Pick of the week - Tranquility

This boat has come up as "Back on the market" with ABNB Brokerage.  Perhaps a sale fell through.  Click to see nb Tranquility
It's an owner fitout, something I don't recall seeing much with ABNB.  We would be less likely to look at an owner fitout boat when we come to buy a boat of our own.  But, for the price, this one caught our eye.

We particularly like the way the washing machine has been fitted at the top of the stairs at the stern.  There is no dinette (just a breakfast bar) but perhaps enough space at the end of the bed to create somewhere for small fold out desk and chair.   The boat appears to be light and bright and not too cramped.  We like it!


Price: £53,500
Length: 54ft 10in  
Builder: Andicraft 
Fitter-out: A Handley  
Year registered: 2009 
Style: Trad  
Safety Certificate: RCD issued 2009, BSS 2014
Engine: Beta B-43 diesel   
Plating: 10/6/4/4  
Last blacked: 2009
Fit-out materials: Deckhead in t&gv ash boarding, cabin & hull sides in oak panels with oak trim. Floors in oak boards except plastic tiles to shower room  
Insulation: Cellotex/Kingspan
Headroom: 6ft 2in   
Berth sizes: 6ft 3in x 4ft 2in permanent double
Mains Power: Landline, Mastervolt 5000W pure sine wave inverter
Cabin heating: Morso s/fuel stove, 230V towel rail  
Water Heating: Engine + 230V immersion > calorifier  
Water tank: 150gall (est) integral
Cooker: Belling 4 burner gas hob, 230V combined grill/fan/microwave 
Fridge: Shoreline 12V 2.3cu ft with 1cu ft freezer  
Washer/dryer: Candy Aquamatic washing machine  
WC: Tecma electric flush wc to remote tank  
Shower: in tiled cubicle with door
Other: Breakfast Bar. Roomy & spacious layout, executed to a good standard
Location: ABNB, Crick Wharf

 

 

Is 2012 to be "a big year"?

Another year gone.  I have a good feeling about 2012 and hope it will be a positive year for us.  We're hoping it will be what we call "a big year" in our lives.  We've had one of those before.

1999.  That was a big one!  After years of debilitating pain I finally relented and had a hysterectomy at the ripe old age of 30.  No more pain, but no kids either.  It took a long time to reach the point of making that decision but by the time we got there we both felt very positive about it.  We'd done everything we could and it was time to move on. 

The week I got home from hospital I had a phone call from my old boss (the nice one) asking if I'd work for him again.  Yes! It was just what I needed and within weeks of my surgery I was back at work full time.  Immediately our financial woes were eased.  It was like starting a new life.

Mick, bless him, suggested I should go to Germany to spend some time with my long time friend.  I even got to join my friend and her family on their holiday on the Bay of St Tropez - the French Riviera no less!

We had only taken weekends away for years as we didn't have money for a holiday, we hadn't been able to afford for Mick to take unpaid time off work, and I was worried about being too far from home in case of the need for a rush to the hospital emergency department.  So, with the ability to now save some money and the need to find something to occupy us while our friends brought up their families we decided to buy a weekender to renovate. What a life changing decision that was to be. 

Here we are again on the brink of what we hope will be another year of change in our lives.  We're going to think positive.  I already have a new job to start next week.  We'll sell our house, we'll find a great tenant for the house up the street (which will eventually be our home), we'll find someone to rent some storage space out at the big shed and..... in September we'll take off on the adventure of a lifetime.  It WILL happen.

Christmas news

We have some exciting Christmas news.... my brother and his wife are expecting their second baby.   Looking forward to the middle of the year and being an auntie again.
Congratulations Jeff & Kate!

Recipe - Christmas Truffles

1 packet Marie biscuits (or plain malt biscuits)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 cup dessicated coconut

Crush the biscuits - either in a plastic bag and then wrapped in a tea towel and bashed with a rolling pin, or use a food processor.
Place biscuit crumbs, cocoa and 1/4 cup of coconut in a bowl and stir through condensed milk until well combined.
Refrigerate the mixture for half an hour to make handling easier.
Roll mixture into balls and then roll in coconut.
Chill for at least 2 hours.

Recipe - Pavlova

Pavlova is a true Aussie favourite although it's origins are well debated - the Kiwi's claim it as theirs! Either way it's a dessert I remember well from my childhood. My Auntie Cheryl was the pavlova queen. I knew if we were having a family get together that she'd bring pavlova. I don't see her much now but when I do see her (like at my brother's recent wedding) I'm immediately reminded of the good old pav.
 

