Cookies, sea salt and a Desert island 

Posted on by Miriam

Careful what you wish for.

A few days ago, while putting together my post on Solitude I wrote “Sometimes I think I’d be happy living on a deserted island”. 

I ended up deleting that line but the thought must have stuck.  Yesterday the internet was out, the phones were on the blink and I wasn’t able to do anything I’d planned.

I had plans to finish my latest travel article, to check and research some facts before sending it off.  I’d planned to answer emails, pay some bills online, check out a First Aid course, job hunt etc.

Well, needless to say none of that happened.

So I did what any self respecting woman would do. I shopped, slept, drank coffee, read, put my feet up cleaned the toilet and bathroom, did the washing, cleaned the kitchen, walked Harry, did some gardening and swept up Lamby’s land mines of poo outside.  Sounds boring but it was kind of therapeutic. Especially with music on.

minions2

Around midday I decided to bake my kids favourite biscuits. They’re wickedly decadent but easy to make. Here’s the recipe if anyone is feeling a bit naughty.

Sultana and Oat Cookies

1 cup plain flour, sifted
1/2 cup castor sugar
2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup pecan nuts (or nuts of your choice)
3/4 cup sultanas or raisins
200g milk chocolate, chopped
1 tblsp water
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
150g butter, melted
1/4 cup honey

Preheat oven to 170C. Grease and line 2 baking trays

Combine flour, sugar, oats, nuts, sultanas and chocolate in a large bowl. Combine water and bicarb of soda, butter and honey to flour mixture and mix well.

Drop tablespoons of mix onto trays and leave room for cookies to spread.

Bake for 14 minutes until golden. Let them set and cool on trays  And watch them disappear.

With no internet connection and no Spotify I reverted to our old multi stack CD player that hasn’t been played in eons. Suddenly Rod Stewart, Josh Groban and Rick Price were all keeping me company.

With the house smelling divine, daggy music playing and sunshine streaming in I started to feel like I really was on a desert island. I felt like no one could reach me.

Okay, I know I wasn’t quite lounging on a deck chair amongst swaying palm trees in Hawaii, being waited on by a hunky native, but hey, a little dreaming can’t hurt.

minions-in-hawaii

Reality check: Sometimes for all our plans in the world, things just don’t pan out. But maybe it was for the best. Maybe it was the Feng Shui and the salt crystals. Let me explain.

On the weekend I was decluttering. After reading a post by Brigid on Letting Go of Clutter and the benefits of using sea salt to shift the energy I decided I’d try it. 

So, without telling anyone, (they’d think I was kooky) I put small bowls of sea salt in three rooms around the house.

I don’t know if it was mind over matter but something changed.

Not only did I clean out my son’s room, with his willing help, but hub got into the kitchen cupboards and helped scrub and I was motivated to clean out a drawer as well as underneath our bed (which was gathering lots of dust and old shoes).

I culled old clothes, donated books and things I had no more use for. My son was happy to reminisce through stuff and then pass on items he had grown out of.

Was it the salt? Or was it my intention to clear out the old to make way for the new that had me so motivated?  Regardless, the energy seems higher, my son seems more organised and there are positive vibes flowing. 

Okay, reality check, I’m back from Hawaii, sigh, but the daydreams linger. I might have to post more images on that vision board!

Wishing you all a wonderful week and remember, if the internet goes down, it’s a great chance to declutter and catch up on things you’ve been putting off doing.

Or you could just pretend you’re on an Hawaiian island and put your feet up. Aloha. I’m off to Zumba.

minions-hawaii

Keep smiling, stay calm and eat cookies … and don’t forget to have fun on the journey. 

118 thoughts on “Cookies, sea salt and a Desert island ”

  1. I definitely love this post Miriam. Guess what? I just had the same feeling last week and I also decided to do the things that I can do since my plan didn’t materialized that day and I still felt accomplished and happy. I’ll share this post lovely!

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  2. If it makes you feel better we have a coconut that no one is allowed to touch that collects the bad karma in the house, at regular (ish) intervals I pick it up with a paper bag and take it to the river and dump it in.
    And I’ve had a lady come by and “cleanse” the space with a didgeridoo, so sea salt isn’t that weird.

