"Pacific" By Judy Nunn

I have to admit, this book was quite a pleasant surprise, anyone who has ever watched "Home and Away" a long standing Australian Soapie,will remember Judy as Ailsa (Alf the true Aussie bloke's wife) however on leaving the show, has had quite a career writing novels, mostly with strong Australiana flavours.

I really only chose to read this book because my Mother in Law passed it onto me. (Im sure Ive talked many times about the pile of books she has given me to read that sit under my bed and get pulled out at intervels between other read's) and actually when I pulled this one out, I have to admit I may have even groaned, even though Ive read one of her books before and didn't mind it, in all honestly her books just don't appeal to me, even though it seems I might actually like them.

"Pacific" is set in two locations - the UK and Vanuatu, however our leading lady is very much Australian, there are two tales, one of long ago and a present story which eventually weave together to make a really great story about a strong and brave woman.

I am going to give this book 3.5 out of 5 - Im almost inclined to give it 4, but Ill stick with my 3.5 for now. A great easy read.

Small and uninteresting points

1. My throat hurts. Ollie has had a bit of a cold the last few days and Im thinking I may have picked it up, I hope not, the idea of being sick and not being able to dose up on every cold and flu drug imaginable does not sound fun to me.

2. I have 2.5 weeks of work left, I am at the point where I wish I had exactly 0 weeks of work left. I have 2 projects to tidy up as well as some a couple of reports and Im done. If I could get out of lazt mode I could get the damned things finished and maybe even finish up work earlier but my motivation seems to be lost - please come back, just for a couple of days so I can finish up my last couple of things

3. I am having a clothing predicament, we have a wedding on New Years Eve, at that point in time I will have a baby that will be no more than 1 month old. My tummy will still be flabby, Ill be feeding so needing to wear an ugly breast feeding bra and I have no idea what size Im going to be, so wardrobe planning is at an all time low.

4. I have a pile of presents sitting on my bed for friends and family - birthdays and babies that need wrapping and posting, but again with my motivation seemingly disapearing Im not sure when those things will get wrapped and posted.

5. Im thinking an early night is in order, my book is great and I really want to finish it as we had book club last week and I have something new and wonderful to read which is sending me tantalising looks every time I look at it sitting on my bedside table

6. DD, Ollie and I are taking a road trip this weekend to visit friends, really looking forward to seeing them and the weekend away as it will probably be our last for a while.

Banana Bread

Of the reasonably healthy kind. Simply because I am a Banana Bread addict. I cannot get enough of it and therefore I needed to find a way to be able to eat it regularly with as little guilt as possible.

Ive been messing around with this recipe to try and make it as healthy as possible and I think Im just about happy with this version. You can substitute the plain flour with plain wholemeal for an even better version and I often throw in a decent handful of berries as well.

4 ripe bananas
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsn butter softened
1 tspn vanilla
1 tspn baking soda
1/2 tspn baking powder
1 egg
2 large tbsn applesauce

Mash bananas in a bowl

Add all other ingredients and mix well

Pour into a greased loaf tin bake at 350 (Farenheight) for 50-60 minutes

Enjoy!

Hello sunshine

Summer is almost here, how do I know? we have already had a week of 30 degrees (thats celcius by the way!!) Ive been wearing summer dresses all week and even managed to turn on the air conditioner a couple of nights as well.

Oh how I love the warm weather, I love being outside, I love the feeling of motivation that it brings, I love that I can bum around at any number of friends houses who have a pool (which just quietly is oh so convienient considering they maintain them and we enjoy the spoils!!)

And this year Im loving that DD and I have finally pulled our fingers out and decided its time for a full backyard overhaul. We have so far installed a sprinkler system, mulched our garden beds, pulled out a horrendous vine and next week we are having a whole lot of paving completed which means we will have quite a little oasis of our own - Ill post some before's and after's when its all complete.

I miss running

I never ever thought I would say this, but I miss running. At the gym today as I walked along at a sensible pace, the girl on the treadmill next to me was going hard at it. I wished it was me.

Its funny really because I was never much of a runner, in fact I would have rather poked myself in the eye with needles than go for a run, and then one day I just felt like it, so I ran, and ran, and ran. And I really really liked it.

And now I really really miss it.

Its funny how you take such little things for granted isn't it, you don't actually realise how much you like to do something, until you cannot do it anymore.

Not much longer now, but oh how great that first run will feel. (although Im thinking Ill last two minutes and then be back to walking at a sensible pace until I can work myself back into it again!!)

Told by a two year old.

Last weekend as I was madly trying to catch up on my washing Ollie decided to come and give me a hand, no problems there, Im all for teaching my son a few domestic habits early on in life.

The problem was as I was putting on the lock on the washing machine, he pressed something else at the same time and all of a sudden my washing machine would not work anymore.

So I pulled out the manual read through it and could find no answer, I googled the problem went to the Miele website and again could not find any reference to the problem I was having.

Again I sat in front of the washer, getting more and more frustrated with the whole situation and the lack of washing going on, I mumbled under my breath and loudly voiced my opinion on the matter, rang the help line who very convieniently don't work on weekends and continued on with my rant.

All of a sudden I feel a little hand rubbing my back and a little voice saying "Calm down mummy, calm down, you alright? Just calm down mummy".

I stopped my rant, looked at my baby and laughed harder than I have laughed in ages.

If ever I had a reality check that was it.

Told by a two year old!!

It's awards season....

Not only for the celebrities but also it seems for bloggers as well and it seems Ive been lucky enough to get another gong. I feel so very grateful and thankful, I can only reiterate what I wrote in this post:

But one thing I really did want to say was that ever since the lovely Liz gave me the comments award I have picked up a few new blogging friends - welcome friends, I'm so very pleased to be getting to know you. One such friend is Holly over at 504 Main and she is the lovely lady who has bestowed upon me this most recent award.



