I need to hunt down Meg's YE photos and post her pic just like this one.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
YE Batch 1
You can tell from these photos just how awesome Drew's 10 days on the YE were. After living so closely with a wonderful bunch of like minded young people he's feeling the after effects of having to leave them and head back to the mundane (?) life of being a Uni student. After listening to his stories and hearing the positive effect the trip had on him I'm so glad we went ahead with it. Being Sail Master for the 24 hours that the kids took command of the ship was a highlight for him; he learnt so much about sailing (obviously), ropes, knots, team work - and himself. All part of the growing and learning process.
Here's a small selection of photos in no particular order.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Meg and Mare
Yesterday morning Meg and I made some more laundry liquid before she headed back to Tba; we had an order to fill! I quickly did the BAS then went for a ride, 10 quarry hills, another good workout. We packed the car and headed to Bris to drop off Drew's gear at Uni. After collecting him from the airport, feeding him and dropping him back at College we drove to Tba and stayed the night with Meg. Gibbo went back to Bris and flew to CQ this morning for one of his regular irregular visits to his three properties up there!
Meg and I spent the day together, she took a bank day :) She went to the gym early to continue her fitness program. These certainly help.
We went to the bike shop to see if there was anything there I'd like towaste spend my money on but there wasn't. We had lunch with the cousins then went to the organic shop to see what was on offer; we bought some non homogenised milk to make kefir, seeing as how we're such experts now.
This afternoon I went back to see the doctor about my crappy left ear. Long story short, I've booked in for the operation on October 16 - overnight in hospital, no driving for a week, two weeks off work and no exercise for six weeks. The no driving and two weeks off work should be interesting! I could have the op done earlier but then I'd have to miss my bike ride and that's not really an option. I've had the problem for 2 and 1/2 years now, what's a few more months of me saying, "What" and the family getting frustrated with me? I walked from the doctor's room back to reception and nearly burst out laughing - Meg was sitting in the corner - FAST ASLEEP. When I touched her arm she woke up with a start and we both cried laughing our way out the door and up the hallway!
From there we went to RMW and spent the $100 gift card that Gibbo was given 11 months ago for speaking at a forum a(nd is due to soon expire - the card, not Gibbo). I've been there a couple of times but hadn't found anything I liked and needed enough to warrant using it but I knew Meg would be able to do it justice - and I was right! She found a very nice navy pleated lined skirt that will be excellent for work. We continued on home, stopping along the way to buy heaven ice-creams and red frogs. The four leggers were pleased to see us when we got home after dark. Meg will get up at 4.30 to head back to Tba and her regular Tuesday appointment with her personal trainer, Andrew, who is whipping her into shape, before going to work.
Last weekend we re-jigged Meg's budget. When she first started work I set up a spreadsheet for her to run her bank account and we worked out a budget that covered all her expenses. Each fortnight she divides her pay - some gets transferred to a separate account for savings, mojo and emergency fund; some goes to another account to cover her regular bills so that when her insurance/rego/phone account arrive or it's time for her regular hair appointment or a medical cost, she always has the money and doesn't have to panic about how to pay them. The different expenses are split into separate cells in the spreadsheet and she always knows how much is in each cell for each expense. When she has to spend the money that's built up over time she just deducts it from that cell. Very simple. (We work out how much to put away each fortnight by taking the yearly cost and dividing by 26). The balance of her pay stays in the main account for fortnightly discretionary spending ie fuel, food, going out, cheese making courses etc. She told me once it's one of the best things she's ever learned - she's never had to live from pay to pay because she's always had the money there, ready and waiting for the bill to arrive. She's off to Melbourne in two weeks with a friend for a couple of days and she has quite a stash of money in the mojo cell to use - and she doesn't feel guilty about going shopping down there because she's saved up for it.
However.
She has recently lost her way a little due to some unnecessary distractions in the form(s) of Chanel No 5, Christian Dior and Prada and a nasty little piece of plastic known as a credit card. She also lost sight of the fact and became a little disillusioned by the thought that being able to afford to buy a place of her own was beyond her reach on one salary - but with the rejigging of her budget last weekend she has a renewed outlook and sees that with a little restraint in certain areas (ie the 4 mentioned above!) it is doable. So I wrote out a plan to the end of the year and she has it stuck on the wall beside her mirror so that she can remind herself of the goal and at the same time, see how quickly her savings are growing.
You can do it Meg!
Meg and I spent the day together, she took a bank day :) She went to the gym early to continue her fitness program. These certainly help.
