Hellooooo

Hello out there. It's been a little while since I visited this blog. I've been on a holiday that started last year and I'm not sure what the date is or what day of the week it is. I know we've started a new year but don't push me on any more details!

So let me recap on the last month or so.

My December started OK and then I got a bit unwell and ended up starting my break from work a little earlier than expected. A hospital stay a few days before Christmas wasn't quite on the plan, but it didn't stop the festivities and Christmas day was celebrated with some family and friends.

We sat out in the shade and ate our usual salads and fish and then more salads and meat and then ice cream cake.
We Skyped and Facetimed grandparents in the UK and an uncle on a boat in the middle of the ocean somewhere and we messaged people from all over. It's always lovely but never quite right..... It just makes me just a wee bit homesick.

For New Year we headed up the coast. First to Mooloolaba (love that name) and then up to Noosa. It was all very relaxing. It was picnics and gentle walks around markets and coastal paths, heading to the beach when the crowds went home.

We decided not to venture far on a Summer holiday this year so have been spending the time at home doing a few diy jobs and pottering around. The pool area got a bit of a tidy up and we've been enjoying the peace and quiet there in the early evenings. There may have been a sly G&T and bowl of crisps involved!

Sibs and I have been on walks through the forest area behind our house and have been discovering all sorts of pathways that lead us up and down the mountain. As it gets so hot in the daytime these walks have usually been around dusk but I have managed to drag myself out of bed to do some mornings. (Oh OK,  so it was just the one morning!)

 I have loved the time with her and the conversations that these walks have prompted. Special and precious moments have been created.

It wouldn't be a holiday without some crochet and I have a few projects on the go courtesy of the Spotlight sale.
There's a ripple blanket as a housewarming gift and lots of colourful scarves that will be heading back to the UK as presents.

We have been to the cinema, had a few morning coffees out and about and met up with some friends here and there. So nothing extraordinary exciting but everything that long and relaxing summer holidays should be. It's been the right thing to stop and enjoy being at home.

Tomorrow we're going to the theatre to see Les Miserables (again) then we'll have dinner out by the river.
Next week is full of rehearsals for a production that Sibs is involved with that starts in April and I'll be doing some volunteer work and starting to think about the transition back to work and school routine.

There's a few more sleeps till then so I should be able to finish off the pile of library books before they're due back.

Here's to a happy and healthy 2016.

Christmas memories

Tree is up, sparkly fairy lights in place, Christmas food is starting to creep in to the house...

Yet there are so many things missing...

Christmas in Australia is different. Not necessarily bad different - just different...

Christmas is so inherently linked with childhood that it won't matter how many years I spend here it will never feel quite right.

Christmas to me is about being cold - sometimes wet, but definitely cold. It's all about the anticipation of snow that very rarely actually appeared on the day! Wrapping up in your duffel coat, scarf, hat and gloves and going out in the evenings just to walk past the rows of identical houses with the trees in the front bay windows.

It's about Christmas carols singers huddled at your front door with lanterns or torches collecting for a charity.

It's about warm mince pies...

It's about High Streets with coloured lights hanging from every lampost.

It's about wishing year after year to be Mary in the nativity play and then after being a tinsel wearing angel for ever, the wish comes true!

Christmas is hot chocolates and Irish coffees snuggled under heavy blankets.

It's log fires and warming your cold hands on radiators.

Christmas is about Santas everywhere!

December 2012 in London

For Sibs, Christmas is about days in the swimming pool and the beach.

It's long hot weeks of school holidays.

It's camping trips and ice cream.

Christmas is about cranking up the air conditioning or sitting in front of the fans.

It's shorts, Birkis's and bikinis!

December 2013 in Brisbane

At the heart of it all though, Christmas time for me is also just about memories - and it doesn't really matter what the memories are or where they were made...

the time that 10 year old Sibs replaced our
Christmas Angel with a home made one of Harry Styles!

Each decoration has a story that is re-told as it's placed on the tree.

"Remember the time when we bought this in...."
"Remember when we made this....."

Christmas decorations from our travels

Christmas evokes reflections. 

It's the end of a year wherever you are...

Happy memory making.

An Australian Christmas

I sat down with the laptop this afternoon fully intending to do a bit of a 2013 reflection.

My laptop however had other ideas and decided that it was going to throw a bit of a tantrum. So after de-bugging and removing and uninstalling various programs I'm a bit over searching for just the right photos and I'm just going to concentrate on one day in December. Let me share with you my December 25th.