My new sister in law and I decided we'd make it our dessert for Christmas Day. Toppings can vary but the two most typical in Australia would have to be either crumbled Peppermint Crisp bar, or banana, kiwifruit and strawberry. They look so good together those three fruit and that's what we've decided on.

This recipe is from Taste.com.au : http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/14966/pavlova

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 6 (59g) eggs, separated
• 1 1/4 cups (270g) caster sugar
• 2 tsp cornflour
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 300ml thickened cream
• 2 tbs icing sugar mixture, sifted
• Finely shredded rind and juice of 2 limes
• 2 Lady finger bananas, thinly sliced diagonally
• 3 golden kiwifruit, peeled, thinly sliced
• 2 starfruit, thinly sliced
• Pulp of 2-3 passionfruit

Method

1. Preheat oven to 120°C. Line an oven tray with foil. Brush with melted butter and dust with cornflour, shaking off excess. Mark a 24cm-diameter circle on foil.
2. Use an electric mixer to whisk egg whites in a clean dry bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition, until meringue is thick and glossy and sugar dissolved. Rub a little meringue between fingers. If still "gritty" with sugar, continue to whisk until sugar dissolves. Add cornflour, vinegar and vanilla and whisk until just combined. Spoon meringue onto the foil, using the marked circle as a guide. Smooth sides and top of pavlova. Use a small spatula to forms little peaks around edge of pavlova. Bake in oven for 11/2 hours or until pavlova is dry to the touch. Turn off oven. Leave pavlova in oven with the door ajar to cool completely. When completely cold, transfer to serving plate or store in an airtight container until required.
3. Use an electric mixer to whisk the cream and icing sugar in a medium bowl until firm peaks form. Spoon cream onto the top of pavlova. Pour lime juice into a ceramic or glass bowl. Add banana slices and toss to coat with juice. Drain. Decorate pavlova with banana, kiwifruit, starfruit, passionfruit and lime rind.

1. 
   
2. Decorate

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to our family, friends, and readers. We hope you all had a great day!

For us it's been a typical Aussie Christmas - the weather has been hot!  We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my brother, his wife, and my stepmother.  My other brother and his wife stayed home at the last minute.  My little nephew wasn't well so they spent the day quietly at home rather than endure 2 1/2 hours in a hot car with a sick baby.  We missed them but had an enjoyable couple of days.

This side of my family seems to alternate between doing the seafood Christmas dinner and having a slightly more traditional meal.  This year we got out our Weber barbeque and roasted pork and also a beef fillet.  We had intended to roast potatoes and pumpkin but when I was at my mum's the other day I flipped through one of her magazines and saw a recipe for a warm potato salad that looked delicious.  We decided to make the salad instead of roasting potatoes.  So we had beans, pumpkin and warm potato salad with a fresh baked loaf of bread.  Not terribly "Australian" as far as Christmas goes but it was a lovely lunch.  I'll have to scan the recipe for that salad.  It was worth keeping!

We had pavlova for dessert and made a Christmassy ice cream that we were too full to eat. We all sat up and watched a movie Christmas night and woke this morning to a much cooler day.  Big relief.

Recipe - Summer Pudding

This is one of my typical Christmas favourites.  It's a great alternative to hot pudding in our Aussie heat.  Frozen berries work just as well but I always use fresh strawberries.  Any combination of berries is fine

Summer Pudding

Ingredients : 

2 punnets Strawberries
2 punnets Raspberries
2 punnets Blueberries
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup water
10 slices white bread, crusts removed

Method :

Wash & trim berries and put into a saucepan with the water & sugar.
Simmer for about 5 minutes until softening and juices become a little syrupy. Remove from heat.
Line a pudding basin with cling wrap, leaving enough overhanging to cover the top.  Use a pastry brush to "paint" one side of the bread with juice from the berries and place the bread juice side down to line the basin. 

Pour fruit and 1/2 the juice into the lined basin.  Reserve the other half of the juice for serving.
Use more bread to make a 'lid' for the pudding going all the way to the edge.  

Cover the top with overhanging cling wrap.

Place a small plate on top and weight it down (you could use large tins of fruit/soup).
Refrigerate both the pudding and the reserved juice overnight.
To serve, open the clingwrap and upend pudding onto a plate.

