Watcha Doin' - 2017.1 edition Showing 1,651-1,700 of 5,020

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Sarah wrote: "My mushroom souffle was pretty damn good! We liked the roast brussels too although they didn't taste massively different to when eating them normally. Perhaps I needed to put a bit more lemon juice..."

Your souffles sound delicious!

[Peggy]

Rusalka wrote: "Peggy wrote: "Great that you're growing your own Rusalka! The instructor also explained about the sunflowers.

I'm going to see if I can find some seeds so I can grow my own too."

Tubers. You plan..."

Oh haha, thanks! Could have been a long search for seeds ;-)

[Sarah]

Thanks Rusalka. I've never made any kind of souffle before always believing they would be difficult. But there weren't really. I did take them out too soon though and they were still a little mushy on top so I put them back in. It's because I made slightly bigger ones than the recipe stated. Next time I will know to leave them in longer.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Peggy wrote: "Oh haha, thanks! Could have been a long search for seeds ;-) "

Lol no worries... I thought I'd save you some conversations ;)

[Lisa]

Your soufflés sound really nice, Sarah. I have only made soufflés once, which was during a food technology lesson in school. They didn't turn out too well!

[Peggy]

I never made a soufflé but I know in Masterchef they always say it's very hard and they are very enthusiastic and impressed when one of the contestants manages to make one.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

My mum makes amazing ones. Like her's fill the whole oven. She can do it without thinking. They were always my birthday choice of meal, as I didn't know anyone's mum who could make them, or even know what they were

[Janice, Moderator]

Sarah wrote: "Also Jo Nesbo was interviewed too the other day and I think he is doing a show at the end of the month which I'm looking forward to. He sounds pretty cool. He played football for Norway and he was in a band which was in the Norwegian charts!
.."

I have him on my facebook and have been looking at his interviews. I admit to a bit of a crush. There's a new Harry Hole being released soon. Woot!

[Sarah]

Maybe I have a way to go then. lol. They were good but I'm guessing they could be better. To be honest, I've never had a souffle made by someone who knows what they are doing before so I have no comparison.

[Lisa]

Peggy wrote: "I never made a soufflé but I know in Masterchef they always say it's very hard and they are very enthusiastic and impressed when one of the contestants manages to make one."

They can be tricky, if you take them out too early (which is what I did), they usually collapse.

Sounds like your mum is a whizz at making them, Rusalka! What's her secret?

[jaxnsmom]

Sarah, you cook some great sounding dishes, and it amazes me that you do all that in what I assume is a very small kitchen. Do you have much counter space? I barely cook, and while my kitchen is smallish I imagine it's bigger than yours.

[Sarah]

Thanks J'mom. The kitchen in our boat is bigger than it's been in some of the flats we've lived in in the past to be honest. Surface space is a problem at the moment as a lot of dried food is being stored on the side awaiting shelves going up and other storage solutions being purchased. So it can become a bit of a juggling act at times especially when I've used practically ever item in the kitchen it seems whilst cooking and they are waiting on the side to be washed, I then struggle to find space to dish up. It will be amazing when I have a bit more space. Kitchen is next on the agenda after bathroom. I love cooking though so I can be work through the annoyances at the moment. I have had comments from fellow boater friends say that my cooking is "too good to have been done on a boat". Lol.

[Sarah]

Just a quick hello. I hope to finish this monthly challenge but looks like I'm going to be very busy from now on.

I got offered a place at uni =D and I've changed my start date for this year instead of 2018. I've had to apply for accommodation and student finance. Been applying for jobs and I had a job interview last week. Completing crochet projects. Rebooking my holiday for Tenerife to go in August now instead of September. As well as volunteering for a donkey sanctuary and I've just joined a running club, with my first run done today and now I have jelly legs.

I can't guarantee I'll get the homework for the challenge done in time, but can share the good news =D

[Sandra, Moderator]

Sounds amazing, Sarah! So much going on! Enjoy, and congrats on the uni acceptance.

[Peggy]

Great to hear you have so many good things going on Sarah! What are you going to study?

[Sarah]

You sound busy Sarah. Good luck with everything. Sounds like things are going well for you.

[jaxnsmom]

Sarah - it's wonderful to see so many positive things happening in your life! Fingers crossed for your applications and interviews.

[jaxnsmom]

The 26th is Hug an Australian Day. Between the time difference and my ability to forget, I'm sending mine now to all our Australian members.

The 27th is Take Your Daughter to Work Day, which reminds me I have to find a book relating to it for my annual challenge (favorite holiday). I have some ideas, and have found ones relating to STTNG and Doctor Who, but remind me to thank Janice for telling us to be creative - I think I stepped out of the box whenever possible :)

The 30th is National Honesty Day - I'm going to stay home with the phone turned off, computer unplugged, and read a book. I don't normally start conversations with strangers, and I normally have conversations with myself in stores (yes, out loud), but I've noticed myself talking to people in line more, and this morning I went to breakfast and asked two people what they were reading (I've added several books to my tbr that way). I'm becoming more like my mother - speaking before I think and other attractive features. So yeah, staying home is the plan.