Christmas 2012 I was back home in Wales in the cold. It was stuff that the storybooks show - shops decorated until they were full to the brim, Christmas carols everywhere, hot chocolates in cafes and white frosty mornings - magic!
Christmas 2013 was in Brisbane in the heat. It was air con and fans, cold drinks, dips in the pool and lots and lots of people.

Before I talk Christmas day, let me start with Christmas Eve.

There aren't many  houses that show signs of Christmas around here. In fact, you could almost be forgiven for not noticing it's that time of year. There are no street lights or decorated trees outside of the city centre. There are however a couple of houses that put up a few lights....

a local house getting into the Christmas mood!

So on Christmas Eve we ventured out just as it turned dark to go and view the house with the lights. As we were nearing we spotted some red and white lights in the sky.

"Look, it's Santa on his way to New Zealand" I joked...

My eleven year old did a double take with eyes wide and muttered something like "You're kidding right?"

There hadn't been much talk or questions about the man in the red suit this year, and I hadn't initiated any conversation either. There was no milk or carrots left when it was bedtime and to be honest I was a little heavy hearted.

However.....when I went to say goodnight I found a stocking and this little note on the bedroom door.

Yes! One more year..... (thank you Qantas!!)

Christmas morning is all the same wherever you are in the world. It starts way to early! The stockings are inspected and there is always chocolate at some silly hour before breakfast. Then when the first cup of tea has been drunk it's on to the presents under the tree. 

It's not Christmas without my friend Jo Malone... diolch mam x

Our usual late breakfast/brunch is smoked salmon, eggs and toast and we shared this with Gu and Tadcu (welsh grandparents). Of course there is a need for coffee at this time as the day had already been going for hours!

We were entertaining at home and the numbers had been steadily increasing in the days up to Christmas. In the end the final count was 25.

The biggest challenge was not the food and drink, but where was everyone going to sit and did I have enough plates and glasses?
The ping pong table came in handy..... covered in a table cloth it worked a treat.
Ikea came to the rescue with cheap glasses and with some borrowed wine glass charms we managed just fine.

it's not an Australian Christmas without prawns.

Everyone contributed and we had a feast.

To start - crudities and dips, mini yorkshire puddings with beef and horseradish.

Fish course - prawns on ice, lemon yoghurt sauce, orange roughie, tomato and cucumber salsa, feta red onion and watermelon salad.

Mains - slow roasted pork, glazed ham, home made pork pie, spinach and feta rolls, green salad, potato salad, quinoa with vegetables and nuts, chick pea salad.

Dessert - mini meringues with cream raspberries and passion fruit and lemon curd, fresh fruit salad, home made macaroons and of course chocolates!

I think we had enough food!

The thing I love the most about Christmas this side of the world is how the day is very relaxed. We sit around the table for hours catching up with family and friends. The food just keeps appearing and the afternoon becomes evening before we know it. 

The children have hours of fun in the pool and playing cricket and always put on some kind of a show. Even the four dogs and two cats behaved themselves!

So another year is over. I'm grateful for many things and thankful that I was able to share December 25th 2013 with special people. 

A few nights in Paris - Hotel Saint James

After my last post about camping, my friends have had a bit of a chuckle and still can't quite believe that I was there. Just for the record, it's definitely my hand that's holding that floral beaker in the first photo!

In direct contrast to that night under canvas I am going to take us to a hotel in Paris for this post.

First glimpse of the Tour Eiffel
Magical, even on a cold and wet December morning.

Last December we were fortunate enough to go on a trip back home to the UK to spend a cold Christmas with family and friends. I didn't really write much about it as I was too busy enjoying myself...but I have often thought that I should have recorded a bit more about the holiday.

When we were planning the trip we knew that our priority was to visit people, but we also wanted to try and fit in a couple of mini holidays away just  for the three of us. One place that was on the 'must do' list was Paris.

I had some lovely memories of the city but had not been there for many years so I was keen to return.

For the whole holiday I was more or less in charge of the itinerary (for that read most of the organising!) and Neil was tasked with finding accommodation. Now for most of the time we were lucky enough to stay with family and close friends so his job wasn't particularly onerous.
For the Paris trip he was just asked to "find somewhere that feels French"  So he did!

pretty impressive from the outside

You know that a place is going to be interesting when you are greeted at the front steps with a guest leaving with a flurry of small white fluffy dogs. They weren't poodles, but the scene was set anyhow!

Then in the entrance foyer there were zebra heads, a cascade of chandeliers and leopard print carpet...