We went to the bike shop to see if there was anything there I'd like to
This afternoon I went back to see the doctor about my crappy left ear. Long story short, I've booked in for the operation on October 16 - overnight in hospital, no driving for a week, two weeks off work and no exercise for six weeks. The no driving and two weeks off work should be interesting! I could have the op done earlier but then I'd have to miss my bike ride and that's not really an option. I've had the problem for 2 and 1/2 years now, what's a few more months of me saying, "What" and the family getting frustrated with me? I walked from the doctor's room back to reception and nearly burst out laughing - Meg was sitting in the corner - FAST ASLEEP. When I touched her arm she woke up with a start and we both cried laughing our way out the door and up the hallway!
From there we went to RMW and spent the $100 gift card that Gibbo was given 11 months ago for speaking at a forum a(nd is due to soon expire - the card, not Gibbo). I've been there a couple of times but hadn't found anything I liked and needed enough to warrant using it but I knew Meg would be able to do it justice - and I was right! She found a very nice navy pleated lined skirt that will be excellent for work. We continued on home, stopping along the way to buy heaven ice-creams and red frogs. The four leggers were pleased to see us when we got home after dark. Meg will get up at 4.30 to head back to Tba and her regular Tuesday appointment with her personal trainer, Andrew, who is whipping her into shape, before going to work.
Last weekend we re-jigged Meg's budget. When she first started work I set up a spreadsheet for her to run her bank account and we worked out a budget that covered all her expenses. Each fortnight she divides her pay - some gets transferred to a separate account for savings, mojo and emergency fund; some goes to another account to cover her regular bills so that when her insurance/rego/phone account arrive or it's time for her regular hair appointment or a medical cost, she always has the money and doesn't have to panic about how to pay them. The different expenses are split into separate cells in the spreadsheet and she always knows how much is in each cell for each expense. When she has to spend the money that's built up over time she just deducts it from that cell. Very simple. (We work out how much to put away each fortnight by taking the yearly cost and dividing by 26). The balance of her pay stays in the main account for fortnightly discretionary spending ie fuel, food, going out, cheese making courses etc. She told me once it's one of the best things she's ever learned - she's never had to live from pay to pay because she's always had the money there, ready and waiting for the bill to arrive. She's off to Melbourne in two weeks with a friend for a couple of days and she has quite a stash of money in the mojo cell to use - and she doesn't feel guilty about going shopping down there because she's saved up for it.
However.
She has recently lost her way a little due to some unnecessary distractions in the form(s) of Chanel No 5, Christian Dior and Prada and a nasty little piece of plastic known as a credit card. She also lost sight of the fact and became a little disillusioned by the thought that being able to afford to buy a place of her own was beyond her reach on one salary - but with the rejigging of her budget last weekend she has a renewed outlook and sees that with a little restraint in certain areas (ie the 4 mentioned above!) it is doable. So I wrote out a plan to the end of the year and she has it stuck on the wall beside her mirror so that she can remind herself of the goal and at the same time, see how quickly her savings are growing.
You can do it Meg!
He's Home
In an absolute perfect repeat of Meg's homecoming 8 years ago, Drew has got the Young Endeavour Blues real bad. We took all his gear back to College last evening then picked him up from the plane last night, took him to dinner at Sizzler, fed him, looked at his photos then dropped him back to College where he quietly ducked into his room to avoid the shenanigans and fallout from the weekend ball (his College, and it's considered very bad form to miss your own ball. There'll be repercussions). Here's a grainy iPhone photo taken last night; Gibbo managed to squeeze himself into it.
Today should have been spent catching up on the week of Uni that he missed but I suspect there was more time spent downloading photos to FB and researching world sailing adventures than there was on blackboard. Having an external subject this semester (International Peacekeeping) will keep him on his toes - and theres' only 11 weeks to go!
Today should have been spent catching up on the week of Uni that he missed but I suspect there was more time spent downloading photos to FB and researching world sailing adventures than there was on blackboard. Having an external subject this semester (International Peacekeeping) will keep him on his toes - and theres' only 11 weeks to go!
Saturday, July 28, 2012
How Time Flies
Tomorrow marks the end of Drew's voyage on the Young Endeavour. By all accounts it's been a fantastic sail with plenty of fun thrown in. We've followed the daily Captain's Log and the activities sound very similar to Meg's voyage when she sailed from Sydney to Brisbane when she was 16 (it was where she learnt to cook banana cake). They've visited pristine beaches, swum, snorkelled, cooked, cleaned, climbed the rigging, tied knots, turned the machines off and sailed under full sail, taken command of the ship for a full day and learned what it means to really be part of and work as a team. Drew now has himself another extended family to go with his Canadian and Antarctic Families.
