An antidote for whining kids, By Tracey Vale

I use this analogy to counteract whining in my children--and it works!

“Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.” - Groucho Marx

Copyright Tracey Vale 2013

Last school holidays, for example, the kids and I had driven to Hallet Cove and were enjoying the breath-taking cliff and coastal views from the boardwalk that spans from the cove almost to Marino Rocks. We had already done some beach combing and rock-skimming and were feeling quite warm despite the coolness of the Autumn day, when we began the ascent to the boardwalk. The views are fantastic and the walk around the cliffs, up and down steps at times, was tiring--but what's to dislike about a challenge when the visual rewards are there for the appreciating?

Copyright Tracey Vale, 2013

A lot, apparently, if my 10-year-old son was to be believed. There he was on this beautiful 'sunshiney' day, wearing the most miserable, bored, snarly face he could muster. Coupled with this, he kept whining--one of my pet hates. We had just reached a section of the walk that takes a V-shape inland and inbetween two hills. So, let me paint the picture--we're in a valley and we have just reached the far-side of the V so that we are now facing the point where the view between the green(ish) hills is of the deep blue ocean. Add to that, the stream directly below us which was flowing to a point where there were large boulders, thus forming waterfalls. 

Frustrated that his mood still hadn't improved despite the beauty around 

Copyright Tracey Vale, 2013

him, I say "Okay--it's like this. You can choose to be miserable and grumpy or you can look around you and appreciate what there is and where you are and choose to be happy about it.". I pointed to his other three siblings who were loving it and running ahead to where the waterfall was breaking over the rocks (one of whom was five and therefore much more likely not to cope with a walk, but, hey, look at him!), "No-one else is complaining. They're having a great time. I'll leave it with you--it's your choice. Think about how you want to feel today." I walked ahead.

Before long, he was loving it too.

Bicycles, politics and society~ some related quotes

Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice

From Punch magazine, 1895. Dress vs. bicycle attire.
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel...the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood. -Susan B. Anthony, 1896.

When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments. Here was a machine of precision and balance for the convenience of man. And (unlike subsequent inventions for man’s convenience) the more he used it, the fitter his body became. Here, for once, was a product of man’s brain that was entirely beneficial to those who used it, and of no harm or irritation to others. Progress should have stopped when man invented the bicycle. -Elizabeth West

Bicycling is a big part of the future. It has to be. There is something wrong with a society that drives a car to work out in a gym. -Bill Nye, scientist and producer of science television programs.

Government must help to eliminate cars so that bicycles can help to eliminate government.- Advocacy slogan in Holland.

Advertisement from 1897 showing bloomers.
(Source:Wikimedia Commons)

The bicycle will accomplish more for women’s sensible dress than all the reform movements that have ever been waged. -Author unknown, from Demerarest’s Family Magazine, 1895.

I began to feel that myself plus the bicycle equaled myself plus the world, upon whose spinning wheel we must all learn to ride, or fall into the sluice ways of oblivion and despair. That which made me succeed with the bicycle was precisely what had gained me a measure of success in life -- it was the hardihood of spirit that led me to begin, the persistence of will that held me to my task, and the patience that was willing to begin again when the last stroke had failed. And so I found high moral uses in the bicycle and can commend it as a teacher without pulpit or creed. She who succeeds in gaining the mastery of the bicycle will gain the mastery of life. -Frances E. Willard, How I Learned To Ride The Bicycle, 1895. 

It would not be at all strange if history came to the conclusion that the perfection of the bicycle was the greatest incident of the nineteenth century. -Anonymous

Early 20th Century bicycle. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

If, during the Second World War, the United States had retooled its factories for manufacturing bicycles instead of munitions, we’d be one of the healthiest, least oil-dependent, and most environmentally-sound constituents in the Nazi empire today. -Ralph Nader

For the love of a bicycle......

Bicycles, sporting a frame today that is not far removed from that of the late 1800s, have been an important part of society for well over a century for both its usefulness and its ability to boost the spirit, as the following bicycle quotes will attest:

The bicycle has a soul. If you succeed to love it, it will give you emotions that you will never forget. -

1886 Swift Safety Bicycle (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Mario Cipollini

It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle. -Ernest Hemingway

Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride. -John F. Kennedy

Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race. -H.G. Wells

As a kid I had a dream - I wanted to own my own bicycle. When I got the bike I must have been the happiest boy in Liverpool, maybe the world. I lived for that bike. Most kids left their bike in the backyard at night. Not me. I insisted on taking mine indoors and the first night I even kept it in my bed. -John Lennon

When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking. -Sherlock Holmes author, Arthur Conan Doyle, Scientific American, 1896

Next to a leisurely walk I enjoy a spin on my tandem bicycle. It is splendid to feel the wind blowing in my face and the springy motion of my iron steed. The rapid rush through the air gives me a delicious sense of strength and buoyancy, and the exercise makes my pulse dance and my heart sing. -Helen Keller.