Entrance foyer to Hotel Saint James.
You can just make out the zebra heads either side of the mirror in the bottom right photo. 

It was a glorious mixture of the starkness of black and white mixed with an eclectic feast of warm colours and texture and crazy hanging chandeliers.

The hotel is built on the site of the first hot air balloon launch in 1783 and there are a few quirky nods to this connection.

 hot air balloon inspired wallpaper and lights

 Each one of the 48 rooms and suites has its own story and hidden behind a bold red door is a uniquely decorated haven.

We booked a junior suite and were upgraded to a suite upon arrival  - I was already impressed...

colourful, elegant and at times a  little eccentric...

It certainly felt very French with the soaring high ceilings, luxurious fabrics and marble bathrooms. Oh, and did I mention that there was French champagne in an ice bucket? Merci Beaucoup.

The hotel is the only chateaux hotel in the city of Paris and is located in its own private courtyard and gardens. It was December when we visited so we didn't see the glory of the gardens, instead we were treated to log fires and enormous scented Christmas trees so I definitely wasn't complaining.

As you can imagine, the restaurant was another wonder of decor where the young female Head Chef creates typically French masterpieces. We mainly dined in the Library and I could have happily spent hours just soaking up the atmosphere in there with the 12,000 leather bound book and Pilou the hotel cat. Yes, Pilou the black cat lounges around the place in his/her red diamante collar just waiting for attention from adoring guests. Sibs was suitably thrilled.

from top left - the restaurant,  lots of heavy tweed curtains and leather,
 exploring the library and planning the day over morning coffee

After a day exploring the sights of Paris and walking many kilometres in the cold it was a treat to return to the splendour of this place.

I swear that I have never had such a good night of sleep -  anywhere, ever.
In fact, we missed breakfast on the first morning! The shutters did their job and plunged the room into total darkness and the opulent fabrics and furnishings muted any noise. I had no idea what time it was!

Sibs looks tiny 

Paris, you were magnificent....

 Hotel Saint James, you made it even more so.

Happy, happy memories,

Hotel website link HERE - well worth a look just to see the photos.

quick hello

Dipping my toe back into blogworld tonight....

Hello there.

It's been a while, a lot longer than I planned (if I actually planned any time away from here at all?)

I guess I've just been distracted by other things going on in life. There was the big trip overseas in December and January; then there was the cramming of all the things you want to do over the school Summer holidays into two weeks when we returned to Australia; then there was the start of the school year and what do you know it's almost the end of February.

I was fortunate enough to spend some time visiting family and friends over Christmas. It involved travelling up and down the UK and across the channel to France and it was fabulous! Well, when you travel 24+ hours to get from Australia to the UK you just have to make the most of it....

Our trip took us from Brisbane to Singapore and then on to Amsterdam before a last short flight to Cardiff. We left Brisbane in 30+ degree sunshine and landed in Amsterdam in snow! The freezing cold air hit our lungs with force.

24 hours in the air and then freezing weather hits us 

Catching up with close family and friends over the Christmas period was very special to me. Northern hemisphere Christmas and New Year is so different to what we now know here in Australia. I enjoy both, but my childhood traditions were calling me home and I so wanted my little Sibs to experience a cold Christmas.

I 'instagrammed' my way around the UK and I've put the feed of my photos on my sidebar (just over there on the right). There's Amsterdam to South Wales to Paris to Yorkshire, Lancashire and the Lake District. Now that I've found my way back on here I'm sure I'll get back into some routine and have many a tale to share. For now it's just nice to be back.

Off to bed and hoping that this crazy rainy weather eases off soon,

nos da,

Some holiday planning

Do you like where you live?  

I had a chat with someone this week about choosing a place to live and bring up a family. 

It was a choice between Australia and Europe.

We spoke about the wonderful outdoor opportunities and health benefits of Australia. We touched on the  culture and proximity and such diversity of Europe. We thought about the cold, damp, dreary 'get me out of here' feelings of Northern Hemisphere Winters and then the fuzzy hair, 10 cold showers a day Summers in Queensland. 

There was no conclusion....

Well, maybe there was?

The conclusion was that there is no perfect place. 

We make the best decision based on our circumstances and the opportunities that we can take at that time.  I am grateful that I was given the choice of where to live and for now I chose Australia.

I enjoy the benefits that it gives, but  I feel that my real fortune is the link that I still have 'home'.

Every now and again I feel the need to strengthen that link and head back. I have written before about not wanting to let go of my history -  HERE and HERE.

