Ask Steph

Just recently had a fly screen door installed by Denis , from Denis Around the House. Denis is a self-employed handyman , focussing on the smaller jobs that people just don't get to when they are either super busy - or getting on a bit in age ( he likes to help out the elderly who need a bit of a hand with odd-jobs and a spot of gardening here and there) Anyway - I digress somewhat from the point - which is that I realised fairly early on after immigrating * to Melbourne that flyscreens on windows, and flyscreen doors were far more important than security bars , locks or any other security measures. Damn them flies are a nuisance ! I could swear they lie in wait by the door , and zip inside quickly in that fraction of a moment that it's open when you rush outside slamming it behind you. Our new house came with flyscreens on every "open-able" window. We specifically asked for a security/flyscreen door on the laundry - but clean forgot to get something on the b...

Over the past few years , I've seen a number of adverts,  aimed at curbing domestic and partner violence,  where the premise seems to be " lets attack what men think is Macho, and turn it on it's head " The gist of the adverts , featuring Charlize Theron in South Africa from a few years ago , to some recent ones here in Australia ,all seem to feature this general premise of " Real Men don't ..... * insert undesired behaviour here *" And "Real men do .... * insert required behaviour and attitudes here *" I have to be honest. As jarring , as the ads are to see for the first time, I think the only people they speak to are the victims of violence. They certainly don't speak to my husband, who finds them quite offensive, and he hasn't so much as raised his voice to me in the 10 years we've been together . He's just not really capable of violence against someone ( or something ) smaller and weaker than him. To imply that he ne...

Ah man ... is there any better feeling in life than learning something new , and feeling an affinity for it , like you were born to do this thing? I just discovered that I like to hit things. Inanimate things , that are shaped a bit like giant almonds and placed on my trainers hands (that's Cory Bear , personal trainer at Fenix Fitness Fountain Gate ) . I just did some boxing yesterday in my training session - first time ever , and I loved it. What an awesome way to get a cardio workout without running, jumping, rowing or cycling ? Jab, uppercut and hook. That's what I learnt yesterday - and I punched like crazy for 30 minutes . With some really tough push ups in there as well ( who would have thought that it would HARDER to do a push up with boxing gloves on ? ) It was awesome !!!! I never realised that hitting something could be so cathartic .... fabulous stuff . So looking forward to my next training session - I hope I get to hit things again ....

So here I am - 3 weeks into the new me , exercising under supervision , feeling like a million bucks , and 'BANG' it hits me . A sore back . Some referred pain down my leg, and numb tingly toes when I stretch my hamstring.  To say that I am not a happy camper , would be like saying a few drops of rain is not hurricane . It's an inane, obvious , understatement which cannot possibly tell the full story of my disappointment and frustration. Now those of you who follow my facebook posts , will know that I suffered some back issues late last year , which took me a few months to get over . You may also know that the doctor put me onto heavy doses of vitamin D for my back aches . (As a side note , you should google back pain ,  vitamin D, and Saudi Arabia - it's a very interesting read. ) On with my story - the vitamin D did not help - and once I started with the numbness in my toes and feet , I scooted off to the doctor poste haste for a follow up. After having a CT ...

Sheesh ! Lesson number one of personal training - when your trainer asks you if anything is especially sore or stiff -- you should say everything. In a clear , unpractised and convincing voice. Like you were definitely not rehearsing it all the way to gym. Silly me , I mentioned that my core and ribs and side muscles were particularly stiff and sore yesterday. My arms and legs have been periodically failing on me since that point in time. I think it's deliberate, because they have connected the dots. They realise that immediately following that really stupid statement, they were made to suffer like they suffered when I was training for the 94.7 a few years back. I wish I could get my legs to understand that I have about as much control over what comes out of my mouth when I'm in the gym,  as a dung beetle in a flash flood. I just have to ride that sh*t out and see where I end up.

