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Is anyone up for a chat?

Doolhof
Champion Alumni
Champion Alumni

Hi Everyone,

Sometimes it is great to have a place where you can just have a chat about something not related to your mental health. So here is the opportunity to have a general chat about anything and to maybe find a "friend" to help make the day feel brighter.

Occasionally I connect with people on the forums and a lovely  friendship develops, but it may seem to others that they are not welcome to join in the conversation. This is not the case.

So here is an opportunity for new friendships to happen.

Maybe you would like to share your favourite holiday destination, or place you would love to visit. If you could have any animal as a pet what would it be? What is your favourite flavoured ice cream?

For me right now I would love to be somewhere warm! We have been experiencing some rather cold weather where even the chooks water is freezing over during the night! Somewhere with a beach and warm sea to swim in would be lovely!

My favourite ice cream flavour would be Jaffa in one of those crunchy cones! I would love to be eating one down at that tropical beach paradise followed by a lovely fresh coconut and maybe a beach massage as well.

I will be dreaming about this as I drive around today for work listening to Meatloaf. Maybe I should be listening to The Beach Boys instead, but I don't think I have any of their music on CD.

Hope you all have a great day,

Cheers from Mrs. Dools

 

 

161 Replies 161

Hi Everyone,

We have some very interesting conversations going here!

Thanks for the information about the ingredients of Chai tea BKYTH. I might have a go at creating some flavours for myself. I do like the idea of the pepper in it to give it that hint of "Bite". I wonder if a splash of paprika might be a bit too much!

You are also right about the Jacaranda trees, they may be a bit of a problem all clustered together as they grow. Time will tell.

We have experienced some very damaging frosts here lately. I had a look around the garden on the weekend only to discover my lavender plants have been totally destroyed by the frost as have some of the succulents. Gardening conditions here are so tough. Our land is open to the winds as well.  In summer everything gets scorched.

I will look up some of the names given here for authors and ideas on meditation. I would like to create more time each day for both of these pursuits. Achieving a balance is difficult some days.

Yggy, I like your idea of using your time in the car more productively. I had thought of that myself recently but did little with that thought. I spend quite a lot of time each day in the car.

I need to dash off now and check on the sheep we are borrowing and the chooks then prepare for the working day.

Cheers to you all, hope you have many bright moments in your days.

From Lauren

Hi Yggy and Everyone

I like listening to CDs in the car when travelling. The trouble is I just bought a new car and discovered to my horror that there is no CD player. At least if there is I cannot find it. Very disappointed as we are not all up to USB sticks and whatever. I like, well used to like, listening to books, on CDs of course. It's OK at home but I enjoy being read to while I am driving. Also like listening to talks by various people

Philip, I have rescued down and out plants. I like to soak them in a seaweed solution for a day. It is amazing how the plants come back to life and can then be planted out. When I cleaned out my garage I found a bag of bulbs still in their packets from the nursery. No idea if they are still viable but I planted then anyway. Wrong time of the year but it's still cold so they may do OK.

Yggy, I gather you were not born in Oz. Neither was I. I come from the midlands in the UK. I became a naturalized Aussie on Australia Day 15 years ago. May I ask where you come from? At a guess I would say Wales or the English border counties. I found it hard to adjust to living here at first but after my first visit 'home' I realised I would not return permanently for quids. Still, it is difficult when the rest of your family live there.

Enjoy your day folks.

Mary

BKYTH
Community Member
My favourite recipe for chai includes 25gm/1oz cinnamon stick (broken into pieces). 6tbs green cardamoms. 1 and a half tsps cloves. 1 and a half tsps black pepper. Half a nutmeg. 2 tsps ground ginger. You may want to halve these these amounts as it makes quite a lot of the chai masala (masala is an indian word for any number of spices added together).                                                                                                                                                                              I use unground spices as much as I can but I use ground ginger for practical purposes. Some of the spices above can be bought ground but 1 and a half tsps of black pepper already ground will not equal 1and a half tsps of unground black pepper. The measurements for this recipe assume unground amounts except for the ginger.        I use a mortar and pessel for grinding the spices but a coffee grinder is a much better alternative.                          If you dry roast the unground spices in a frypan for a couple of minutes on moderate heat and shake the pan a few times to ensure they don't burn they are much easier to grind. I use a fine grater for the nutmeg.                      Once the masala is made then the hard work is done. To make 4 cups of chai use 1 tsp of the masala. 4 teabags of strong black tea and 4 tsps of sugar - Heat milk and water (I use 3 milk to 1 part water) but you can use any combination that you like until it boils then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the masala: teabags and sugar and simmer for another 5 minutes. Test for sweetness (chai needs to be quite sweet) then strain before serving. If you give it a try I hope you enjoy it, and you're right the pepper give it a bit of "bite". I'm not sure about the paprika though.                                                                                                                                                                     Philip.