Holly thank you so very much, it has been an absolute pleasure getting to know you so far and I look forward to lots more bloggy friendship across the seas!

And so of course as with all awards there are rules and the rules for this award are as follows:

The rules of the "One Lovely Blog Award" are accept the award, post it on your blog along with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link. Pass the award along to several other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award...


and so I would like to pass this award onto:

Diary of a yummy mummy

Ive been visiting Yummy Mummy for a couple of months or so now and I love her blog, I love that she seems to have the same toddler antics that I do even on the other side of the world, and I love her fresh and honest style. Check her out, Im sure you will love her too.

"The forgotten children" by David Hill

This is a story about a little bit of Australia and England's history that is probably not well known by many. The only reason why I know that this little bit of history exists is because I often drive past the buildings on my way to Sydney and after wondering what they were, took the time to find out. Am I intrigued - yes. Did this book fill that intrigue...not exactly.

Its a funny thing really. Before I went on holidays I took myself to the library to borrow a few books, as I stood in front of a random shelf I remembered that I had seen David Hill interviewed on a morning show and that I had really wanted to read this book. Would you believe I then pulled a book off a shelf and it was this very one. Just meant to be I guess.

And so back to the book. Te book was interesting, the book was sad and I feel absolutely astounded and shocked that such a place existed and even further that it was nearby to my home town. In saying that, I can't say that I actually enjoyed reading this book. Not because of the content, because I have read many true tragic tales which I have enjoyed, I think it was the way the book was written. Personally I am interested in the people, their stories, but alot of this book referred back to reports written on Fairbridge rather than focusing on the people who were sent there and this is what threw me a little. I understand that the politics of the institution are terribly signifcant to this story but I guess I hoped that I would be reading from a more personal level.

In saying that, Im glad that I read this book and have a better understanding of the child migrant scheme from England to Australia, and now I know a little more about those strange buildings that I regularly drive past.

2.5 out 5 for me. The read was enlightened but not really enjoyable.

The getting organised begins

The one thing I talked and talked about doing, but never actually got around to doing before I had Ollie was making some meals to freeze. Poor DD and I would never actually get around to eating til about 9pm and by that stage we were both so tired that we lived on a diet of toasted sandwiches and eggs.

I have vowed not this time! And so today I will begin to start cooking and freezing until my freezer is bursting with food.

Today's offering is to be curried sausages. The ultimate comfort food with some mash or rice and really an old fashioned Aussie staple.

Got any suggestions for other things that freeze well? - once Ive made up a pot of snags, I'm stuck!!!

A pregnancy update

I honestly don't post that much about my pregnancy because there isn't much to tell. All in all it has been a fairly complication free pregnancy so far, apart from low blood pressure and feeling pretty grotty most of the time, it seems to be just flying along.

So I have made it to 30 weeks. I have around 5 weeks of work left to go and I am currently feeling like a walking beach ball.

I asked my DD last night if I was this uncomfortable last time round to which he gave me a resounding yes. (Funny how our mind blanks out!!)

Had a moment of anxiety today but have seen my obstetrician and all is OK.

As I said, its been a very uneventful pregnancy.

Nonetheless, this baby will be here in 10 weeks, and I have so much to do......I think its freak out time.

School Reunion's

You are either a lover or a hater. Me - Im a lover, I always enjoyed school and had some wonderful friends and the incessant sticky beak in me just loves to find out all the juicy goss.

We had our 15 year reunion on Saturday night and we all had an absolute ball. While Ive kept up to date with many people from school, there were plenty that I hadn't seen since we left and others I hadn't seen for a while. It was so fabulous to catch up with everyone. Everyone looked just like they did back at school and seems to be doing really well for themselves.

The wonderful thing about this reunion was that everyone was there for a good time and a catch up. I have heard horror stories about turning up to reunions and it still being as clicky as it was at school, but this was not so for ours. Everyone spoke to each other, we danced as a big group and generally we all had a wonderful time. Its so nice to know that people are able to get past the differences of school and act like mature adults and I think we are all, all the better for it.

At the end of the night everyone moved on to the pub, I did a designated driver run and after that thought "why not" probably be the last time I get out for a while. And off I went to for a bit of a dance and more catching up. I lasted about 5 minutes and then thinking how ridiculous promptly took myself home and put myself to bed!

It always amazes me

Just how wonderful the blogging community really is, and all the little things that they do to let you know that you are appreciated. I started this blog as an outlet for myself, to talk about anything and everything and because I have always loved writing but have sadly neglected it since leaving school.

I never imagined that people would actually read my blog, enjoy it, or that I would find such a wonderful warm community of women (and men) across the world who share similar thoughts, worries and experiences as I do.

But I have and for that I am eternally grateful. Every day when I read through other blogs I always find myself nodding in agreement, with so much that has been written and I think yes yes yes - I know how you feel and I feel compelled to share whether you like it or not lol!!!

The point of this post is that the lovely Liz left me a really lovely award today and here it is.



Thankyou so much Liz. Im so pleased that I stumbled apon your blog, Liz does a fantastic Silly Haiku Wednesday that always gives me a smile and I just tell from her blog that her life is filled with love and lots of laughter. She is certainly a person to surround yourself with as I think her love for life is catching!

And so the deal is that the award must be passed on to someone. Well I have decided to pass this award onto: The lovely Pres at True Thots Pres is the comment queen I tell you, her comments are always thoughtful and full of advice and I can tell that she puts so much thought into them. So come on over and collect your award Pres, for it is truly truly deserved.