Bits & Pieces – Page 2 – Loving Family Life

Lest We Forget

I posted this last year – in fact it was when I first started my blog. It is of course still relevant today, so I’m reposting. As well as my Grandpa, I also want to honour my uncles – Douglas Jewell, Allen Jewell, Les Copping and Sep Moroney and dear friend Hilton Beeton who also served in World War 2.

When I was in my early teens I was a member of the Hornsby RSL Youth Club and on Anzac Day we were encouraged to represent the RSL Youth Club by marching in the local Anzac Day March (I also participated in the march in Sydney in the early seventies). I felt so proud marching on this special day even as a 12 year old. My grandfather Colin Ross Thomson, who served in the Second World War, participated in the local march as well. One of my proudest moments was when we finished the march and we were standing in remembrance around the Cenotaph in Hornsby. It was and always has been a solemn and reflective time. I looked over to see my Grandpa’s head bent in remembrance and it made me feel so proud of this lovely man, who had lost his brother Lachlan in the same war (I didn’t know that as a 12 year old).

I suppose this is why I always feel that Anzac Day is such a special day. I’ve spent many Anzac Days watching the telecast on the ABC, which always brings a tear to my eye. We used to watch with the hope of seeing one of my uncles or parents’ friends on the TV as these very proud men marched by (of course they have all passed away now). Even today just hearing the stirrings of the drums in the pipe bands, the pipes, the Last Post, makes me thoughtful and I reach for the tissues.

My brother’s son Nicholas belongs to his school’s cadets and wears his Great Grandfather’s medals in his school’s Anzac Day March and tomorrow has the honour of playing the Last Post at his school Knox Grammar’s day of remembrance.

If you have an Anzac Day story please let me know.

We will remember them
Lest we forget.

Chris

Red Lentil & Vegetable Soup

Hi everyone….Hope you had a great Easter break. This is our favourite soup. I have put a photo of the ingredients because when you see the photo of the finished soup you may not want to make it! It certainly doesn’t look very appetising!! But my family loves it. I make this every week during the colder months……which is now as far as I’m concerned as we’ve said goodbye to summer. I use my slow cooker, but a large saucepan is fine. The vegetables listed here are just the base, and you could add whatever vegetables you need to use up. I used to make it without the pumpkin or sweet potato but it is much tastier with them included. I often put in frozen peas, sometimes bacon or tinned tomatoes. It’s one of those soups that thicken and a great go to snack after school, uni or work. Oh yes, that’s right I don’t do school anymore ho hum. The size of the vegetables are just a rough idea, it’s pretty much what I have in the fridge.

Ingredients:

2 cups red lentils (or this 375gm packet)
2 Tbs olive oil
2 small brown onions – chopped
1 garlic clove – crushed
2 large carrots – sliced or diced
3 sticks celery – sliced
3 cups vegetable stock (I use the cubes but feel free to use liquid stock)
Half a pumpkin – chopped large pieces
2 sweet potatoes – chopped large pieces

Method:

Wash the lentils and set aside. Heat oil in pan and saute onions and garlic until translucent. Add the rest of the vegetables and saute about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Whenever I make soup with vegetables I always saute them, it adds a lovely flavour. Add the vegetable stock and lentils, mix well and slowly simmer until the lentils and vegetables are soft. I cook this on my slow cooker for 3 hours. It freezes well too.

Let me know if you make this soup or have any questions? I love it because it contains so much goodness. This recipe is for my darling friend Sandy.

Bon Appetit.

Geoff and I and some great friends are off to Bathurst this weekend to ride in the Blayney to Bathurst (B2B) cycle on Sunday – around 70kms. We’ve done it twice. It’s so different riding through the countryside as opposed to our beautiful rides through Ku-Ring-Gai National Park, West Head, Akuna Bay and Duffys Forest. “I love the smell of cow manure in the morning.” When we go through the little country towns there are crowds sitting outside the local pub having a beer and cheering us on. I’m tempted to join them – not for a beer but perhaps a Chardonnay haha. Everyone is really friendly and it is wonderful riding in the beauty of the Central Tablelands! Have a great weekend.

Love Chris x

Chris

Watching Sunrises

Daylight saving is coming to an end this weekend in NSW. I love daylight saving over the summer, actually I just love summer and all it has to offer. So this Saturday (or Friday) is the perfect time to watch the sun rise as it will be the latest time in the year. Even today’s first light was 6:42am and sunrise was 7:07am. Before you know it we will have accustomed ourselves to the new time and we won’t feel like dragging ourselves out of bed.

We have done it numerous times and you can see by the photos (the first one being 2004) that we have been doing it for years. The kids were usually awake at 6:30am anyway when they were young, so we would grab some blankets, organise the clothes the night before and most times even do a sneaky trip to McDonalds for takeaway pancakes or whatever. We’ve had a few disappointments when it has been overcast or raining, so have just stayed home and had breakfast in bed (again something special). We are lucky to live close to the beach so we’ve seen some magnificent sunrises – I think they are best when there is some cloud. I’m sure where you live there is somewhere high enough or with a vista to see the sun rise.