He made a hasty phone call using the ship's phone tonight, asking me about his flight details for tomorrow. I reminded him that I packed the paperwork in the outer pocket of his backpack - and I specifically remember telling him several times that it was in there. Jeez, boys! He sounded really happy and there was lots of laughter in the background when he said, "Oh, you packed them?!". He rang off with, "I love you Mum".
We're taking his gear back to College tomorrow afternoon and will pick him up from the airport in Brisbane tomorrow night, take him for dinner and deliver him back to Uni, ready to hit the ground running for week 2 of semester (I hope).
He made a hasty phone call using the ship's phone tonight, asking me about his flight details for tomorrow. I reminded him that I packed the paperwork in the outer pocket of his backpack - and I specifically remember telling him several times that it was in there. Jeez, boys! He sounded really happy and there was lots of laughter in the background when he said, "Oh, you packed them?!". He rang off with, "I love you Mum".
We're taking his gear back to College tomorrow afternoon and will pick him up from the airport in Brisbane tomorrow night, take him for dinner and deliver him back to Uni, ready to hit the ground running for week 2 of semester (I hope).
Cheesey
Meg and I went to another simple living workshop in the little town where we bought the farm. This time it was cheese-making. We learnt a lot, had an interesting "fermented" lunch and enjoyed being together.
It's such a lovely setting.
A selection of utensils and ingredients:
Here's some cheese brought along by the presenter. We had these for lunch. We passed the board around and all had a smell - they were very strong!
We learnt how to "make" the cheese - heating the milk, adding the starter and rennet, letting it sit then transferring it to a cloth or press - which all seemed quite easy. We prepared a brie and a cheddar as much as we could - the maturing process now has to kick in and that takes 4-6 weeks.
The Brie:
The Cheddar:
This one was really easy - Cottage Cheese that can be eaten same day as making. It was just a matter of separating curds and whey:
Lunch was provided by the presenter. It was a showcase of fermented foods, all home-made, from the sourdough bread right through to the dressing on the salad.
Brie:
Cheddar:
I can't remember what this was called but it was a combination of grains, pulses and prunes:
Kimchi:
Sauerkraut:
Salad with Miso dressing added just before serving:
Meg's plate; note the slathering of butter!
There was wine:
After lunch we made butter, yoghurt and kefir which had a very strong biting taste but is apparently excellent for "the gut".
Churning the butter, 2012 style.
Washing the butter:
The finished product.
Meg fell asleep at about this point; I had to dig her in the ribs to wake her up.
It was a very informative day; I've read quite a lot about cheese making but to actually see the process helps me to understand it so much better. We bought a couple of tiny sachets of kefir culture and yoghurt starter; they're stored in the freezer for when we decide to try our own hand. We were both quite hungry (!) so it was good to come home to a Gibbo cooked meal of y-bone and veges, including fresh broccoli from the garden.
It's such a lovely setting.
A selection of utensils and ingredients:
Here's some cheese brought along by the presenter. We had these for lunch. We passed the board around and all had a smell - they were very strong!
We learnt how to "make" the cheese - heating the milk, adding the starter and rennet, letting it sit then transferring it to a cloth or press - which all seemed quite easy. We prepared a brie and a cheddar as much as we could - the maturing process now has to kick in and that takes 4-6 weeks.
The Brie:
The Cheddar:
This is the lunch selection; all a little startling for the untrained palate! Three of the four cheeses brought along by the presenter:
Brie:
Cheddar:
I can't remember what this was called but it was a combination of grains, pulses and prunes:
Kimchi:
Sauerkraut:
Salad with Miso dressing added just before serving:
Meg's plate; note the slathering of butter!
There was wine:
After lunch we made butter, yoghurt and kefir which had a very strong biting taste but is apparently excellent for "the gut".
Churning the butter, 2012 style.
Washing the butter:
The finished product.
Meg fell asleep at about this point; I had to dig her in the ribs to wake her up.
It was a very informative day; I've read quite a lot about cheese making but to actually see the process helps me to understand it so much better. We bought a couple of tiny sachets of kefir culture and yoghurt starter; they're stored in the freezer for when we decide to try our own hand. We were both quite hungry (!) so it was good to come home to a Gibbo cooked meal of y-bone and veges, including fresh broccoli from the garden.
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