It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle. -Ernest Hemingway

Whoever invented the bicycle deserves the thanks of humanity. -Lord Charles Beresford

Life is like a 10 speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use. -Charles M. Schulz

Cycle tracks will abound in Utopia. -H.G. Wells

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving. -Albert Einstein, letter to his son Eduard, 1930

I feel that I am entitled to my share of lightheartedness and there is nothing wrong with enjoying one's self simply, like a boy. -Leo Tolstoy, in defence when criticised for learning to ride a bicycle, aged 67.

The journey of life is like a man riding a bicycle. We know he got on the bicycle and started to move. We know that at some point he will stop and get off. We know that if he stops moving and does not get off he will fall off. -William G. Golding, Nobel Laureate and author of The lord of the flies.

After your first day of cycling, one dream is inevitable. A memory of motion lingers in the muscles of your legs, and round and round they seem to go. You ride through Dreamland on wonderful dream bicycles that change and grow. -H.G. Wells, The Wheels of Chance

Let a man find himself, in distinction from others, on top of two wheels with a chain--at least in a poor country like Russia--and his vanity begins to swell out like his tires. -Leon Trotsky

I finally concluded that all failure was from a wobbling will rather than a wobbling wheel. -Frances E. Willard

The bicycle is just as good company as most husbands and, when it gets old and shabby, a woman can dispose of it and get a new one without shocking the entire community. -Ann Strong, Minneapolis Tribune, 1895.

The bicycle, the bicycle, surely should always be the vehicle of novelists and poets. -Christopher Morely Nobel prize winner

If I can bicycle, I bicycle. -David Attenborough

Discovering 'The Friendship Club Cookbook' By Tracey Vale

Quick Loaf Cake (see below)

While searching for books for my e-reader, I came across this cookbook gem from 1951, The Friendship Club Cookbook, thanks to Project Gutenberg. The Friendship Club was founded in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1949, to bring together women of all races, creeds and religions "who felt that in developing mutual understanding among themselves, they were thus answering a most grave result of segregation--ignorance," to quote the books' foreword.


It goes on to say "...the women of the Friendship Club have gained insight into each others (sic.) problems and re-affirmed their confidence that if people of different races, creeds and national origins would but have the opportunity to know and appreciate each other, it would be a long step forward towards solving some of the trying problems which face us all.

"This little book is a token of our friendship and faith in each other and in all people." What better premise for a cookbook?

The following are a few simple cake and dessert recipes I've picked out, written with some adjustments:

Caramelized Custard (otherwise known as 'Creme Caramel')

3 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups milk, scalded
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2-1 cup brown sugar

Spread the brown sugar over the base of a round baking dish. This will form the caramel sauce, once baked and inverted, so use more or less brown sugar depending on how much sauce is desired. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs well, then add sugar and salt. Slowly stir in the scalded milk. Add vanilla. Gently pour mixture over the brown sugar. Place dish into a pan of hot water so that the water comes up about halfway to the top of the custard. Bake at 180'C until firm. A knife inserted into the centre should come out clean and, judging by other creme caramel recipes, it takes around 45 minutes to bake.

Apple Strudel

2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup warm water
Filling
5 cups apples, peeled and sliced
1 Tbsp grated lemon rind
1 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Sift flour and salt. Cut in butter. Add eggs and water. Knead well, beat or throw dough until it blisters. Leave to stand in a warm place under a cloth for 20 minutes. Prepare a floured surface and roll dough out into a rectangle, until paper thin. Spread filling over evenly, allowing a one inch gap down one edge. Roll up lengthwise  Grease top. Bake for 10 minutes in a preheated oven at 230'C, then for 20 minutes at 200'C. Cool and slice.

Peach Scallop (I'm assuming this is a version of 'Peach Cobbler')

1 1/2 cups sliced peaches, drained
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 Tbsp butter
2 cups cake crumbs
1/2 cup evaporated milk, diluted with 1/2 cup of water (or use juice from canned peaches)

Arrange 3 alternate layers, each made up of peaches, sugar and melted butter, in a baking dish. Top with the cake crumbs. Pour evaporated milk and water mix over the top (or pour peach juice over). Bake at 180'C until brown.

Quick Loaf Cake

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk, scalded
2 Tbsp butter (orig. recipe asked for shortening and 1/4 tsp salt)

Beat eggs with a rotary beater until very light. Add baking powder and mix well. Melt butter in the hot milk and add to the egg mixture. Stir in sugar and fold in flour. Bake in a greased and paper-lined loaf pan at 180'C for 30-35 minutes, until brown.

Honey Cake

1 cup honey (or molasses; corn syrup, or a combination)
3 Tbsp sugar
2 cups plain flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk (or more)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Peel of one orange, finely cut up
dash of cinnamon, cloves, anise

Heat sugar and honey. Sift dry ingredients and spices. Add warm syrup to dry ingredients. Add orange peel and nuts. Add enough milk so that batter is thin and can be easily poured. Pour into a greased pan, square or loaf. Bake in a slow oven for 45 minutes. Increase to 180'C for a further 45 minutes. Once removed from pan but still warm, brush top with sweetened milk and top with walnuts. Serve next day, thinly sliced.

