Staying home....

Sometimes life just refuses to take you where you want to go. You make plans, only to have unforeseen things happen......... to throw a spanner in the works, so to speak. In the past couple of months I had so many plans that have been thwarted and changed due to unforeseen happenings, that for just a little while I began to feel really down and quite frankly my spirit was feeling extremely flat.

On Monday this week, I finally came to the realisation, that one of my plans, the one where I was going to head up North to spend some glorious time in the sun with friends is just NOT going to happen. My focus was entirely on this trip, ever since we got back from Bali. Indeed its one of the reasons I agreed to come home a week early.  We were supposed to leave at the end of the week when we got home.....but then things just started to happen. 

* We could not go away the first 2 weeks as I had to have the needles. I was not allowed to take the medicine with me so we would have to wait.

* They stuffed up the first needles delaying us by 3 days so we had to wait longer. Each time I visit the hospital its like the first time. Although all the info is right there, I have to re-explain and wait every time.

*A friends father and grandfather of the friends who we were supposed to go away with passed away. It was a sad week. A week for hugs and togetherness. 

*Our friends came back  and left again a week later, we planned to head off after them, again after my next needle.

*We had an unexpected visit from our daughter and my sister from Melbourne. (One nice thing to happen in all the madness)

*Then everyone started getting sick....

* Since the  needles started, I have spent more time at the hospital in a few weeks than I have in years. Indeed I found out that I had not even seen a doctor in 5 years. Apart from my own dramas with these hospital visits, I spent 7 hours there one day with a friends son, and  several hours there one day with one of my girls. Each long wait in a room full of sick people took its toll on me. And although I was assured that the immunoglobulin they pumped into me would keep me well, it did not work. In fact I caught the worst virus I have had in years. I have been downright ill for a week. And you know, eventually the spirit starts to wane if the body is not healthy. 

We planned to head off again, this Tuesday but I knew I would  simply not be well enough to travel and then Zak caught it. I was downright miserable on the weekend I tell you. But then on Monday I decided that I am not going. I am not going to plan another day to leave. I am staying home! And you know what? Something lifted.

The sun came out that day! And I sat out the back for a while and breathed and let it go! I am obviously not meant to leave home right now! (Well I knew this already, but just could not let it go as I really wanted to go! ). And as I looked around me and took in all the work that has been sorely neglected around here the past couple of months. I smiled and began to heal. I will go away some other time. For now I will placate myself with my herbs, my knitting and some warm soup. And when I am stronger I will tackle all that work.

I am home my friends! My spirit has risen and I am just waiting for my body to catch up! And then I have to have another needle on Monday! Lucky me! :-)

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Taking Reading Off the Beaten Track.......

What can one learn from fiction? I have often heard this out of the mouths of folks who don't like to waste their time reading something that is not a non-fiction type of book (You know, if its not a manual of some descript to "teach" you how to do something, its not worth touching). And of course, I beg to differ (as usual :-) ). 

Aside from the usual facts like reading improves your spelling, vocabulary and grammar. It also boosts your imagination skills and hey it is just far more interesting than watching tv to some of us. Seriously, a book made into a movie is just never the same. If an author adds in a lot of REAL facts too, well, the "sneaky"  learning opportunities are endless I tell you.

This week we have been reading Jackie French's..... Hitler's daughter

and my friends, just 4 chapters in we have already learned so much. (And although some of this learning has been prompted by Lets read History with Jackie French, most of it has been pure unprompted  child questioning and wondering,which has led to researching, and new learning opportunities in totally unrelated areas).



How did this happen? Well.........

The story is basically about a group of kids today who make up stories to pass the time. And in this case Anna is telling the story about Hitlers Daughter Heidi. While the story is made up, she adds a lot of historical facts and this is where the kids began to get interested and ask a LOT of questions. (I really had to laugh in the end as one of the subjects that come up later in the history unit is Justice and already my two have brought it up and covered it all by themselves).

It would probably take all day to write all they did so instead I will give a brief outline of just some of what came up so far.....