Pour the reserved juice over the top. 

Serve with cream.

The eve of Christmas Eve

Work is over for the year, with today being Friday the eve of Christmas Eve.  It was hot today - nearing 35 degrees at my mum's!

Mick and I went to Melbourne yesterday to have lunch with his mum and sister who are over from New Zealand.  As usual he grumbled about the traffic and the crowds.  He's turning into a "country bumpkin"!

Today I had a Christmas lunch at my mum's - my sister, her partner and 3 kids came up from Melbourne.  Mum and I prepared an Aussie seafood lunch.  We had a huge pile of tiger prawns, smoked trout, and salmon mousse with a couple of nice salads.  Things went pretty much as they usually do when we're having lunch with my sister.  She said she'd be there around 11am to check in at the motel just a few doors down and then come to mum's to eat.  I got there just after 11am and Mum and I sorted out the food.  At midday we were waiting... and waiting... and waiting... 12.30... 1.00.... 1.20 I get a text message saying they are still more than an hour away!  Would have been nice to know at 11am that they hadn't even left the house more than two hours away.

I had intended to do my last Christmas groceries after lunch and on my way home so they wouldn't be left in the car too long.but with them being this late Mum hustled me out the door to get them done while we waited.  I returned at 2pm to squeeze my groceries into mum's already full fridges and we waited some more.  Eventually at 2.30 they arrived and with the messing around of unpacking, the kids being excited and getting the food out of the fridge it was 3pm by the time we sat down to lunch! 

We have my brother and his wife coming up tomorrow to spend a couple of days with us and on Christmas day my other brother and his family and my stepmum will come for the day.

I thought I might post some of our Aussie Christmas recipes.  Coming up!

Mick had "end of work drinks" this evening so he's early to bed and a little tipsy.  I'm watching a girlie movie with the kookaburras laughing loudly outside the back door.  It feels like Christmas.

A new job !

My working life hasn't been easy for me this year.  I left my long term job only to be dragged back into it against my better judgement.  This hasn't been terribly successful with problems over the stressful boss and certainly not enjoyable.  The old stress has crept back up.  I've been removing myself from this situation over the last couple of months and asked the nice boss for a reference so I could look for alternative employment.

Meanwhile I've been working one day a week at another little job which I'm enjoying.  It's just a pity it isn't enough to keep the bills paid!  It's likely this work will be something I can do while we're on our narrowboat.

So.... last Thursday I decided to look at what might be available on some of the online job search pages.  Most of the jobs listed are full time and I really only want another 2 or 3 days a week.  One caught my eye.  It was 3 days a week and in a town about 40 minutes away.  The only problem was that the advertisement had been listed over a week before.  I didn't think it likely I'd have much luck applying so late but figured there was nothing to lose.  I quickly printed out my resume and an application letter and raced down to the post office to get it in the mail before the close of business.  Friday morning I received a phone call asking when I could come in for an interview.  We made a time for Monday (today).

I was pleased with the interview and felt I got along well with both the business owner and his wife.  The job was just what I was looking for and it seemed I was just what they were looking for.  Very promising.  My old boss rang me this afternoon to tell me that they had called him for a reference and he'd said "all positive things".  Even more promising.  Late this afternoon the phone call came.... I have the job, starting 5th January!

Recipe - Corn salsa

I'm posting this as a recipe so that I don't forget about it but really we just threw some leftovers in a bowl and it ended up tasting good!

Ingredients:
Corn cob (stripped)
1/2 punnet cherry tomatoes
1/2 Avocado
2 Spring onions
Dressing : juice 1/2 lemon, crushed garlic clove, olive oil, cracked black pepper

I grilled the corn cob whole in a dry frying pan and once it was almost cooked through I added the tomatoes to the pan until they were slightly charred. Mick cut the corn from the cob and we tossed it into a big bowl with the chopped tomatoes, some avocado and a couple of sliced spring onions.  We made up a small amount of dressing with the juice of half a lemon leftover from the night before, a crushed garlic clove, a splash of olive oil and cracked black pepper.  Everything got a good mix in the bowl and we ate it on toasted bruschetta. 

We've discovered packaged bruschetta in the bread section at the supermarket.  It has a long shelf life and the pieces are fairly flat so they fit in the toaster.  They are a great backup!