Royal Escape from the Topic - for off topic chit chat Showing 1,901-1,950 of 2,839

[QNPoohBear]

Worst natural disaster? Well I just missed the Blizzard of '78. Hurricane Irene a few years ago was pretty bad. It knocked out power and took down a lot of huge old tree limbs, flooded low lying areas. The university where I was attending grad school closed down for a day due to flooding and the bathrooms were pretty gross (basement). The winters can get pretty bad with lots of rain/frozen rain/snow. It's not real snow like the midwest. I wouldn't want that either but cold, wet stuff that just accumulates and gets pushed onto the sidewalks by the snowplows. The winter of snowpocalypse was rough. I didn't get outside until March and the train tracks were still slightly covered in snow.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

I'm back!

I had a wonderful holiday & actually didn't want to come home.

Queensland would be a great place to live. *Grudgingly* while I still think Hot Water Beach is the best beach in the world, overall Queensland/Northern NSW have better beaches. We never saw a bad one.

And I can't get over how open and friendly most Aussies were. Kiwis are friendly too, but we are (in general) a quieter people.

[Susan in NC]

Welcome back - glad you had a lovely time!

[Nick]

I'm glad you had a good time! I have that northern hemisphere fear of Australia because I've been lead to believe the entire landmass is crawling with enormous and venomous spiders and snakes, and if you escape them you'll be punched by a kangeroo or ambushed by a dropbear.

But I'd be willing to forgive all if the beaches are better than NZ....

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Carol ꧁꧂ wrote: "I'm back!

I had a wonderful holiday & actually didn't want to come home.

Queensland would be a great place to live. *Grudgingly* while I still think Hot Water Beach is the best beach in the world..."

I'm glad that you had a nice time!

[Karlyne]

Carol ꧁꧂ wrote: "I'm back!

I had a wonderful holiday & actually didn't want to come home.

Queensland would be a great place to live. *Grudgingly* while I still think Hot Water Beach is the best beach in the world..."

I had to Google Hot Water Beach, and I was flabbergasted by the whole idea. Much as I love the Pacific coast of Oregon and Washington, my hat is off to NZ!

[Barb in Maryland]

Carol, did you get as far north as Cairns? Lovely beaches up between Cairns and Port Douglas...
Your Hot Water Beach looks lovely too, says this gal--who grew up on Kailua Beach, Hawaii.

[Susan in Perthshire]

We visited that coastline when our son and daughter in law got married on Hamilton Island. We built a whole trip in Oz around their wedding. Fabulous! Didn’t manage to fit NZ in - as we only had 3 weeks. It is still on the bucket list!

[Critterbee❇]

Welcome back, Carol! Glad to hear that you had a blast, we missed your posts!

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽]

Glad to see you back again, Carol!

[Susan in NC]

Susan in Perthshire wrote: "We visited that coastline when our son and daughter in law got married on Hamilton Island. We built a whole trip in Oz around their wedding. Fabulous! Didn’t manage to fit NZ in - as we only had 3 ..."

That sounds heavenly!

[Susan in NC]

Nick wrote: "I'm glad you had a good time! I have that northern hemisphere fear of Australia because I've been lead to believe the entire landmass is crawling with enormous and venomous spiders and snakes, and ..."

Hah! You gave me a laugh, and for that I thank you!

[Susan in NC]

Karlyne wrote: "Carol ꧁꧂ wrote: "I'm back!

I had a wonderful holiday & actually didn't want to come home.

Queensland would be a great place to live. *Grudgingly* while I still think Hot Water Beach is the best b..."

You prompted me to Google Hot Water Beach, too - stunning! I’ve never been to our West Coast Beaches, but know from travel shows they are stunning as well - what a beautiful world we live in!

[Susan in NC]

Barb in Maryland wrote: "Carol, did you get as far north as Cairns? Lovely beaches up between Cairns and Port Douglas...
Your Hot Water Beach looks lovely too, says this gal--who grew up on Kailua Beach, Hawaii."

Ok, I have actually seen a few Hawaiian beaches - lucky duck, Barb!

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Thanks everyone!

One reason the Aussie beaches are so lovely is that they groom them. We had an early morning walk on Broad Beach & the tractor was out making the sand immaculate. & they are long expansive beaches & the sand is the texture of icing sugar.