*WW2......When was it, how did it happen? How long ago was that? (And of course they had to go and find out)

*Did Hitler really have a daughter?

*How could his daughter love such a horrible man and not know what he was doing? How come she did not know what a Jew was? (This led to a long discussion about whether or not we should believe everything we are told, even in our own families. Also that there was no tv or internet so if someone is isolated and not presented with all the facts, how do they not what is true or not?)

* How did Hitler come into power? (OMG MUM, he was such a liar! And everyone believed him!) Ahhh politicians! We discussed how not much has changed on this front. We compared Hitlers antics with modern day politics and war scenarios.

* Why did he want to create an Aryan race? He did not have blond hair and blue eyes!!! (Also in the book Heidi is dark and has a disability. One of the maids sisters is killed because she has a disability).

* Mum, are all Jewish people really rich?

* Were there really concentration camps? 

* How could the average German citizen allow this to happen? How could they NOT KNOW what was going on right under their own noses.

* We also watched a programm the other night about the plight of Dolphins in Japan. We compared this to the situation in Nazi Germany and it proved a great example. Dolphins are being slaughtered by the thousands and the general populice in Japan has no idea. Zak was so horrified he wants to follow it up and find out if anything is being done now to stop it. They were also feeding dolphin meat which is full of high levels of Mercury to school kids. It was a very good example how people get away with things, when the media is quashed and the general people have no idea. Very scary stuff.

Just watching and hearing the screams of a mother dolphin seperated from its baby, knowing its about to be slaughtered was horrific. How must it have felt for human beings to be in same predicament? 

*We did some further research and reading on Hitlers life and rise to power. 

*The boys also did some independant research and compiled slide shows using Keynote on the computer. Adem made a presentation on Messerschmidt Aircraft and Zak made one about V2 Rockets.

*In the first chapter of the book, it introduces the concept of making up games. The boys made up their own games and made up instructions and rules etc on how to play their games.


Things we plan to do, just from reading this far......

*How far did Hitler get with his invasion of the world? We plan to get the map out and find all the countries he invaded.

* We are going to watch "The boy in the striped Pajamas" together. (I would not recommend this movie to young children and did not let my boys watch it when it came out, but they are old enough now to deal with it so I will let them watch it. The story ties in very well with  Heidi's story is telling so relevant to what the boys are learning.)

* We are going to visit the Jewish Musuem in Sydney and take a tour.

* We plan to look more into Human and Animal rights. 


Other things we learned.....

* That Jackie French is dyslexic and yet she still has written so many wonderful books. (And yes this one is very well written, even mummy is enjoying it!)
 * That no matter who you are or what your disabilities YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU WANT TO DO IF YOU TRY   (Zak was concerned that he may never be very good at writing....)

Oh my and all this and more from just four chapters of reading a FICTION book! Anything that gets a child saying "I wonder...what...where...why...who...when and how?" is a learning opportunity indeed.

Happy learning everyone!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Bali.....Lets eat......

As you can probably tell, we already ate before this picture was taken. :-) Great food! And our most expensive meal in Bali. Costing around $18 Australian dollars for the two of us!

 Before going to Bali, my daughter who had been the previous year, suggested we pack food. There is NOTHING to eat, she told us. When I questioned this, she added that she lived on fruit while there.  I contemplated it for about 2 seconds and then thought "Oh well, I can live on fruit". I was however, pretty sure there would be something else to eat.

The fruit smoothies were popular with all my friends. I did not have any as I don't drink milk but they sure look appetizing hey?

 As I later discovered she did not much leave the confines of her resort, so therefore the food choices were a bit limited.  Also, we were with people who stay in Bali every year, and had their favourite eating places. We decided to just go with the flow and eat what ever we felt like, and enjoy the food, and WE DID!!  