[Sarah]

Thank you =] I'm going to study Zoo Management with a foundation year as I have the commitment and a diploma but not an A level. As I didn't have the qualification, they offered me a foundation year on another course in Animal Behaviour and Welfare then I can switch courses after foundation =D I am very excited.

[jaxnsmom]

Woo hoo, I have company! Flat Charles is here to tour Charleston. I already have a partial list of places to take him, and have told my friend Teresa and her daughter that they have to find time to go out with us. We're going to see public art, the state museum, libraries (of course), Mexican and Indian restaurants, the Capitol, and other things as part of the tour. Of course, he'll have his picture taken with Jingo (I just hope one of them isn't Jingo trying to eat Charles!)

[Lisa]

Sarah wrote: "Just a quick hello. I hope to finish this monthly challenge but looks like I'm going to be very busy from now on.

I got offered a place at uni =D and I've changed my start date for this year inste..."

Sound fantastic, Sarah! I'm really pleased that so many good things are happening for you :) Best of luck with everything!

[Kristie, Moderator]

Sarah wrote: "Just a quick hello. I hope to finish this monthly challenge but looks like I'm going to be very busy from now on.

I got offered a place at uni =D and I've changed my start date for this year inste..."

Wow! Sounds super busy, Sarah. Congrats on getting into uni. That is fabulous!! Congrats on making the decision to start this year too. Sounds like it was a lot of work to change your plans around, but it will be worth it once you are started. It's always good to start while you're feeling motivated to do it.

[Cherie]

jaxnsmom wrote: "Woo hoo, I have company! Flat Charles is here to tour Charleston. I already have a partial list of places to take him, and have told my friend Teresa and her daughter that they have to find time to..."

I remember a "Flat ...." task or challenge or something along those lines, but not the details. I hope you have lots of fun!

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Wow Sarah, grats! Super exciting for you, and sounds like you have heaps going on. Glad things are all working out for you, and uni sounds really interesting.

Thanks for my virtual hug, Jmom! I had no idea we had a day just for receiving hugs!

Lisa, I have no idea what her trick is. She got taught by her stepmother, who thought thing you should cook was French food. She is a huge snob, and my Mum can't stand her, but does credit her each time she makes a crazy huge souffle. I should learn from her (Mum, not stepgrandmother) one day.

[Janice, Moderator]

Exciting things happening for you Sarah J! Don't worry about the challenge.

I'm happy to hug for any reason, so hugs to our Aussie members. :)

[Mariab]

Rusalka wrote: "our backyard is full of fartichokes..."

Ok. I'm afraid, I must ask this: what are fartichokes?

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Jerusalem artichokes :D

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Or some people call them sunchokes

[Peggy]

Yikes. I had 4 missed calls from my bf. Apparently the fire alarm in our house is going off and the neighbour called him. You can hear it from outside, and in their house probably. He doesn't have a key so he couldn't check but didn't see anything from outside, and now bf called his parents who live 25 minutes away and they're heading over to check. First thing I'm going to do when I get home is bring a key to the neighbours.

It's probably a false alarm, but I feel a bit on edge now. In-laws should be there in 5 minutes.

[Sarah]

Eek. That's pretty scary. I'm sure it's nothing Peggy. Otherwise your neighbours would have noticed something surely. I cam home to our boat last week to the fire alarm going off in our bedroom. I have no idea how long it had been going off for. I went straight in to the bedroom to find nothing going on. No smoke. No fire. Not even a smell. I've no idea what happened. I think the battery might be going in the alarm or that it is faulty. I really hope it is a false alarm like it was in my case Peggy. At least your in-laws can go check it out for you.

[Peggy]

Yes, false alarm :)

I think they can also go off when there's some dust on the sensor. It happened once before, when we were at home in the evening. Annoying, but I think I'd rather have one that works too well than one that doesn't sound the alarm when it should ;-)

I'm glad we exchanged phone numbers with the neighbours, or the alarm would have gone on for the next 4.5 hours. I would have expected it to stop after 10/20 minutes or so.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Yeah fire alarms can go crazy with dust or other like particles. My more sophisticated, but when I was at the Science Museum here I was in charge of the fire safety of all staff and visitors (so only like 3000 people in a national institution. No biggie for a 23 year old).

Our carpark was in the basement. Which had fire alarms. That went off every time some one with a slightly old car came through. I had 30 secs to get from anywhere in the building to the fire control room, to turn off the alarm before it defaulted to evacuate.

