Author: allysnotebook

Another Pizza at Ally’s Castle

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A quick Sunday night meal for one. I had eggs for breakfast, beef dish for midday meal. I decided to make a vegetable pizza for tea.

Mixed Grain Wrap, tomato paste, baby spinach, chunky mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, extra tasty cheese.

Ready to be baked. Bake at 210c for 14 minutes.

All cooked. The wrap is slightly overcooked but nice and crunchy. Thoroughly enjoyable 😋

Why are there Numbers before names?

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I am working on the Family Tree.

Yesterday I came across numbers before names. I will give you some examples of what I found. The following people are all great great +++ grandparents of mine from England.

10 Richard Tuffery

13 Robert Coxhead

13 Anne Smith

15 John C. Smith 11

16 John Compton Smith 1

Please excuse my ignorance. I am hoping someone can educate, enlighten me as to why the numbers. Thanks in advance for your help.

Cheers Ally

Out Of Hibernation

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I am renowned for hibernating during the cooler months. Even more so over the past year because of the covid situation….forced into lockdown. Recently I was able to escape the four walls and go on a bus trip for the day to look at beautiful spring gardens. We travelled about 90 minutes west of Brisbane to Spring Bluff and then to Pittsworth. We visited an old railway station, a nursery and some private homes and had lunch at a hotel. I was able to take heaps of photos, some of which I will share with you. Sorry I can’t tell you the names of plants, just enjoy seeing the beautiful colours.

I hope you enjoyed seeing a few photos of spring time here in a couple of country towns in Queensland Australia.

Pizza at Ally’s Castle

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When you’re hanging out for Pizza, you can’t go out because it’s dark and not safe and you refuse to pay hefty delivery fees….you make your own.

I gathered up bits and pieces from the fridge .

Mixed Grain Wrap , tomato paste, baby spinach, beef and salami slices from the deli, red capsicum, cherry tomatoes and grated cheese. Bake at 210 c for 14 minutes.

Believe it or not that whole pizza is the evening meal for one person. ..definitely yummy and no nasties in it.

Words of Encouragement

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I may have mentioned in an earlier post that I am currently doing a 12 week healthy dietary plan with CSIRO. I am now in week 3, so far so good. To be honest 12 weeks is just to get started, it really is a lifetime plan that I will be able to follow without subscribing to an organization. Even though I am not big fan of Facebook I did become a member of the CSIRO community group. Everyday people post helpful hints, ask questions and often post helpful thoughts.

I have saved a few words of encouragement to share with you.

I hope you enjoyed a few words of encouragement.

A Brilliant Idea

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During my recent train travel I was given this handy string like bag to transport my takeaway coffee back to my seat. It actually fits about 3 cups stacked up.

Ok that’s not a takeaway coffee cup but it gives you the idea. I actually carried a coffee and a toasted sandwich in the bag. I found it very helpful because you do need to keep a hand free to support yourself while walking through carriages plus it prevents nasty burns. I should say that Queensland Rail do not use boiling water….work place health and safety.

Ally’s Winter Holiday – Part 3

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Today is my last full day in Cairns, tomorrow morning I head back to Brisbane on the 24 hour train trip.

Hi there I hope you having been following my short winter holiday and enjoying my adventures.

My Itinerary for today with Down Under Tours :

Hotel pick-up at 7am ….ouch that’s dam early for me

Professional driver/guide

Morning tea at Mossman George Centre

Driver guided walk in Mossman Gorge

Lunch at Noah Valley in a rainforest setting

Ice-cream at Daintree Ice Cream Company

Cape Tribulation Beach and Board Walk

Alexandra Lookout

Return to hotel. Its a 12 hour day out.

The bus arrived to pick me up, then three more passengers needed to be pickup at Port Douglas.

The drive from Cairns to Port Douglas takes about one hour – 70km. It really is a scenic drive, plenty to see with a stunning coast view.

The road was Cairns to Port Douglas.

After all passengers were on board we headed to Mossman.

A stunning view of Port Douglas. In 1999 and 2000 I was fortunate enough to enjoy a camping holiday at the Four Mile Beach Camping Ground.

After arriving at Mossman Gorge Centre we had morning tea which was damper with jam and cream, coffee or tea. Damper is a traditional Australian soda bread, historically prepared by early settlers, swagmen, drovers, stockmen and other travellers – Wikipedia . Real damper that I am used too is cooked in a camp oven over hot coals. The damper we had for morning were scones.

Enjoyable morning tea.

After morning tea we boarded a schuttle bus that took us on a short journey to the Mossman Gorge. Daniel our driver/guide then took us on a walk at the gorge. I have to say I struggled to keep up because I was suffering the consequences of my excessive binge walking from yesterday. My back was aching (normal for me) , sore feet and a nasty blister on my little toe…poor me. There was another lady that struggled along with her walking stick. We decided to persevere and not let it ruin our day.
I will run off a few photos that I managed to take. I will admit that the first photo is from Mr Google.
Anyone for a paddle.

I enjoyed my visit to the Mossman Gorge, a paddle in the river would have been a bonus .

We then made our way back to the schuttle bus and then onto the tour bus. The next place we visited was the Daintree. We needed to go across the Daintree river on a barge.

After arriving at the Daintree we travelled along narrow windy roads through the rainforest of the Alexandra Range. We were then were able to enjoy a spectacular lookout over the Daintree River Estuary, Snapper Island and beyond to the Coral Sea.
We boarded the bus again and headed to Noah Valley for lunch
Tropical Lunch with a choice of steak, fish or vegetarian meal with fresh salads and fruit platter, followed by Coffee or Daintree Tea. We also had special access to a private rainforest property.
Daniel explained about the dangerous vegetation in the rainforest which are often lethal, poisonous and could kill you.
One of the passengers picked up one those cassowary plums. Daniel said she would be ok as long as she washed her hands asap.
We enjoyed a walk on the world-renowned rainforest beach and were able to admire the coastline and fringing coral reef from the Kulki Lookout.
Daniel explained how these wormlike creations are made and who makes them. I didn’t have a notebook and now can’t recall what Daniel said.

Did I say that this is a 12 hour tour ?

Before going on a river cruise we went to a Daintree Ice cream shop. The ice creams are made from all naturally produced products and fruits such as coconut, mango, wattleseed, lemon, and many other delicious. We waited in the bus while Daniel collected our ice creams which we ate in the bus while travelling back to the river to meet the boat. I got the following photo from the ice cream company website…truly refreshing and delicious.

Daintree River Cruise . Reach an understanding of this wildlife environment for one hour, habitat of birds, tree snakes, unique plants and of course the estuarine crocodile.
Waiting with anticipation to see a crocodile
This is a female crocodile known as Dusty.
Because mangroves are rooted in spongy surfaces instead of hard, their roots have adapted to be able to support them and keep them upright. One such adaptation is their high arch. A mangroves roots are arched above the water , which provides additional support and stability.
The crocs must have been having an afternoon nap. I found this grand one on the net for you to view.
Sadly the end of the Daintree River Cruise . I thoroughly enjoyed it.

My computer is playing up, giving me grief. This lengthy post was done via my mobile. If photos don’t load on properly I will try again later….mustn’t stress about these technical issues that are sent to try us.