Fruit Salad at the Balcony comes with two different honey's AND a bowl of yoghurt. It also had apple which you did not see much in Bali. (cost around $4)

 We did eat a lot of fruit salad,  you see with banana's being so expensive down here this past year, we were pretty happy to munch on them on a daily basis. There was also the fact that the fruit salad varied from place to place and let me just say, the local folks make a much bigger, cheaper and nicer fruit salad than the resorts.....Oh how I miss the daily papaya already...sigh...

Bali gardens resort: fruit salad and mixed fruit juice...cost around $6.00

 Ok the resorts make a very  pretty one, the one at Bali Gardens came complete with a small spoon of Swiss ice cream, but if you are hungry......and you don't want to hide in a resort, and you would rather sit right on the beach in a warung and be pampered instead.....well.......

A warung is like a shack on the beach where one can sit and be served all manner of food, drinks and of course be co-erced into a massage if you want one as well. This one is located on Balangan beach.

 Fruit is fruit after all my friends and this one comes not only served up with more than enough for two but the locals are quite happy to sit and make it for you very freshly indeed.....chopping a pineapple? No problem at all......

Do you like his beachside kitchen? Its amazing what can be whipped up in such a place!

This is Ketut by the way! He not only fed us, but looked after our valuables while we went for a swim! Oh and he also looked after our friend who cut her foot on the way down.

 And he served ice cold beer!

There were two local places we ate at quite a bit, one of them was Suzannes. I can't for the life of me remember the actual name of her shop but we all called it Suzannes. Suzanne is actually Chinese and her food was absolutely delicious. Even SB who normally does not take to Chinese food, loved it. I think it was the fact that it was a mix of Balinese and Chinese put together and the food was always light and easy to digest. I did not take pictures for the most part but did take a couple on the last day.

Suzanne and Pete

The waiter and Robyn

 This was SB's favourite mushroom dish.......he was also quite fond of Cumi Cumi which was a dish based on squid.

The mushroom dish. Those black bits are some sort of mushroom too! Im not sure what type but SB loved them.

 I loved the fact that Suzanne was quite happy to whip me up a vegetarian meal on request...and I mean I would say...."maybe some greens...brocolli, spinach, carrots?" "OK...you want rice?" And out would come a lovely fresh meal. And no I don't have a picture unfortunately, I was too busy eating,  but here are a couple of the other dishes from her shop....

Chicken and Brocolli, boiled rice with a bowl of HOT chilii. This Chilli was lethal my friends, I can honestly say that I did NOT get Bali Belly in Bali but I DID get Chilli Belly! Damn it was GOOD! And yes I went back for more despite the upset tummy!

Flower Chicken. Fresh chicken breast fried a bit like strips I guess but shaped more like a flower.

This shop was the dingiest looking place on the street, but funnily enough always full. We had a great laugh every time we visited. One night the power kept going out and when it finally went out where we were sitting, one of the young staff members bought out a light and started flashing it like a disco light (just at our table of course LOL). It was so funny! 

Roy and Pete

We also went to Roys for drinks or dessert most nights. Roy served a variety of foods and we did have lunch there one day but we liked to hang out there after dinner so usually had tea, or a drink, fruit salad or sometimes just ice cream........

Roy offers free internet to his customers via your own computer or Iphone, but he was quite happy to let us borrow his computer to check mail or facebook etc. This was the only time I managed to check in. Although there was an internet cafe right in our bungalows, we never used it. We were too busy. Roy was also happy to sit and join us for a chat and something to eat....

And on Peter's birthday he presented him with a birthday pancake.....(of course Robyn added some of those candles that refuse to blow out!).........

After the infamous Monkey bite, we stopped in Ubud for lunch. Now I LOVED this place and if we go back I intend to take myself back there for a few days retreat. It was right up my ally. But being inland, away from the beach, and full of alternative types, (and okay a few people walking around with their noses in the air but seriously who cares?) it was not for my friends, who prefer the beach life and friendlier folk. 

This particular restaurant, made me feel right at home. It was peaceful and serene and the food was delicious.  We went for a more western choice in food here (or Italian as the case might be for some) ......I had vegetarian fettucini.....SB had the same but his came with chicken).............of course being in Bali, it was laced with not only garlic but chilli! Just about everything comes with chilli unless you suggest otherwise....LOVE it!!!!!