So I never made it to that Body Balance class I was talking about the other day. But that's fine - because I skipped it for a very good reason. I went to a Personal Training session. Lovely young chap called Cory took me for my first 'KickStart Session'. I must be honest , I don't think he's going to have an easy time with me. I have asthma, a family history of cholesterol, I'm currently on 2 different types of medication, I bruise easily , I get injured  easily , I get bored easily, I loathe just about every possible type of physical activity -except yoga ( and possibly now Pilates as well)  . My husband also says I have an attitude ( he's not wrong , it comes out when I'm severely tired or grumpy, or sore) . Oh yes, and I told Cory I want to lose 10 kilos over the next 3 months. 10 kilos. 3 Months. That's what I said. *Smack palm to head* DOH!  It's moments like those that make me wish I had some control over my brain and my mouth. Bec...

Pilates. That awesome mind-body-spirit exercise,  that conjures up images of serene beauties balanced oh so elegantly and effortlessly on big blue balls . People wandering around with headbands and flowers and perfect posture,  bending and contorting like yoga - but more hardcore,  in that special Zen kind of way. Meh -- not so much hey .... I just did a Pilates class - at a brand new gym , that I joined a week ago. My first Pilates class as a matter of fact. I love yoga. I don't get to do it as often as I'd like at the old gym ( they had 1 class a week, which I couldn't always get to because of work) ,  so when this new gym opened up with promises of Yoga, Pilates and the combo special "Body Balance" at least 7 different times a week - that was me , hooked. Today was the first Pilates class ever, for both me, and for this particular gym. I think it went well for the gym. I'll let you know how it went for me,  when my muscles start talking to me a...

This weekend has been dedicated to getting the final touches on my guest room , in preparation for my in-laws who arrive in a week's time to visit from South Africa. Part of that process has involved finally unpacking the last of the boxes that we brought with us from South Africa over 2 years ago. And putting all my curtains into the car to go and drop off at a charity somewhere during the week. So here's some things you don't think about when leaving South Africa. Getting rid of perfectly good things that you don't need any more, and finding someone to give them to. No problem in South Africa , something of a conundrum here in Oz.

Carrying on from my post about what I like about Australia - The chips  Oh. My. Word. Tiny little carbohydrate bombs made of heaven and rapturous wonderment. Almost every single take-away joint does an amazing packet of chips. I'm not sure what it is ;  my current working hypothesis is that Australians, through their own love of carbs, and fats have evolved a distinct set of genes that allows them to instinctively cook a perfect batch of chips time,  after time, after time. Not crisps , like Simba Chips, or Willards , or Smiths - but the hot chips in packets with a smattering of just the right amount of Salt or Aromat ( although Aromat is called Chicken Salt here in Australia - go figure) . Macca's french fries be damned, the home made jobbies are the best I have ever tasted without fail. Melbourne has awesome food and awesome coffee  I've been up north to Sydney, they have better weather. I've been up to the Gold Coast , and they have better beaches ...

I've been reading back some of my posts , and whilst none of them are untrue , I have realised that I only really blog about South Africa , when I am feeling a bit homesick. See, the thing is , when things are good, and when I am too busy to feel depressed, then nobody really get's to hear about it. I thought that it was probably a little unfair to Australia, so in this post, I will list all the reasons why I think Australia is a good place to live.

I've been cooking a lot lately with a product called Toffutti . It's a cream cheese substitute made from soya - I haven't tried it as a full on cheesecake substitute , but I can attest to it's absolute delicious and creamy outcome when used to make a 'cream' sauce . This is how I make a creamy mushroom sauce ( which we eat on GF pasta , or as a topping on grilled chicken or steak ) Here's how my recipe goes

So remember how I was whining in the previous post about the dearth of amazing hairdressers in Australia? Well , it seems the Universe read my blog, and decided to show me wrong ... and am I glad it did . Cue the Hallelujah Chorus .... (press play if you'd like ...) Let me start this tale , with a bit of background and context regarding where I came from in my journey to find a new hair artiste extraordinaire  ..