... Maybe there is a reason I am no long that skinny.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

P.S. Glad it's all okay Peggy.

[Peggy]

Lol Rusalka :')

But why would a fire alarm go off when someone with an old car comes through?

[Sarah]

That's good to hear Peggy :-)

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Particles out of the exhaust into the fire alarm sensor. Old cars have less filters than fancy new ones.

[Peggy]

Ah okay, makes sense!

[KimeyDiann]

I'm supposed to be going out with my friend and some others this weekend to celebrate my friend's birthday, but I think I'm going to back out and go see my husband instead. I feel really guilty for that though, I don't get to see my friend very much anymore and I was looking forward to this weekend. But I'm having a really hard time with my husband being away so much. He was home Easter weekend and won't be home again until mid May. I was thinking I'd go see him next weekend, but he'll be working the entire weekend then and this weekend he's off on Sunday. I just feel like I'm being a bad friend if I cancel on my friend though.

[jaxnsmom]

Peggy - glad it was a false alarm. I've had them go off when the battery was low and it's so annoying, but you're right, better to have one that's going to work.

KimeyD - Maybe you can schedule some one-on-one time with your friend for another day and do something special together. Marriage is hard enough without getting to see each other often, and if you don't go see your husband you'd be stressing and no fun anyway.

[KimeyDiann]

@J'mom, that's my plan. Hopefully next weekend my friend and I can do something together. I don't know if she is upset that I'm not going, I really hope not. I think she understands, but it is hard to tell through text messages.

I'm just having a really hard time not having my husband home right now. I have finally admitted to myself recently that my depression is getting worse again. I don't know why it is so hard for me to say that because I'm open about the fact that I have depression/anxiety. It took me a long time to get to that point though. I guess it just bothers me more because I've had it mostly under control for quite a while. I'm realizing I probably need to go have my meds adjusted, I've been on the same dosage for several years now, but thinking about that just bothers me even more and brings my anxiety to the surface. So frustrating.

[Lisa]

I saw this article a bit earlier and thought it was quite interesting. I imagine most of us, as readers, would agree with a lot of what is written in it.

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/21/hea...

[Lisa]

KimeyDiann wrote: "@J'mom, that's my plan. Hopefully next weekend my friend and I can do something together. I don't know if she is upset that I'm not going, I really hope not. I think she understands, but it is hard..."

Sorry to hear you are having a tough time at the moment, KimeyDiann. It must be really frustrating. I hope you start feeling more positive again soon.

[jaxnsmom]

KimeyDiann wrote: "@J'mom, that's my plan. Hopefully next weekend my friend and I can do something together. I don't know if she is upset that I'm not going, I really hope not. I think she understands, but it is hard..."

I understand completely. I know you've seen some of my posts, I tend to give tmi when I'm having trouble :p. It's so frustrating when your medication has to be adjusted. I recently had Latuda added and it seems to be helping.

[jaxnsmom]

Lisa wrote: "I saw this article a bit earlier and thought it was quite interesting. I imagine most of us, as readers, would agree with a lot of what is written in it.

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/21/hea......"

Good article. I know what I've been reading has partly been therapeutic. Kick ass female characters for confidence and handling problems, and romances for some bipolar symptoms. Has anyone else been noticing what moods/issues they're books are addressing?

[Lisa]

jaxnsmom wrote: "Has anyone else been noticing what moods/issues they're books are addressing?"

I find that if I'm having a bad time of things and I read a book where one (or more) of the characters are also experiencing bad/difficult things, I feel less alone. I also agree with the part of the article that states that books can make you more perceptive and help you understand things that you have no personal experience of. I read a lot of books with difficult/taboo subject matters for that very reason, I want to learn about them so I can understand them better.

[Janice, Moderator]

When I'm really stressed, I find myself gravitating to mindless fluff. It's distracting and I don't have to think hard to process what I'm reading.

[Sarah]

Sorry to hear you have been struggling KimeyDiann. I can imagine it is difficult with your husband being away as well. I don't blame you for popping to see him rather than going out with your friend. Looks like you've found a good work around, fitting your friend in another time.

Fantasy is where I gravitate towards when feeling stressed and when I want to escape. That said, I gravitate to Fantasy at other times too. Basically, anything that is not like my issue or world works best for me as I can become fully immersed in that world instead.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Thanks for sharing, Lisa. I definitively agree with the article. :)

[Annerlee]

Sarah wrote: "Sorry to hear you have been struggling KimeyDiann..."

Best wishes from me too KimeyDiann. It can't be easy.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I read a lot of books with difficult subject matter. When I'm stressed I just want something I can get absorbed in that does not relate to my stress at all. It can be light or heavy as long as I can't put it down and it distracts me. Sometimes I do lean towards fluff books at that those times to not add stress. It's nice to not have to think every so often.