Pete had a club sandwhich with chippies, Pete was a happy boy as long as he got his daily fix of chippies.......or fried potatoes as the locals call them...you really do get fried potatoes if you ask for them outside of the places that cater mainly to tourists and have frozen fries.....

And Robyn had Satay sticks.......which looked absolutely amazing.......I can just imagine what one would pay for this at home.....here our whole meal including drinks came in at around $20-25 for the lot of us..........

We also had lunch a couple of times at Bendesa hotel, which was around the corner from our place. They do a pretty mean Mi Goreng (Noodles) and we just had to try it out. Forgot to take a picture of the food but here is Pete and Robyn sitting in front of the water feature.

We also went back another day as I wanted to try one of their sandwhiches which had eggplant, zuchhini and feta. While the filling was good I was not too keen on the half toasted white bread they served it on. It was a nice place though to sit as it was off the main street and quiet. We also liked to use this place as a short cut so thought it was only polite to eat there occasionally! :-)

On our last evening in Bali, we ate at the Balcony and I had to take a picture of my Indian Satay meal..LOL..I thought I was ordering chicken satay sticks like Robyn had in Ubud but this is what came out........there were 3 pieces of chicken on it but my goodness they were huge....I could not eat it all.....

And it came with rice and vegies too.......

I don't really have many more pictures of the food but I did take quite a few of Pete eating. LOL He is so photogenic. Here is one last one of him having a sandwhich with chippies of course down at Bali Gardens after a nice refreshing swim........ thats my mixed fruit juice in the front which is made of fresh fruits of the day pureed with crushed ice.....YUMMMMM

And here he is having breakfast......pouched eggs on toast.........I do believe he has vegemite under those eggs.....ewwwwww.....oh well, at least it wasn't chippies again......

Oh and I forgot to mention, one night we had Pizza at a shop that specialised in Italian food. The vegetarian pizza came with eggplant and zuchhini which was different but tasted very nice! I did not take pics but here is one of Robyn having Pizza at Bali Gardens.....she says it was good......(the only gripe was the German family sitting behind us were smoking and while the fellow directly behind Robyn was turning away from their table to blow out his smoke, he was blowing it towards us while we were trying to eat! How bloody rude! I won't tell you what Robyn said, but she had us in stitches and Im sure they spoke English and heard her! LOL)

So you see my friends, starving in Bali is hardly an option! There is plenty to eat and plenty to choose from. And as I hear my girl asking "Yeah, but what about snacks?" Ummm hello, all that yummy fruit aside, if one walks just outside the resort and heads for the "normal" streets. There are supermarkets on every corner and while they do not sell all the same things we do at home (they are much smaller and ahem, less wasteful), they do have biscuits and chips my dear. AND if one wants to be a little fussier, walk on down to the Matahari complex in Kuta (A tourist shop kinda place) and right in the middle of it is a huge supermarket catering to westerners. They had cheeses galore, German icecreams, fresh fruit, lollies, chocolates, and biscuits just to name a few things! No need to starve me thinks! Even fussy folks can find SOMETHING to eat! 

As for me, I loved loved loved the fact that the food was fresh, local AND the shopping was done on a daily basis so of course what ever was fresh at market is what one got to eat! AND  I DID NOT HAVE TO COOK ONCE! OH YEAH......I COULD TOTALLY GET USED TO THAT! 

Now I have made myself hungry! Have a great day all. 

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxox

Beach Walk On a Winters Day......

I thought I would give you a break from the Bali posts and show you a few pictures from home. I have been playing with my new toy. :-)

I like my new toy! Yes I do!

Hugs and smoochies all xoxox

Monkey Business.....

In Ullawatu, Bali, there is  a temple set high among the cliffs where folks go about their daily business......

Giving thanks, offerings and prayers up to their gods........

Amongst the beauty of nature.......