@ Nick we didn't see a single venomous spider or snake in the wild. We did see wallabies bounding around the Sirromet winery.
On our previous visit to Australia my (insane) husband walked right up to a pregnant grey kangaroo to take photos. But the friend we stayed with in Australia is a nurse who does home visits. One time she was just about to get out of her car & an enormous kangaroo bounded on to the drive way. She stayed in her car till the roo got bored & bounded off.
@Barb- no we didn't get as far as Cairns. We just had 2.5 weeks. We covered Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Gold Coast & we made a day trip down to Byron Bay in NSW.

[Hana]

At one time I seriously considered moving to Australia....then I learned about the venomous spiders, also massive clouds of spiders descending from the sky in little parachutes :D Glad you missed even non-close encounters, Carol!

[Hana]

One of my Boston friends is an Australian transplant to the US. When we first met I said something dumb about how cute kangaroos are. She looked at me like I was completely insane and said they were the most terrifying animals she'd ever encountered.

Of course she has yet to meet a cougar or a grizzly bear but I'm pretty sure she'd treat them as sensibly as your nurse friend did!

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Hana wrote: "One of my Boston friends is an Australian transplant to the US. When we first met I said something dumb about how cute kangaroos are. She looked at me like I was completely insane and said they were..."

The grey kangaroos are supposed to be less aggressive. Brown ones should never be approached. There were warning signs on most rural roads to watch out for roos. Apparently they are none to smart & will bound right into the path of a car. Koalas look sweet & cuddly but apparently they are also quite aggressive.

[Hana]

Urban people have gotten more than a bit silly over 'cute' animals. We have wild turkeys here in Brookline; I once saw a woman encouraging her toddler to pose for a photo next to a male turkey in the spring mating season. The kid was smaller than the turkey and his dangerous hind spurs were clearly visible. I warned her that the turkey could attack and she gave me this "Who asked you?" look. Darwinian moment. I hope the kid survived, but....

[Susan in NC]

Hana wrote: "Urban people have gotten more than a bit silly over 'cute' animals. We have wild turkeys here in Brookline; I once saw a woman encouraging her toddler to pose for a photo next to a male turkey in t..."

Here in NC we have wild horses at the coast, I’m amazed when I’ve seen footage of people trying to close enough for selfies. Seriously?

[Critterbee❇]

Wild turkeys are terrifying - so big and fast and loud! There really is nothing you can do in that situation, Hana, you alerted her to a danger, and she apparently chose to risk her child's safety.

There really is no need to approach wild animals for fun photo ops. Although saying that, I have shooed deer and stray cows off of the road so we can pass, and they probably could do some damage if they stood their ground.

[Critterbee❇]

Susan in NC wrote: "Here in NC we have wild horses at the coast, I’m amazed when I’ve seen footage of people trying to close enough for selfies. Seriously?"

Ooh, there are wild ponies in Virginia, too! The authorities keep the people behind fences, so they cannot bother the ponies, haha!

[Susan in NC]

❇Critterbee wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "Here in NC we have wild horses at the coast, I’m amazed when I’ve seen footage of people trying to close enough for selfies. Seriously?"

Ooh, there are wild ponies in Virginia,..."

That’s sensible- if people are too dense to realize they shouldn’t bother wild animals, the authorities have to do the right thing to protect everyone!

[Hana]

The most horrifying story I read was of a child whose parent smeared its face with honey so they could get a photo-op with a bear in one our our national parks. The child did not survive.

[Critterbee❇]

Hana wrote: "The most horrifying story I read was of a child whose parent smeared its face with honey so they could get a photo-op with a bear in one our our national parks. The child did not survive."

Wait, what? a BEAR?

[Hana]

Yes. I think it was in Yellowstone national park.

[Teresa]

God almighty Hana!!! People like that shouldn't be allowed to have children!!!!

[Hana]

Well...that problem has been cured now by natural means, Teresa.

[Hana]

I should add that I haven't doubled checked the story. These days clickbait rules. But this was five or so years ago so...

[Critterbee❇]

That is true, there are a lot of legends circulating.

On another subject, I am meal planning, and am wondering what you would serve with Arancini. Marinara and steamed broccoli? I have never made it, only had it at restaurants, (delicious!) and I have some arborio rice leftover.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

[Hana]

Oh! Yum! Perhaps some thing quite simple but with a distinct flavor, like steamed young spinach leaves..

[Hana]

Maybe also roasted fennel and potatoes.

[Critterbee❇]

Oh, I like the idea of roasted fennel, that is a nice strong flavour!

[Hana]

I think that would work superbly well. I just mix the chopped up fennel and pealed sliced Idaho potatoes with olive oil, salt and white pepper and a bit of water and bake at 350 F, turning every so often to keep things browning evenly.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

I've done them with a tomato based sauce.