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  6. I love this Miriam, it brought such a smile to my face – from you dealing so well with your lack of internet, to your delightful looking biscuits (I must try), to de-cluttering with salt and Hawaii (which is top on my bucket list of places to visit!) Thank you for sharing a part of your world with us xx

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    1. Ah Hawaii, sounds perfect on a hot day like today. 🙂 The biscuits are very delish, though I definitely would put them in the “naughty” category! 🍪☕️ Stay cool Hayley xo

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  10. Those cookies look great. Oatmeal cookies on steroids! But another thought came out of your blog – what you were able to accomplish just shows you, and us, just how much time in a day the internet can demand, and our depending on it. So what if the toilet does not get cleaned. Cheers.

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  12. Hello Miriam👋🏽
    A gorgeous post my friend.
    The recipe sounds lovely and so does your day! Finding goodness in a situation.
    And I believe the salt would have raised the vibration around your home for sure. You wouldn’t have been imagining it. That’s the healing basis for the ubiquitous salt lamps.
    I’ll go and check out your friend’s link now too.

    Here’s to your desert island 👌👌❤

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      1. My pleasure Miriam.
        And ah… he’ll get used to it… mine have 👌😜. It makes us unique mums.
        Yes, thankyou. Staying low this afternoon.
        Bye for now 🌹

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  13. MIRIAM! hey I moved my blog to a new platform off WordPress so I won’t be here anymore and that means you GOTS to go to batmantravels.com and subscribe on the email sibscriber dealio cuz my new posts won’t show up on your reader anymore AND I’m not only going to Melbourne but I’ve thrown Sydney in too and I don’t want to lose you as a follower so PLEEEEEEASE subscribe and if your site has a email subscriber dealio I’ll fill it out too cuz I won’t have reader anymore either!

    Lol how have u been by the way? Lol come subscribe and we can have a conversation in the comments like the old days.

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      1. Thank you!

        If you’re on mobile you can find the email subscribe dealio in the main menu. And i was thinking i can still keep my reader on so i don’t have to go and try to resubscribe to anyone i was following so all your posts will still find their way to me 🙂

        Great hearing from you!

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  14. Sounds like a great day Miriam and just what was needed. Love the fact that you felt like you were on a desert island being uncontactable. Life is funny what it throws up at sometimes but you used the time well by the sounds of things. Enjoy the week ahead and hope Zumba was good. I had lunch out with friends today and loved having the freedom to be able to do that now. 🙂

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    1. Zumba was great today though it was VERY hot and I worked up a big sweat, I’m a bit out of practice! 😏 Hope you had a great lunch, sounds like you’re enjoying retirement Deb, good for you.

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  15. Sounds like a good day, and with bickies to top it off. Decluttering is a great thing to do (i am somewhat addicted to it) and I had thought about the sea salt lamps (but didn’t like the look of them) – may try the bowls.

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  20. How delightful to relax in your “inside” desert island, a testament to “mind over matter” (or clutter in my case!). I bet the salt was most helpful and that your kitchen smelled heavenly. That recipe looks great. Thanks for sharing. Seems like there is nothing better than to stand back after giving a drawer a scrub or purging an area that’s collected dust bunnies for years. I take one area at a time and then do something else. Seems less overwhelming that way. 😉

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    1. Yeah, I know what you mean Karen. Usually I go slow and just do one drawer or one area at a time but I did feel particularly motivated that day. I’ve since slowed down (maybe I need to put the salt back 😏) … back to baby steps for me.

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      1. Ours is a large farmhouse with three floors and two attics. I feel better if I piece it out and focus on one area at a time; that, and I’ve told my family I am not the maid, so they MUST help (and they do). 😉

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  21. Isn’t it odd how and “unconnected day” can feel just like a vacation? Even when you spend it doing mundane chores? I also get a feeling of satisfaction when I de-clutter and spruce up my house, although I’ve never tried the bowls of sea salts to motivate others to pitch in. I may have to give that a try! Great post…I’m still smiling….

