Pain, A Miracle and Aussie-style Potatoes

Pain, A Miracle and Aussie-style Potatoes

Hello dear ones. How I’ve missed you! 🙂

It’s so good to be back writing to you again after a perfectly ghastly few weeks of misery caused by Ecoli and other things. Ayiyi. I’m so happy to be sitting upright again, basking in a rare moment of glorious sunshine streaming through my windows.

It was nearly two years ago that I first started getting sick. It’s been such a painful time with all sorts of tests and medications and doctors, but I finally have hope that I will be able to get better one day soon.

Turns out I am highly allergic to mold. My system reacts violently to the stuff giving me symptoms similar to fibromyalgia. My doctors suggested that moving away from beautiful but damp Washington State might do wonders for my health, but it wasn’t until I traveled to Fiji and Australia in January that we realized how right they were.

Upon arrival in Fiji I lay down for a much-needed nap. When I awoke a few hours later I was astonished to discover that nearly all my symptoms had disappeared. After a few days in Australia I was feeling like my old self with energy, a clear head, and virtually no pain. I couldn’t believe it.

Within a day of returning to Washington all the ghastly symptoms returned and have grown steadily worse, sending me to bed for days at a time.

I am now in the process of moving to Australia – a place I’ve dreamed of moving to for years. I’ve been researching visas, going over paperwork, and saving up every spare penny. I will greatly miss my family and friends here in Washington, but am so grateful for the chance to get better.

Thankfully I will not be alone over there. I have many dear friends in the Brisbane area, and am excited to build good memories and traditions with them. I’m also excited to be hostess to my loved ones when they come to visit me.

I don’t have a departure date yet – there is money to be saved and papers to process first – but the hope of feeling better down the road gives me strength to press on through these painful weeks.

A few days ago I was feeling especially wretched when a dear friend called to see if he could stop by for a minute because he had something for me. When he arrived he handed me an envelope, explaining that an anonymous friend had given it to help me move to Australia. Stunned, I opened it. Inside was $700.00.

I just cried. 🙂

In celebration of miracles and hope I made Aussie-style potatoes, an easy yet scrumptious dish dreamed up by my Aussie friend Robbie.

Simply fill a roasting bag (the kind used for turkey or roasts) with cubed potatoes, minced garlic, and a jar of marinated and seasoned Kalamata olives, close and bake at 375 degrees F for 45-60 minutes.

They are deliciously tender and flavorful, the mellow potatoes balanced beautifully by the tangy olives.

What is giving you joy this week?

(This is my contribution to Chaya’s Meatless Mondays. Click here to view more delicious meatless recipes.)

Aussie-Style Potatoes

Ingredients:

4 Yukon gold potatoes
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 jar marinated and seasoned Kalamata olives
1 roasting bag
salt and pepper

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Combine all ingredients in roasting bag, close, and roast on cookie sheet for 45-60 minutes until potatoes are done and begin to brown.

 

How to Make A Difference Today

How to Make A Difference Today

It’s hard to write about beautiful places in the face of such devastation and loss this year in Australia, New Zealand, Libya, and now Japan. So much pain and suffering, such overwhelming destruction.

I’ve been thinking about how lucky I am to be able to take a shower and brew water for my morning coffee. To have the infrastructure in place to be able to contact the people I love and know that they are OK. To have a job, a town not flattened by an earthquake, a grocery store filled with fruit, veggies, and meat.

I’ve felt sad and helpless watching the footage coming out of so many countries around our world. I wish I could be there to protect, heal, and love. I can’t do those things but I can do something, even if it’s small.

Yesterday I used my cell phone to donate to the Red Cross. It wasn’t much, but it was something, and maybe if we all give a little something it will build to a great big something that will ease the suffering of someone. Even if our donation helps one person get a water purification system or a blanket or the use of a cell phone to find a family member, it is worth it.

