Greece, Spain, France, Cuba? That sounds pretty well traveled to me! Back in the olden days when we used to correspond on paper, I had a penpal from Belfast. She would tell me about heading over to France or Spain for the weekend, or a weekend ski trip to Switzerland or the Italian Alps. It all sounded so exotic.

In Australia, we just go to the beach for the weekend. Although our beaches look like this... You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login!

The weather is changeable here too - hot, hot and humid, hot and stormy, hot and sunny, hot and rainy, hot and windy. 

This afternoon, a summer storm has been building - thunder has been grumbling constantly for the last 2 hours and it's so humid that you can almost see the air. I just checked the Bureau of Meteorolgy website and there is a Severe Thunderstorm Warning:

Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce damaging winds, heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding and large hailstones over the next several hours

Better close the windows and get some candles ready. Typical summer afternoon in Queensland - I love a good storm! 

Despite the heat, all the preppies in their first year of school have snotty noses and coughs. And being preppies in their first year of school with snotty noses and coughs, they like to share their germs.  Dirty, filthy little things they are!!!

I think it's a great idea to take your kids on holidays in the place that you live - it gives them an understanding of where they come from and it makes you appreciate it so much more. As nice as o/s travel is, it's always nice to come home.

That's what the beaches were like in Cuba too - absolutely perfect.  However, the eye candy was non existent.

The constant in your changeable weather is hot though - that makes all the difference!

I love a good thunderstorm too, especially when I am snuggled up safely indoors.  When we were in Cuba the thunderstorms were amazing - storms here are pretty tame in comparison - obviously humidity is a major factor.

My son very lovingly shared his germs with me - he has now been suffering for about 10 days - mine better not last that long!

We haven't visited Ireland yet but have been to various destinations around the UK.  There are so many places I have visited and loved  like Bath, York, Chester, Edinburgh etc.  It's really good showing the kiddies the history of this little island.  We try to mix it up with visits to beach resorts, although we need to take coats when we go!

And what a history it has too!

I'm from English/Irish and English/Scottish stock.

It's quite sad how much we take for granted here.  When you start delving into it it really is amazing given the size of the place

Children are disgusting little germ vacuums - the only thing you can always count on them to share is their germs!

Compared to where you're from, even our winters are hot, but summer colds are horrible - you're already hot and sweaty and then throw a fever and chills onto that and it's just awful. That's why that soup is good - you just sweat the germs out.

My mum's remedy for a cold - even when we were kids: a hot shower, vicks vapour rub on the chest and feet, thick socks then into bed with honey, lemon juice, a good swig of Bundy rum and boiling water all mixed together, covered in blankets. She did this to us even in Summer. We'd need clean sheets and clean pjs the next morning because of the sweating, but usually the cold would be just about gone. She grew up in a really poor household and the first time she went to a doctor was after she got married.

We do that with either whisky or benedictine and call it a hot toddy.  I can't stand them though.  I always have vicks vapour rub and olbas oil in the house.
I have never heard of using vapour rub on your feet!

I would love to travel more. Unfortunately, my husband doesn't like traveling unless it involves fishing.

You're married to Charlie?? 

Am lucky my husband also likes to travel. Took us 5yrs after getting married to have our first child. So while we didn't have kids yet, we saved up for our once a year trip abroad. At our age now, our mindset is "let's travel while we still enjoy it, can still walk around, ride the roller coasters and keep up with our kids". The past few years we've enjoyed travelling more since the kids were older (now 14 and 9) so we didn't have to constantly run after them.

My worst was in 2001, my first trip to the US, with a 2.5 yr old daughter who refuses to stay in the car seat.You see, we are not mandated to have car seats here so she never wore a seatbelt before arriving in the US. It was a major production every time we went out and had to strap her in. On a drive from LA to vegas, i broke down and cried bec she was getting on my nerves and i was afraid the police will arrest us bec she kept throwing tantrums and getting out of the car seat. Thankfully my kids age now is ideal for travelling.

This leads to my question... how do you dry your clothes?

I live in one of the sunniest places on earth, and almost every Australian house has one of our greatest inventions - the Hills Hoist.

