playing Words With Friends and chatting on Messenger a lot. What I’m working on… This Blog! I’ve only just started and after three months of navigating the whole setup process, I think I might just be getting the hang of it. Whoever said “you can make a blog in three minutes” was clearly deluded. It’s been fun though and something I’ve wanted to do for years. I’m still learning and it’s definitely a work in progress. What I’m excited about I’m excited about being on holiday. (even though we can’t go anywhere) I love not having to rush, make school/work lunches, do the housework at 6 am so I can be free on the weekends. It’s pyjamas till 11 am around here at the moment. What I’m watching… Years ago I started watching the show “Parenthood” and I loved it. I wanted to be part of the Braverman Family, it was such a relatable show. I got to the end of season 4 and for some reason, the network that showed it at the time decided to ruin my life and changed the time slot. I completely lost track of the episodes and gave up. This was before catch_up TV etc. Now that it’s online I have been binge-watching it from the beginning and I’ve just finished the end of season 4 again today. So I am excited to finish the last two seasons (I’ll be sad when it’s over). It’s just been the best show! What I’m listening to… Hmmmmm nothing in particular other than the radio. I like listening to Jonesy and Amanda in the morning on 2WSFM they always make me laugh. Other than that I’ve just been listening to Chill Out on Spotify. My husband can’t stand Chill Out, It stresses him hahaha! He’s into Midnight Oil and Neil Diamond. What a combination! What I’m wearing… PYJAMAS at the moment and tracksuit pants! but before this, I was enjoying getting a bit dressed up.   What I’m looking forward to… It’s the middle of winter but I’m already looking forward to summer or spring at least! That’s about all I think. It’s definitely, the longest post I’ve done so far. Thank you for stopping by. Hope you have a great week xxx…

How to find the right cat- Adding a beautiful cat to our family was one of the best decisions we ever made. She has brought us so much love and companionship and she is such a treasured member of our family. We just love her so much! She is such a funny little thing. She loves to cozy up to us and is so friendly to anyone who visits. She can even high-five. How clever is that? Here are just a few things I found helpful when it came to finding the right cat. I hope you’ll find them helpful too.   This is our girl “Sushi”. My oldest son Luke named her that because he decided she was all black and reminded him of a Sushi Roll. Isn’t she cute? How To Find The Right Cat Kitten Or Cat? Nine years ago we all had our hearts set on finding a cat to join our family. The first decision we had to make was “Should we get a kitten or a cat?”. I think that was a good place to start. We had to take into account that kittens require a lot of time and care while adult cats can provide love and companionship but with much less work. We decided on a kitten because let’s face it, they are unbelievably cute! and I had my heart set on a girl as I was the only girl in the family We were coming up to the end of the school year and into the summer holidays, this meant that because I work at a preschool I too would be home on holidays with my boys for about eight glorious weeks. This gave us a nice amount of time to focus on looking after our new kitten and litter training her.                                                  Look how small they both were. Sam is now 16 Finding The Right Breed My goodness! This was interesting. I had no idea there were so many breeds. I think I did some sort of “What Cat Breed Should I Get” test on the internet and in the end, after my head was spinning I decided on keeping things simple and go for a short-breed domestic Cat. In other words a Moggy. Moggy cats are low-maintenance, friendly, and generally pretty healthy. Plus I also read online that there were ethical considerations with some breeds as well as health issues to consider. Indoor Or Outdoor Cat This decision was easy to make. As I said before we live in a villa and part of the strata rules is that if we keep a cat it should not be allowed to roam around on the common property. (Except for my neighbours, they let their cats roam around). But anyway I like that our cat is an indoor cat as I don’t need to worry about her well-being. While some believe that letting cats outside gives them a better quality of life, keeping cats indoors is definitely a healthier choice. I also read that indoor cats live much longer than outdoor cats. So there’s that. Our girl gets the best of both worlds as she can spend time lying in the sun safe in our enclosed courtyard.                                                   She just loves to roll around in the sun Choose A Cat With A Personality You Like I know this might sound really ignorant of me but I hadn’t really considered that like humans cats have unique and interesting personalities. While doing some research this became something that we really needed to think about. We all wanted a cuddly cat. I wanted a calm cat. After being at preschool all day the last thing I wanted was a hyperactive cat! When it came time to choose our cat, I spent time watching how the kittens all interacted with each other. Honestly, it wasn’t that different from being in the classroom at work! There was the “Can’t keep their hands to themselves” kind of cat. There was the “Don’t touch/look at me/come near me” cat and there was the “Impulsive watch me jump” cat. Then thankfully there was the ” Calm well behaved” cat. Yep, I went for calm. Cat on a Hat               She always tries to pack herself into the nearest available backpack Bringing Our Kitten Home Before we brought our kitten home we made sure we set up a special space for her. We got a litter box, a scratching post, a comfy bed, a feeding station, and some toys. I was a little nervous. No, I lied, I was a lot nervous. She was just so tiny! I was afraid we’d step on her. Well, we didn’t but we sure were careful and very very gentle. We had to keep in mind that she was coming into a totally unfamiliar place so we made sure that the space we made up for her would help her get comfortable and feel secure and familiar. Phew, I was relieved when she got bigger. Like I said before she really was tiny. Haha, always likes to be in the middle of everything! Well, that was fun going down memory lane, and while by no means does this post cover everything about how to find the right cat. I think I’ve been able to look at some of the things that stood out in my mind that were important when it came to finding the right cat to join our family. if you do a Google search you’ll get an incredible amount of helpful information. Just remember that having a cat will bring unconditional love to your life, companionship, and fun!