For us it’s always about creating memories and doing something “out of the ordinary”. It’s not like we jump out of bed every morning to see the sunrise, but it has created a desire in our girls to appreciate the sunrise. Just last year I woke and was checking out my Instagram and came across a fantastic sunrise – to my delight and surprise it was one of the girls. She had woken early and peaked out the window and the sky was bright pink, that was enough for her to jump in the car to go and watch the sun come up over the ocean. She said she didn’t want to disturb us – I don’t have a problem with that and I continued to snuggle in bed (that’s a good reason to follow your kids on social media – it allows you to keep track of them haha).

I’ve included a photo of a sunrise at Gerroa on the South Coast – one our favourite places. This was taken in July – the air is so crisp and clear in winter.

So if you decide to head out at 6:30am or even earlier to catch the last snippets of summer please let me know. Your kids will love it just for the pure adventure and eating breakfast outdoors (even if it is McDonalds – go on twist their arms, I’m sure you could convince them have to have McDonalds for breakfast).

Enjoy the Easter break and the school holidays.

Love Chris ♥

Chris

Goat’s Cheese Tartlets

Every time we have a family gathering eg. Christmas or more recently my mum’s 80th birthday, I make these tasty tartlets. I’m lucky enough to have a Thermomix so I make my own onion jam, but I’m sure good quality onion jam/relish can be purchased. You can find the pastry cases in either Thomas Dux or Harris Farm. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

Onion Jam
2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
24 mini pastry cases
Goat’s Cheese, crumbled (I use Meredith Dairy – Chèvre (not marinated), Mainland or Soignon – just not feta)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
125ml cream

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 180°C,
Place pastry cases onto a baking tray and put a small amount of onion jam into each of the pastry cases then spoon some cheese over the onion. Don’t overfill as you need to have enough room for the cream mixture.
Combine the eggs with the cream, add thyme, season then pour into the pastry cases.
Bake for 10-15 minutes or until puffed and golden, remove from the oven.
Leave for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. They can be made a day in advance and re-heated in a slow oven for 10 minutes.

They are delicious with a glass of Champagne – but that’s just me. Let me know if you have any questions. If you make them I would love to know what you think.

Bon Appetit.

Love Chris ♥

Chris

Something to Think About

Hi everyone

I hope you are well and embracing 2015. I posted a blog last week (after a month break) and it appears that it didn’t publish. I would love you to have a look anyway – it’s heading was Back to School. I’m posting a new blog in the hope that I am now back “on air”.

I’m still in the process of cleaning old files and I came across something that I’ve saved with quotes about life. I have no idea where it comes from – if you do, please let me know. I’ve listed some, which I asked Eloise to choose. By the way the photo I’ve selected is a sunset taken from our balcony from our recent cruise – this was from my iPhone, so you can imagine how sensational it was!

When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
You don’t have to win an argument. Agree to disagree.
Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
Frame every so-called disaster with these words ‘In five years, will this matter?”
Always choose life.
Forgive everyone for everything.
Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

I hope these little quotes inspire you. I particularly like the reference to chocolate and also never to take myself too seriously – I’m always laughing at the silly things I do or say!!

Enjoy your week. I look forward to hearing from you – indeed if this goes out into ‘whatever it’s called’.

Love Chris xx

Chris

Back to School

Hi everyone

I trust you all had a fabulous Christmas and summer holidays. This time of year seems to go by so fast – I love summer and catching up with family and friends. I haven’t posted for ages, my computer is on the blink and I’m using an old, old one (and I can’t upload photos).

After 15 years of school life, this is the first year that we don’t have a child attending school. Weird, but looking forward to our girls’ next stage in their endeavours.

We had a few traditions that we always did around this time.

We would either go out to dinner (cheap and cheerful restaurant) or have a special dinner at home around their first day of starting a new school year. We would then write down our dreams and goals for the year. They are really fun to look back on. Mine were and still are the same – tidy the home and lose weight. Geoff’s are also pretty similar each year haha – be organised and time management. The girls are so cute as their dreams definately and understandably changed from 2000 to 2014. Eg. take singing lessons, go to Jamberoo, practice more tennis and become really good, get braces off, learn to water ski, help dad build a flying fox in backyard, save for a Barbie caravan, go well in school. This lists go on.
One time Geoff also asked “If you could go back in time and tell yourself one thing before you started high school, what would it be?” Here are two answers: Learn to love to learn and to live out what I learn. And – Don’t take school too seriously (obviously before the HSC year). I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading them as I’ve prepared this post and it’s interesting to see how they have changed their dreams/goals. We sticky taped the “bits of paper” in a book to keep track of them.
When we met the teacher or had teacher/parent interviews we would focus on people skills – eg. that our girls would have empathy, that they would look an adult in the eye when communicating and be inclusive with others, which was more important than academic results (although they are as well). We also asked “What can we do to make your life easier” or “How can we help you this year”.
Take photos – not only of the first day of the school year, but the first day of the school term. Great to have both summer, winter and sports uniforms in photos.
If you have a niece or nephew or a close family friend’s child starting school, send them a card wishing them well as they start this great big adventure.
When I drove the girls to school for the first day back I would tell them this was one of the saddest days of the year for me as I wouldn’t be hanging out with them all day (and I do love holidays). I tried not to make it too negative and would then say how great their school was and what lovely friends they had etc.