There are 3 seasons here: sunny, rainy and typhoon season. It's not a problem to dry wet clothes in our backyard. It is during the rainy and typhoon season, that it is a problem to dry our clothes since i don't own a dryer. We use the electric fans at night to dry my kids school uniforms if they didn't dry during the day. 

I have one of those airers that you have Astro, though mine has heated bars so it dries clothes quickly. We have a dryer (or rather, my landlord does) but it costs so much that it's not worth using. My Mum had a clothes line when I was younger and I have fond memories of having to run out and pulling them off the line when the rain began

I have one of those airers that you have Astro, though mine has heated bars so it dries clothes quickly. We have a dryer (or rather, my landlord does) but it costs so much that it's not worth using. My Mum had a clothes line when I was younger and I have fond memories of having to run out and pulling them off the line when the rain began

My parents put a heated towel rack into their bathroom when the built their dream home 7 years ago. They saw them on a trip to New Zealand in winter and fell in love with warm towels after a shower. They have turned it on once in 7 years!

Even inside, my clothes only take a couple of hours to dryr, so I don't really have the need for a heated airer. My oldest sister lives in our nation's capital, Canberra - the biggest shithole in Australia, and not only because all the politicians are there. It gets cold and damp in winter. It took nearly four days for my jeans to dry when I visited. I could have used a heated airer then!

Oh. Ooza posted the last outtake for Inside Man. It's EPOV of the (Dreaded/ hated) fade-to-black scene in Chapter 36.

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This leads to my question... how do you dry your clothes?

I live in one of the sunniest places on earth, and almost every Australian house has one of our greatest inventions - the Hills Hoist.


And every Aussie kid spins around on the clothesline like that!

Smaller yards and more residential living in the cities means clotheslines more like this nowadays:


I also have a dryer, that I use maybe half a dozen times each year if I have to wash sheets and towels on rainy days. I'd say most people here don't even have a dryer; I only have one because my mum treated herself to a new one that uses less power, so I got the hand-me-down, and it's going strong even after 15+ years. I think the dryer ruins the clothes and our electricity prices are simply outrageous.

I also have an airer

Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.

that I use for my work clothes and good clothes - the sun bakes the clothes on the line on days like today when there is no breeze and while the clothes are dry in an hour on the clothesline, I think the sun fades them, and they get hard and stiff.

Hard and stiff can be good......but I don't like it for my clothes! I have the airer in my laundry/carport or on my back deck in the shade.

So, cold country dwellers and those that live in flats/apartments/units or don't have a backyard, how do you get your clothes dry? And do you have Hills hoists in other parts of the world?

I warned you this was random!

Electric dryer

Where we live, we aren't allowed to have a clothes line in our yards (seriously, that and the fact that we can't have a fence higher than 4 ft are the two things that piss me off and suck about living in a development with a homeowners assoc  )

Traveling- I've only been outside the US once, and on a cruise to a couple of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. I've been to enough of the US to be satisfied in that area, though. *will* make it to Europe someday. Germany and Ireland are the two I want to visit the most.

I'm actually reading another real book....I blame the Walking Dead. It's a zombie romance and actually? Really really good. Def'y more of the romance/erotica than zombies (referred to as The Infected) and nothing gory...yet.

Sounds like Ohio has similar weather to you, Rickell. 65 and sunny one day (in February?!) down to low 20's the next. It's ridiculous and why everyone here is always sick.

We just booked hotels in Port Angeles and Forks. Cullens here I come!  I think I will need to re-read the canon Twilight books, so that I dont miss anything. 

I am SO jealous that I don't even have words! All the pictures I've seen of the area look beautiful, Twilight-related excitement aside. I would love to go there one day.

im the worst twilight fan ever. lol
i have no desire to go to forks or port angeles.

i would love to go to Seattle, but that is because of the grunge music i grew up listening to.

im the worst twilight fan ever. lol
i have no desire to go to forks or port angeles.

i would love to go to Seattle, but that is because of the grunge music i grew up listening to.

Seattle is a great place to visit.  Though it does rain a lot. There are some great places around that area. And I love going on the ferries. And Pike's Place Market is fun to visit.  Just don't let them throw fish at you

And the cool volcanoes.  I got to see the area around Mount St Helens about 10 years after it blew. Everything still looked dead. I'd like to see what it looks like now.  The Olympian Penisula is real pretty too.