If you look closely you may see some little visitors helping themselves to the offerings.....

Filling their sweet little bellies and gently taking food from the hands of tourists who oooh and ahhh at their cuteness.....

You may have heard stories about the cheeky little monkeys stealing things from the tourists but this day, all is well. The monkeys are behaving themselves. It could be the gentle sound of the locals chanting, the serene sounds of the ocean crashing into the cliffs far below. Or maybe they were just so well fed today that they were feeling a tad lazy.

 

So you see my friends, one could totally forgive my ignorance when a few days later I insisted on stopping at the Monkey Forest in Ubud, because I thought it would be lovely. A huge green forest, filled with friendly furry little monkeys.....or so I thought. No one else was particularly keen, in fact Robyn made a point of saying...."Do we have to? What if we get bitten by a monkey?" Of course I was pretty sure that was not going to happen and convinced everyone to stop anyway. After all, it was a FOREST people, who knows how many faeiries may be flitting about? And oh it was so beautiful.....

A good minute into walking down the path towards the forest. I spied a monkey just sitting on the path munching on some banana's and thought I would take his picture. He pretty much ignored me at first so I squatted down and took this picture......

He then put down his banana's and casually walked over to me and grabbed my dress......how cute I thought as I took this shot......

He then very casually looked right and left, to see if anyone was watching (the handlers there carry large sticks!!!) and took his first bite. I was shocked to say the least and tried to jump back only to have him grab me around the legs and really sink his chomps in. This time he did manage to pierce through my dress and into my skin.....I do believe I now screamed and tried to run.

So did Robyn, she screamed louder than me and ran up the hill a bit. And somehow in her state of trauma managed to snap this shot......(to everyone around here's great amusement! SEE KIDS I CAN MAKE A CRANKY FACE SO THERE!!!) .......

Of course the shock was more traumatic than the actual bite, which while it hurt was not too bad. A small hole in the thigh, which after cleaning began to heal quite nicely. I was a little scared when everyone started warning me about rabies but not entirely concerned as I did not really think I was likely to catch it from this healthy looking speciman.

Turns out the health authorities over here did not agree and because of this naughty little monkey I have had to go through a rather harrowing couple of weeks. Because we don't have an issue with rabies in our country it is not well known with what to do about it. I was given the run around for a few days before being told to get to the hospital pronto as time was of the essence and they forearmed me with what needed doing. As a result the initial doctor I saw did not agree and  decided to jab me with a tetanus shot instead of the required immunoglobulin and send me home. I was called back in to get the right shot the next day after public health had words with him, he had to report it and they knew of me already,  and sent the required vaccinations up from Sydney.

Again they got it wrong and jabbed a tiny amount of immunoglobulin into my arm and three days later when I should have been getting my second rabies shot, I learned that in fact I had not been given the first and indeed had not been sufficiently jabbed with immunoglobulin and  I had to go through them reopening my wound, jabbing it and injecting the immunoglobulin in it and around it (8 shots in all) then a huge dose further up into the thigh and my first rabies shot in the opposite arm. I have to say, I was slightly pissed off. It hurt and as I did not really want to get them in the first place I felt a bit like I was being jabbed by folks who had no idea what they were doing and using me as a test run.

Each and every visit to the hospital has been long and frustrating with long waits and then having to explain stuff every single time. I have to say, I am rather over it and it just re-enforces my distrust in this modern medical system. Quite frankly I would have preferred to risk getting rabies at a later date than go through all this crap. And by the way, the vaccinations have left me each time with headaches, lethargy and nausea. So yeah. I don't like them! I have since researched quite a bit on rabies and the fact that there is NO cure! Bull crap! There are plenty of herbal options that modern medicine does not acknowledge.

Anyway I still have two more needles to go and would like to say, if you visit Bali........keep away from the monkeys! They really are not that friendly! 

PS.....the forest was still rather beautiful though and while I spent the rest of my visit with monkey radar switched onto full and trying to dodge them. I still enjoyed the scenery.

Hugs and smoochies all xoxox