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  22. Haha! Loved this post, Miriam. I’ve had many such days either when the internet was down or more recently when my laptop adaptor shorted. And it is therapeutic. I’m struggling on a DIY painting for 2 months and moments away from the internet are spent on it. 🙂 We have some sunshine today…hehe…

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    1. Happy painting Cheryl. It’s good when we get the time hey? Glad you’ve had some sunshine today. Now for my weather update. Here it’s been hot and windy with grey skies, average temp of 35C . Signing off from the weather bureau in Melbourne lol 😊

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  24. Those cookies look so delicious that I just want to pick one right from the screen and nibble on it. If only!
    This post also reminds me that I need to pay attention to my shelves that are currently overflowing with stuff but I absolutely suck at any sort of organizing. I have heard so much salt crystals and do feel like giving it a try. It would be even more amazing if the granules of salt will form themselves into some auto-cleaning machine and organize and declutter everything for me, wouldn’t it ? Haha.
    P.S : I absolutely love Hawai’i and I am so envious of you right now. Enjoy it all.

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    1. Haha, no need to be envious Amo, that Hawaiian island is merely in my dreams, if only. 😏 Good luck with the decluttering, love the sound of that ‘auto cleaning machine’. Now that would be a great invention!

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  26. I think it may very well have been the salt, Miriam. My mother and brother are very much into those Himalayan Salt Lamps lately, which are supposed to review toxins from the air, including toxic energy. Chocolate always, helps, too, of course 🙂

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    1. Thanks Rhonda, yes back online and on track with a bit more culling done today. Pizza tonight and then a fairly quiet weekend, at least at this stage. Hope you have a wonderful one too. xo

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      1. Thanks Miriam– I’m up in San Francisco staying with my daughter –packing up her home so they can move out for a few months for a remodel. And playing with our new grand-girl, little Lois. So it IS a wonderful weekend. thanks. hugs hugs!

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  32. You’re so funny! I loved that line crossed out, because that never happens does it? Lol! That was my entire day yesterday! I would’ve loved to have gone shopping in my mind, but the reality is, I’d much rather be a little bit productive.

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  35. As you can tell Miriam I’m on an long overdue blog catch up – I can’t believe I’ve missed all these great posts!! What have I been doing…. I love it and it’s inspired me to have a clear out and get some ‘salt crystals’ place around my house. Downstairs may be devastation but somehow upstairs has become complete disarray too and I’m on a mission to sort it out today and clear some ‘negative energy’… Hubby is also working away for the next 3 days so I’ve got the house completely to myself and hopefully there’ll be a bit of ‘order’ by the time he returns… Ready for the kitchen installation starting this weekend hopefully!! …. Hang on … where the heck have I put the box of sea salt?

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    1. Haha, oh Wendy, if I could come over and help you I would. Imagine what the two of us could achieve together, so long as we didn’t spend all of our time laughing and drinking cups of tea. ☕️ Anyway, hope you manage to get a few things sorted and clear out some of that negative energy. All ready for the new kitchen, woo-hoo! xo

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      1. Yee Haa Miriam.. I’m raising my ‘cup of tea’ to that! Just imagine.. Hawaii Retreat here we come!
        Yes… I’m donning my ‘decorating shower cap’ to paint the newly plastered ceiling and hopefully the floor is being screeded tonight.. light definitely shining at the end of the tunnel… xx

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        6. The screeding couldn’t be done as the existing tiles that are down are ‘gloss’ and so he’s coming back early tomorrow morning hopefully.. Had a lovely catch up with my old school friend tonight – lots of chatter.. just like old times! Have a brilliant day Miriam.. xx

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  36. Was a fantastic post. Good idea of yours to live on a deserted island. Island life is very challenging. I was born and bred on a beautiful group of islands and especially I grew up those days when life did not imagine of technologies, we played outside and swim in the sea, played hide and sick on the beach and behind the granite rocks. I ate fresh fish and did gardening with mum. You will surely love island life, you may try, and you won’t regret.

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      1. No Miriam, I left the island at the age of 28 with my husband to live in his native UK. Now I am living between France and London and enjoying all the moment life has to offer. and yes, I loved my life on the islands, all those I have been gone I did not miss it, but recently I started missing it so much after I connected with some friends over communications. Hopefully I will visit soon!

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        1. It sounds like you’re overdue for a return visit soon. Nostalgia beckons perhaps. Have a lovely week ahead. By the way, what is your name? 😊

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