BKYTH
Community Member
Thanks for the tip Mary. I've often stood plants in a bucket of water when they have been pot bound or the soil is not absorbing water because it is to compact - It had never occurred to do as you suggest.                                           Yes mindfulness and meditation do go together as you say. Mindfulness and Insight meditation practices are central to Buddhism. I very much enjoy the teachings of Ajahn Chah (Ajahn means teacher in the Thai language) as well as The Vietnamese teacher Thich Nhat Hanh.                                                                                                             Yggy you might enjoy the poetry of the German poet Goethe. He had a profound impact upon German poetry and was much admired by Beethoven who used some of his writing as an inspiration for his music. I am reading a book titled "Poets of the Great War" at the moment. It isn't the most pleasant of subjects but I love language and the possibilities inherent in it as it is used to explore the 'human condition' in all its aspects.                                                                                                      No its not "silly" to feel as you do now no more than it was "silly" when you used to enjoy the program you mentioned Mary. Sometimes one has to withdraw from old pastimes for personal reasons, and if you do so, then that is the appropriate action. I too find I have to tread carefully in approaching some things I once enjoyed but now find the emotional strain of dealing with them too challenging.                                                                                 Adieu. One and all. Philip.

Guest_2350
Community Member

Hi All,

Lauren, I was amazed to listen to some of the poems. There was one particular one that I memorised in school, “Die Buergschaft” from Schiller, and when I listened I realised I never heard the story before. It is a great story about friendship.

Mary, I understand you. I still have a lot of CDs, but recently I entered the new age and am actually quite happy with my iphone. I have a vast selection of audio books, and they are all on my phone, something that continues to amaze me. You are correct about me not being born in Oz, I grew up in Switzerland. That is also where all my family and old friends still are. It is sometimes difficult to have the rest of the family overseas, but I am happy in Oz, although I have not even been here 10 years, this is my home now.

Philip, I love Goethe and Beethoven. That era created so many great thinkers and composers! I have never read any of the literature in English – is there much that has been translated?

Have a great weekend, Yggy x

BKYTH
Community Member
Yggy I access what I can On YouTube. Just type in Goethe and you will find some of his poems in English and audiobooks of some of his works also in English - Translation is always an issue as I found when I read "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" by Friedrich Nietzsche ( a challenging book) but I think Goethe's work would be less problematic in this regard.                                                                                                                                                            Philip.

Mangof
Community Member

Philip,Thanks for the recipe it sounds very yummy, I try it for sure.

yes I too rescue down and out plants, currently looking to take cuttings off my hydrangea plant any ideas of when's the best time to do this? I saw on Google to take cuttings off rose bushes you cut then insert into a potatoe then plant very interesting will try and see how it goes do I sound like a beginner green thumb? Yes you would be right lol but now I have the chai recipe at least I can relax afterwards while reading my gardening magazines and dreaming of lush colorful gardens lol

stay happy everyone 🙂

 

 

Doolhof
Champion Alumni
Champion Alumni

Hi Mangof,

I had never heard that idea for growing rose cuttings before! All the best with your gardening.

A couple of years ago we moved to a different area where I have found gardening to be a bit of a learning curve! The soil is so different around sections of the garden.

We have a lot of strong wind quite frequently, heavy frosts in the winter that kills of certain plants and then scorching heat in the summer. It is a challenge to learn what will grow and flourish here.

On one side of the house the geraniums have grown beautifully, but on the other side, geraniums I planted at the same time are only about 20 c.m. high if that and have a single stork to them and a couple of leaves!

The weeds flourish all through the garden, so maybe I will just cultivate those! Ha. Ha. I do like the bright colour of the sour sobs and then the lovely purple of the Salvation Jane.

A lady at Church told me the nut grass that I was caring for as I like the pretty flower, is actually a noxious weed! Oh dear! I do have a few things to learn about the plants that pop up in our garden! Ha. Ha.

I too like the recipe for the Chai tea!

Cheers form Mrs. Dools

Hi Yggy,

I hope you have managed to find new friends here in Australia. With all the modern communication techniques available these days, it is a lot easier to stay connected with loved ones no matter where they are.

I have a dear friend in Holland whom I have known now for 30 years. I have been to see her three times and love Holland. It is so very different from many parts of Australia.

It is certainly different from Switzerland as well. We travelled through there on one of those whirl wind European bus holidays!

My Dutch friend used to send me Dutch music. A lot of the songs were about the sea. Some were so haunting about the sailors never returning home. She also sent me quite a few Dutch poems. It is interesting to read stories, poems and information about different cultures.

I don't have a smart phone at all, I have enough trouble trying to use a computer and the modern televisions. Ha. Ha. At least I have worked out how to play a CD in my car!

Cheers for now from Lauren

Doolhof
Champion Alumni
Champion Alumni

Thanks for the Chai tea recipe and instructions on how to make it. I can imagine that preparing a cup of Chai tea for you may almost be like a Japanese tea ceremony with all the ingredients carefully planned, gathered and then prepared in an almost regal way for want of a better word.

It certainly beats plunging a tea bag in a cup doesn't it!

Recently in a second hand shop I purchased a tea pot that sits on a ceramic holder that contains a recess where you can light a tea candle. That is a good way of keeping your pot warm.

Once at a restaurant, a man was walking around with a coffee container that had a very long spout. He was able to pour a cup of coffee from a great distance with the liquid flowing out of the spout and into the cup perfectly with out a drop being spilt.

He didn't have to lean over your shoulder at all to pout a cup of coffee, he could do it with ease from the other side of the table!

Have you ever been to a lavish tea serving ceremony?

From Lauren