Lets start with some disclosing shall we: I was a paying guest at the Marriott Hotel - my husband and I decided to go away for a weekend, we walked in to Flight Centre, asked them what was going , and booked. At no point was I planning to write a review of the Hotel or it's facilities - but by Tuesday morning when we were checked out already , and sitting enjoying coffee and working on our iPad's in the reception, waiting for the Airport Shuttle , it dawned on me , that I needed to tell someone - anyone -  about how fantastic I thought this hotel was. The hotel is rated as 4 star. Which we knew coming in , but with Australia , you can never be sure what you're getting , this is due to a number of factors , which I won't go into in this post , suffice it to say, going to a Hotel or B&B in Australia is always a bit of an adventure and mystery , shrouded in secrecy. So - what did I like about this place ?

So - here's another recipe that I've adapted to fit into my various dietary requirements. It's something I make in bulk , and it's my husband favourite dish. I just made a huge batch of it for his birthday last week. I usually make it with about 2 kg of de-boned chicken in a huge 9 litre pot , with most of the ingredients eye-balled , tasted and then adjusted for , rather than measured explicitly. So forgive me if the recipe reads a bit haphazard .... I may have forgotten something while typing it up from memory... Here goes ....

WRAPPED = to wrap something up ("I wrapped the gift before I gave it to Jess for her birthday") RAPPED = to hit or smack - it mostly gets used to describe a figurative 'hitting' ( I got " rapped over the knuckles" by my Boss today )  RAPT = with wonderment and joy ("I am rapt with joy when I walk into the shops and see gluten free food")  The definitions have been added to this post on 10 October 2012 as a result of almost all people ending up on this post while searching for the correct spelling or usage of wrapped/rapped /rapt . "Wrapt" is a common misspelling of rapt , and is increasingly becoming used as an alternate spelling of wrapped. Neither are correct if you're an old fuddy duddy like me . It's wrapped , or rapt , depending on the context of your sentence.  Now - on with the original post -  I hope you will continue and read it , and enjoy it  - Steph  Australians talk a very unique brand of English -- locally...

There are the things that you don't really understand when you decide to migrate , and it's probably a good thing . If you did , you may never leave and go on your grand adventure. You know it will be hard . You tell yourself it's going to be tough, you prepare for the things you expect, like feeling homesick , and not knowing how anything works. There are a number of things I could write about , that most migration websites and migrant support groups don't really tell you. But for now , I'd like to share something that has been a tough spot for me , for the last week or so. You can't really prepare for what it feels like , when someone dies back home. There's grief.  And then there's migrant guilt-ridden grief.

27 June 2012 UPDATE  - I have subsequently updated with some pictures of the latest batch that I have made - I did this because I love to know what I should be seeing, when I try out a recipe for the first time, so I thought I'd add the pictures for anyone wanting to try this out We had a house warming dinner over the weekend. Oh - yes, we have moved house , what with the construction finally over on the house and land package that we purchased just over 2 years ago with Porter Davis Homes  . It has been an exciting ride. And mostly good, albeit a completely hair-raising and totally foreign experience. But that will be the subject of another post , for now I want to share the recipe of my gluten free, dairy free and tomato free Chicken Curry. The recipe is an adapted version of   Durban Chicken Curry , which I found at food.com while looking for a nice simple tasty curry recipe a while back. This is one that I get compliments about every single time I make it. ...

I've been recently researching all the information I can find on the 'best practises' , so to speak of building a social media platform for a company, or a brand. It really has become something of a full time job, managing the Twitter , Google+ and Facebook Pages for our company , keeping my details relevant on LinkedIn , and making  the content relevant, and not redundant, whilst trying to maintain and build a sufficient following that would justify all the effort.  I've realised a few things - some on my own as I've worked through what it means to have a Page on facebook that only 20 odd people follow. Some realisations have literally hit me in the face while reading up on the do's and don't of maintaining a social presence. And unfortunetly some of them I have had to learn the hard way.  So here's my take on this whole social networking for companies idea, grouped by the platform it relates to