Travelling and experiencing different cultures is an education far beyond the classroom. Yes there is the disruption of moving home and I'm sure for those that are constantly on the move there are numerous challenges. However, the chance to view life through a different lens is a real opportunity. 

So where am I going with this? 

Oh yes, -  flights have been booked and we are heading back home for Christmas!

Yes, it will be cold..... yes it will be grey....it might even snow - but I CAN'T WAIT!

There are so many things on the list of things that I want to do, places and people that I want to see it's almost daunting....but very exciting. There are theatre trips planned and booked, there are visits to old haunts up and down the length of the UK from the Lake District to London.  There's Paris, Amsterdam and anywhere else we can fit in....

In anticipation of a Christmas in Wales my girl has been fishing out her Welsh books and brushing up on her vocabulary.

We are flying through the re-cap of colours and days of the week and basics of naming things around the house but the daily struggle at the moment is the pronunciation of  "CH" and "LL".

We can be in fits of giggles when I try and correct her pronunciation for "cyllell" (knife). It's so difficult to try and even attempt to put into words how to get your tongue to the top of your mouth, behind your front teeth and then as your say "L" you need to blow! See how hard it is?

The other morning just as I was getting ready for work I could hear some strange noises from her room then she marched into the bathroom, looked me in the eye and without muttering another word just came out with a very slow  "cyll - ell". She has perseverance - I'll give her that!

She has set herself a goal of learning the words to the Welsh National Anthem. Her original goal was to learn how to say 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyllllandisiliogogogoch' ....we're working on it!

So I am in deep planning mode now.

How to fit about 5 months of 'stuff' to do into 5 weeks?

 I can think of worse things to do with my time...

Christmas food and holidays.

After the craziness that is Christmas we have packed a bag and come away to the coast for a few days.





Actually, Christmas wasn't particularly crazy this year. There was only 10 of us compared to the 26 of last year....this was a doddle!

Our Christmas morning was the usual scrambled egg and smoked salmon with fresh coffee and toast and presents. Then family and friends came over lunch time and we all sat outside around the big table and drank champagne and ate all day.

A few people ask what we eat on Christmas day. Instead of the traditional roast turkey dinner we served a range of different foods. There was caramelized onion and feta tarts, guacamole, galloping horses (chunks of pineapple topped with crunchy peanut butter, soy sauce and chili).

The next course was prawns - (obviously an obligatory part of Christmas in Australia) served with lime yogurt. Then we had white fish with lemon lentils and a green salad. After a little break there was a meat course of cold roast turkey, marinated pork and we had another couple of salads a potato one and a roast veg cous cous salad.

As if that wasn't enough there was just room for cheesecake and a chocolate bomb with home made mango ice cream.

So you see how it took about 7 hours of sitting around the table to tackle all that!

I was so busy enjoying myself that I didn't take any photos of the day. There are a few shots of the show that the children put on for us complete with costumes and face paints but that's it. So just use your imagination....

So now we're well and truly into the school summer holidays. I'm sitting here in the shade of the afternoon sun watching Sibs and her cousin play mums and dads.




We have been fishing off the jetty which is the usual activity here and we'll light the BBQ and the fire tonight and enjoy a glass of something under the stars.





It's a good way to relax, or to chillax which is the word of the moment for my nine year old. Where do they hear these things?




Hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas holidays too and I wish you all a very happy new year.

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda,


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

'Twas the night before Christmas...

...and everyone was exhausted!

I don't know if it's the same in your house, but this one has been buzzing with activity these last couple of weeks. There have been play days and sleepovers, baking and crafting, even a dinner party thrown in to test me!

So now it's Christmas eve and the house is quiet, even the cats are hiding somewhere in anticipation of the man in the red suit turning up...

The Christmas cake is ready, the turkey has been cooked, the sweet things have been baked, the fridge is bulging at the seams and I'm taking a quick five minutes to myself before I double check that everything is done....is it ever??

So a 'typical' Christmas week down here in Australia has included...

Not quite ice skating.

Sushi train lunch



Carols by candlelight in the local park.



Some relaxation with a coffee and the papers.



A bit of a shop....well there was a sale on!

Tonight we went to see some of the local houses that have put up a few festive lights!

Then came back to chop up some carrot for Rudolph, some watermelon for Santa and to write him a note.

I'm holding on to the magic that is the aniticipation of Christmas...

I wonder if this will be the last time that it will be quite this exciting?

I wish everyone a very Happy Christmas holiday near and far.

Nadolig llawen i bawb.