I wouldn’t presume to tell anyone what to do with their money. I know we all have needs and people we already know and love who need our help, but if you do have a little extra somewhere that you want to share, please consider sending it to the Red Cross or another reputable organization.

Simple text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation that will be added to your monthly cell phone bill. You can make it larger if you wish.

Wherever you are today, I hope that you are safe. I hope you know that you are loved, that you matter, that someone’s world is more beautiful because of you.

xo

 

How to Really Enjoy A Hammock in Fiji

How to Really Enjoy A Hammock in Fiji

There are few things more relaxing to me than several hours spent lounging in a hammock, eyes closed, gently swaying in passing breezes.

It’s even more wonderful when that hammock is slung between two palm trees on a white sand beach in Fiji, mere yards away from the South Pacific.

I found such an idyllic spot on my recent trip to Fiji as I was strolling the fairytale beaches of Denarau Island. Astonished that it was vacant I strode over, kicked off my shoes, and sank back into hammock heaven.

The ropes were soft with just enough give to cradle you like a newborn baby. Above me the palm fronds rustled and the gentle lap of the waves lulled me into delicious stupor.

How long I lay there I don’t know, but suddenly I heard a soft voice saying, “Bula, Madame.” I opened my eyes to find a smiling man wondering if I would like a drink from the hotel bar nearby. I only had to think for a moment before grinning and requesting a glass of fresh mango juice. Perhaps it’s because my first trip to Fiji coincided with Mango Week in all the restaurants, but nothing quite says vacation to me like a frosty glass of cold, freshly pressed mango juice.

When he brought it to me moments later in a turquoise goblet, my bliss was complete.

I’ve returned to that hammock many times, usually with book, towel, and swimsuit in tow, delighting in peaceful afternoons of reading, swimming, snoozing, and just gazing out to sea.

Here are a few lessons I’ve learned in how to really enjoy a hammock in Fiji:

  1. Go to the bathroom BEFORE finding your hammock. Don’t let the call of nature force you to give up your place to other marauding vacationers.
  2. Stake your claim first thing in the morning. Hammocks are treasured spots along the beach. Getting up and about while others sleep in is the most reliable way to secure one.
  3. Go at noon or dinner. If you just can’t pass up a morning sleeping in to the sound of waves crashing, go scouting for a hammock when folks are otherwise occupied with eating.
  4. Bring a well-stocked beach bag: water, snacks, great book, journal and pen, towel, sunglasses, sun hat, camera, room key, sunscreen, and watch.
  5. Spread your towel on your hammock to keep your hind quarters from looking like they’ve been branded by said hammock.
  6. Tuck your beach bag under a corner of your towel so you can nap without worrying about your belongings.
  7. Then lay back, close your eyes, and let the sea breezes rock you to sleep.

What is your ideal scenario for relaxing?

A Little Escape to Denarau Island, Fiji

A Little Escape to Denarau Island, Fiji

Hello luvs. How was your week? Are you oh-so-happy it’s Friday? Me too. 🙂

I’m sleepy today, feeling dreamy and quiet and finding it quite marvelous to get lost in pictures of beautiful places of warmth and sunshine and solitude. Like this grassy shore on Denarau Island, Fiji dotted with beguiling places to sit and stare out to sea.

I’ve become quite entranced with the ocean of late, reading all sorts of books on underwater research and discovery. I love reading about submersibles, picturing folks bobbing along under the water seeing creatures and shipwrecks and all manner of interesting caves and rock formations. Even thinking about being down there myself makes me feel claustrophobic with a sudden need to take deep gulps of air, but I do like seeing those worlds through others eyes.

My weekend has started off beautifully with a jolly dinner with my grandparents. They showed me old pictures and told me all sorts of great stories about their life in Denmark before immigrating to Canada. I loved it.

I’m really looking forward to good visits with dear friends, sleeping in and buying groceries. I’m craving potatoes something fierce!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and would love to hear what interesting things you’ve been learning about lately. 🙂