A Lazy Day
Today I woke up feeling lazy. Too lazy to get up. My bed was warm and cosy and rain was drumming on the roof.
My husband made me breakfast in bed, although I got up to eat it. There were soft-boiled eggs and buttered toast, toast with raspberry jam and freshly-squeezed orange juice made from oranges from our tree. He followed up with a cup of freshly-ground coffee. What a sweetheart!
I did go for an hour-long walk in the afternoon, despite the toe-numbing cold, so I suppose I redeemed myself a bit.
Can you believe that we've lived in this house for three and a half months already? I can't. I have a list of things to get for the house that I haven't done anything about. All in good time, I guess. I still don't know the best places to go in Adelaide for good deals on furniture, either second-hand or new.
However, furniture shopping can wait until I feel more energetic. Maybe in the spring.
We are family!...
O meu irmão imprimiu-me este quadro, que encontrei no blog Sunny Fiona. Adoro as cores e, depois de tirar esta fotografia, pendurei o quadro na entrada de minha casa... assim, quem cá chega já sabe como é! :-)
I found this free downloadable print at Sunny Fiona and I loved the colours and the saying. My brother printed it in canvas and after this picture was taken, I hanged it in my home entrance.
I wish you a happy weekend!
Managing a Holiday Budget
Holidays give us some of our happiest memories, yet they can also be very, very expensive. Many of us suffer from holiday credit card bills long after the event. Yet there are many ways to make going on vacation more financially manageable.
Decide what your priorities are: What do you enjoy doing on holiday? Are you hoping for luxury accommodation or is that unimportant? Are you focusing on activities suitable for young children, or maybe teens? Do you plan to eat out or are you hoping to self-cater? These are just some of the questions you might consider before choosing a venue and accommodation.
Plan ahead: Research things you would like to do online or by visiting a travel agent. Make a rough list of likely expenses and start setting aside funds.
Learn about your destination: Check weather reports in the weeks before you travel so that you are well-equipped with appropriate clothing, sunscreen, etc., and aren't forced to pay exorbitant prices at the other end. Will you have a car? If not, is there a grocery store withing walking distance? Will you have access to a kitchen? A cot? A highchair? Will you need to provide or hire bedlinen?
Pay ahead as much as possible: If you can pay for accommodation one month, for example, and airfares a month or two later, well before you make your trip, you are less likely to feel burdened by holiday costs.
Expect to need some splurge money: Holidays are meant to be fun, and should have some spontaneity. Have some funds available so that you can eat out on a whim, or take an extra tour, or buy souvenirs, or whatever else takes your fancy.
Do you have any other suggestions on how to manage a holiday budget? Please leave a comment?
A Pain in the Neck
Today my neck is very stiff and sore. I think it's the result of sleeping badly and returning to work this week where I work on a computer all day long. Tonight I am going to bed with a hot water bottle. If I am nice to my children and husband someone might give me a massage too.
My daughter has a friend for a sleepover tonight. I wanted to cook a special meal but discovered that my kids seem to have eaten most of the food, so we ended up eating pasta with a chicken and vegetable sauce. However, I had just enough cocoa to make a saucy chocolate pudding for dessert. Let's hope there's still some ice cream.
I love having an extra girl in the house. The one staying tonight is a lovely creature with beautiful manners. I am proud of my daughter for picking such great friends.
Tomorrow I want to write about how to manage a budget on holidays. I have been thinking about this all week but just haven't done anything about it yet.
Resort Living
I think I could get used to living in a tropical resort,although the sticky summers would do me in. However, wintering in the tropics every year would be fabulous and you would avoid many of the tropical nasties like mosquitoes and box jellyfish that come with the hot weather.
Yet as with most things, even a super-luxurious tropical lifestyle could pall, I expect, if it was achieved easily. Perhaps the real thrill is in saving and dreaming then having a taste of how 'the other half lives'.
Yet as with most things, even a super-luxurious tropical lifestyle could pall, I expect, if it was achieved easily. Perhaps the real thrill is in saving and dreaming then having a taste of how 'the other half lives'.
Winning a trip (even if you have to pay half) is pretty good too!
Palm Cove Cultural Exchange
We have now returned from our prize holiday at Palm Cove on the Great Barrier Reef north of Cairns and it was fabulous.
We lounged by the pool (a lot), visited the tropical zoo, travelled on the skyrail and snorkelled in the outer reef. We revelled in the intense green of the surrounding rainforests and the vivid hues of the tropical flowers.
On the first morning our children befriended some American kids at the resort pool. The Morgans from South Carolina were staying at Palm Cove on their way to visit missionary friends in Papua New Guinea. They had two boys and a girl, all similar ages to our eldest three kids and very compatible in personality. The adults really liked each other too. For the rest of the week we travelled, relaxed and drank cocktails together (the adults, not the kids!)
Everyone had fun with the cultural exchange. They had just discovered Tim Tams and had bought several packets. Given that it was a beach holiday we were able to educate them about budgie smugglers (first, we had to explain that budgies are what Americans call parakeets). And they were amused that we call flip-flops, thongs. We discovered that the American and Australian definitions of 'fanny' are different, and it is not a wise expression to use in Australia.
By the end of the week they were referring to MacDonald's as Maccas, like true Aussies.
Over the next few days I'll post more pictures. I took today's from the beach at Palm Cove.