Assist Finance recommends managed debt consolidation

With many people coping with credit card and personal loan debt, particularly as the bills filter in from the recent Christmas spending, Jason Di Iulio, Managing Director of Assist Finance, recommends debt consolidation but warns that payments need to be managed to counteract potential accruing interest. 

“By rolling these loans into your home loan, debt consolidation can assist with improving your cash flow and making household budgeting easier,” said Di Iulio. “It is considerably easier to manage as it can reduce numerous creditor payments into one simple payment to one lender.”

 “Also, the interest rate is cheaper. For example, a credit card interest rate is around 18 to 19 percent, compared to home loans with an interest rate of around 5.8 percent.”

Di Iulio says that debt consolidation provides the opportunity for renewing finances and investigating the best interest options. “It provides a good opportunity to review your existing home loan, and to investigate if there is a better product and rate available.”

In order to avoid the potential pitfalls of debt consolidation, Di Iulio warns that careful management and the maintaining of additional payments are crucial. “You need to be aware that you are extending a short term debt into a long term debt. This can, in the long run, cost more if rolled into a 25 year loan term. However, by careful management and making additional payments, this will assist in reducing your loan term and potentially saving thousands in interest costs.”

“The best way to navigate your way through all these options is to discuss it with a professional. They have the experience and tools available to run through the various scenarios.”

Social Media: Essential for At-Risk Youth, By Tracey Vale

Image courtesy of In2Life

With a whopping 23000 members, this Facebook group is Australia’s biggest social-media suicide support service for youth and, with only 20 volunteers and limited funding, this essential service is under threat.

The group, “Coming Together to Prevent Youth Suicide,” has grown rapidly from its inception last June 2012 by two Melbourne teens saddened and frustrated by a series of suicides in Casey, Victoria, and the lack of adequate support to prevent these deaths. Their aim was to establish an avenue of support and open discussion through a social media strategy that young people can relate to and that is more accessible to them. The chosen medium also means they can seek help while remaining anonymous, if they so wish, and can chat openly, peer to peer.

The rapid growth of the group is proof of its essential and accessible nature, with trained volunteers monitoring and responding to 400 daily posts on issues of suicide, depression, self-harm, homelessness, addictions and bullying. On average, the group refers more than 300 cases per month to counselling services with at least one weekly incidence of a critical case requiring immediate police intervention.

The group has been moderated by Adelaide’s In2Life youth organisation since August, with its 20 volunteers coming from South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. In2Life CEO, Darryn Keneally, says they desperately need funding to increase the volunteer base and to investigate the viability of employing professional counsellors.

Currently, the group’s request for Government funding has hit brick wall after brick wall. With a negative response for federal funding, they are now seeking state funding from Victoria and South Australia as well as philanthropy from businesses and individuals.

It is the only suicide support and prevention avenue of its type in Australia and is representative of the social media revolution, of its potential and of the need to embrace change and use these mediums to ultimately forge change toward a better future for our at-risk youth.

To read more, please refer to the link below. The article: Facebook Youth Suicide Prevention Group Needs Government Funding, by Petra Stark, News Limited.

http://www.news.com.au/national/facebook-youth-suicide-prevention-group-needs-government-funding/story-fncynjr2-1226556182329

Achieving goals in 15 minute bursts By Tracey Vale

How much time do you have lying around?

The following article details the 'Grab 15 Principle' which, in a nutshell, means grabbing 15 minutes a day to work on a project or goal. Fifteen minutes is an easily achievable space of time and means that you can achieve something toward your goal every day, thereby gaining more than two 40 hour weeks of solid work by the end of a year.

The article is written from the perspective of a writer grabbing 15 minutes of writing time per day but can easily be applied to a multitude of activities. You may have an artwork you've been meaning to begin but you keep putting it off because you can't dedicate a large slab of time. This way, you don't need to wait for that time chunk. Begin it now. Continue tomorrow. Before long, you will have achieved something you may have thought impossible with your time schedule.

"The only impossible journey is the one you never begin."~ Anthony Robbins

Fifteen minutes a day can be found anywhere. Cut down television viewing; your time on Facebook or other social media; or any other snippets of time, including getting up a little earlier or going to bed a little later. Evaluate where your time is eaten up and, therefore, how much time you can 'repossess'.

In so doing, you can find time for regular exercise; for writing your novel; for blogging; for photography, art or educating yourself in an area of interest. You might want to use it for extra baking time or even for de-cluttering your cupboards. You could teach yourself a musical instrument; spend more time with your kids; sew an heirloom patchwork quilt; or spend more time in the garden. Grab two or three 15 minute blocks and achieve more than one goal. The potential is enormous.

To read more, click on the article below.

The Grab 15 Principle, by Jim Denney:
http://unearthlyfiction.wordpress.com/2012/12/19/the-grab-15-principle/