[Susan in NC]

Great ideas, my mouth is watering!

[Kirsten]

Karlyne wrote: "Carol ꧁꧂ wrote: "I'm back!

I had a wonderful holiday & actually didn't want to come home.

Queensland would be a great place to live. *Grudgingly* while I still think Hot Water Beach is the best b..."

Just remember what Lewis (or Clark) said about the Pacific Ocean: "There's nothing pacific about the Pacific."

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Carol ꧁꧂ wrote: "Hana wrote: "One of my Boston friends is an Australian transplant to the US. When we first met I said something dumb about how cute kangaroos are. She looked at me like I was completely insane and ..."

Hana wrote: "One of my Boston friends is an Australian transplant to the US. When we first met I said something dumb about how cute kangaroos are. She looked at me like I was completely insane and said they wer..."

There are videos on YouTube of male Roos fighting. THAT's how I found out that they are nothing like the cute Looney Toons Kangaroo that is always mistaken for a mouse.

@Carol said The grey kangaroos are supposed to be less aggressive. Brown ones should never be approached. There were warning signs on most rural roads to watch out for roos. Apparently they are none to smart & will bound right into the path of a car. Koalas look sweet & cuddly but apparently they are also quite aggressive.

I can't speak for anywhere else in the world, but kangaroo(s?) and Koalas have very good image/positive PR in the US (they don't need to hire an "image" consultant!) as they are portrayed as cute and lovable. There are plush toy koalas all sold all over the place. I think that people would be shocked to learn that they can be aggressive!

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

❇Critterbee wrote: "That is true, there are a lot of legends circulating.

On another subject, I am meal planning, and am wondering what you would serve with Arancini. Marinara and steamed broccoli? I have never made..."

I'm going to have to google "Arancini." I do very little cooking since i never had any kiddies to feed, though I would not be surprised if "Arancini" might be something that finicky kiddies might not like.

[Karlyne]

We used to say that our daughters would eat anything that didn't run faster than they did!
(They were always afraid of missing out on something good that we were eating.)

[Critterbee❇]

Andrea (Catsos Person) is a Compulsive eBook Hoarder wrote: "I'm going to have to google "Arancini." I do very little cooking since i never had any kiddies to feed, though I would not be surprised if "Arancini" might be something that finicky kiddies might not like."

Fried cheesey rice balls with tomato sauce - what's not to love? haha!

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Yum Critterbee!

They sound delicious!

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Karlyne wrote: "We used to say that our daughters would eat anything that didn't run faster than they did!
(They were always afraid of missing out on something good that we were eating.)"

Hahahahaha!

@Andrea. The wildlife sanctuary we went to (Corrumbin) had a animal hospital with large glass viewing windows. Staff were checking over an anaesthetised koala that had been hit by a vehicle. I was amazed how long he was - quite a big animal.

[Barb in Maryland]

I had the chance to hold a koala at the Adelaide zoo some 30+ years ago. The size didn't surprise me, as I had seen koalas before. However, it was heavier than I expected and the fur was very rough (I was expecting soft), almost like a Brillo (steel wool) pad!!

[Teresa]

Karlyne wrote: "We used to say that our daughters would eat anything that didn't run faster than they did!
(They were always afraid of missing out on something good that we were eating.)"

Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Barb in Maryland wrote: "I had the chance to hold a koala at the Adelaide zoo some 30+ years ago. The size didn't surprise me, as I had seen koalas before. However, it was heavier than I expected and the fur was very rough..."

My son went to Brisbane last year & the girls took him to a zoo. Instead of lining up with the other young guys to be photographed with a snake (in a suitably macho pose!) He wanted to cuddle a koala! :D

[Karlyne]

Snakes! Shudder. We have non-poisonous snakes around (and, of course, rattlers, but we've never seen one on our property), and I always have to remind myself how valuable they are for eating vermin, but, still, I'm glad we only see a couple a year. Shudder.

[Critterbee❇]

All right, I have a question for the versatile and thorough Heyer Fans knowledge base. What is 'a man's man?' What does it mean?

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

❇Critterbee wrote: "All right, I have a question for the versatile and thorough Heyer Fans knowledge base. What is 'a man's man?' What does it mean?"

Ha, is that expression not used in the States?

It means a manly man that other men look up to and admire.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

And we are leaving for Auckland shortly for a midwinter Xmas with my husband's side of the family. They have decided to go with a French theme & we are bringing the pate & a terrine.