I hope you all have a marvellous week. I would love to know if you have a child starting kindergarten (what a big day for all the family) or indeed in our case University. Until next time, enjoy!

Love Chris xx

Chris

Sunset Picnics

This is a great time of year to pack a picnic dinner and go somewhere to watch the sunset. It doesn’t necessarily have to be over the busy holiday season when most dads are on holidays, we have often gone after Geoff’s come home from work. Nice way for a dad to relax after a busy day. Our favourite spot is the Pittwater side of Palm Beach. There are gas BBQ’s ready to go. Another great place on the Northern Beaches is Narrabeen Lake, we’ve seen some beautiful sunsets there.

Here is all you need to take to make it easy (OK, the list looks pretty long but it’s worth it, I promise):

Bread rolls
Pre-made hamburger meat patties from supermarket (or you can make your own)
Tomato/BBQ sauce
Tomatoes (already sliced)
Lettuce
Cheese slices (pop them on the cooked side of the pattie and they just melt)
Serviettes
Disposable plates
Tongs
Paper towels
Oil to wipe down BBQ
Drinks – nice bottle of wine for us and I even take wine glasses wrapped in a tea towel (no plastic glasses here thank you)
Picnic rug – just in case the seats are taken

You only need to get there at around 6pm. I’ve included a photo from years ago. We will definitely be doing it again sometime this summer. I’m always writing about the family and this is a great way to spend quality time together. There is something special about a sunset and cooking outdoors.

Let me know of some other places that I can include as well.

Enjoy summer – I’m already loving it. We even went for a swim on Christmas Day, before our family lunch with 15 of us. So much fun!!

Love Chris ♥

Chris

A Few Little Christmas Traditions

Oh my only a week to go until Christmas. Yah I love this time of year.

We have a couple of family Christmas traditions which I would like to share.

Videoing the Decorating of the Tree:

I would put Bing Crosby on…..starting with my favourite song – the Little Drummer Boy and video away as we would decorate the tree. I’d always start crying whenever I would start videoing remembering the fun times. It really is embarrassing videoing something while you are sniffling and carrying on like a baby behind the camera. Happens a lot!

Putting out the pillow slip:

This is one of my favourite memories from childhood which I’ve continued with our children. We always put out a pillow slip. In the days when we thought Santa was real, the joy of waking in the morning, realising it was Christmas and then the excitement of looking at the end of the bed and seeing a little sack full of goodies. We were allowed to quietly open this bag when we were kids, even if it was 4am, and then fall back to sleep until daylight and then we would hit the big time presents under the tree (only with everyone present).

Our girls have been doing it forever, but this year I thought that the girls would be too old for this tradition to continue – no way, we’re not too old, they said. Even if there are only a few things in the bag, they are still keen to continue (and why wouldn’t they you might say, when there are presents involved).

Here’s a few suggestions: Nail polish, favourite chocolate, eyelash tint gift card, pedicure gift card, Sudoku puzzles, favourite magazine, nice soap, hand cream for handbag, pretty writing paper, pretty note books, Christmas gold chocolate coins, special tea cup, a gift card from dad or mum for one 15 minute shoulder/neck massage, those lollies that they have been pestering you for all year (ours was always Jelly Beans from the Chemist – and yes I’ve put them in this year). Ofcourse these are heavily biased for girls, I have trouble knowing what presents to buy my gorgeous nephews.

Christmas Tree Decorations:

Each year I bought the girls (they would choose) a Christmas tree decoration. The idea is that when they leave home they would take them for their own tree to bring back memories. One of the girls reckons she probably wouldn’t use them as tastes change, but I so know they will be used somewhere – or else she will put them out whenever I visit (like the unwanted present hahaha).

Christmas Cards:

If your kids are old enough to be babysitting, why not send the children they babysit a Christmas card. Just for them and addressed just to them.

That’s all I can think of at the moment. If you have any traditions you would like to share I would love to hear from you. And I would love to share them.

I’ll be back before Christmas but until then have a wonderful week.

Love Chris ♥