House Hunters International on HGTV - My New Favorite Show! #LookingForaHouse #HouseHunting #BuyaHouse #Mortgage #Lenders

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Omg, have you seen House Hunters International on HGTV, yet??  It's my favorite 'new-to-me' show on TV... I looove it.  I just can't get enough of it!  Thank God for DVR (like TiVo), because I DVR all the House Hunters International I can find (and they seem to have a marathon every Friday night, so that gives you tons of International House Hunters to watch over the weekend, and into the following week -- yippee!!).

So here's what I love about it, soo much... they take you all around the world, Italy, Scotland (you know I love the Scottish bit! lol!), Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Uruguay, Canada (another 'yippee'!!), Mexico, Honduras, Belize, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Poland, Germany, Malta ... man, they go everywhere you might like to own a vacation home -- or maybe even relocate entirely to one of these lovely locations!

A local realtor takes the people who are typically looking for a holiday home, a nice vacation home that may also be used as a rental property, but sometimes they are couples or families looking to relocate entirely to a new country... which is what I love to do!  Well, I'd like to do both, really!! But the Realtor takes the people around to three different places, in their price range (which actually went from $20,000 US and can go well into the millions... so lots of variety, so plenty of dreams to fulfil! lol!)  We were particularly interested in the properties you could buy in the Under $200,000 range -- who knew??  And the fellow from Los Angeles, California, who bought the fixer-upper in Italy for $20,000 -- wow, that was amazing.  Made me instantly want to go buy a $20,000 house in Italy, fix it up!!  I would loove to see a follow-up show on how the renovations are done, and the final products, for these particular fixer-upper sales... now that's right up my alley! haha!



What I find amazing is what houses look like around the world.  Little things that are soo different from North America (we've lived for a long time in the US, and I was raised in Canada, but born in Scotland, so we've seen our share of properties...), but, man, I did NOT know that a kitchen... yes, the whole kitchen, is not necessarily included in many European homes!  For real!  You have to go to the 'kitchen shop', and buy your own kitchen! lol!  BYOK... Bring Your Own Kitchen! How crazy is that?  And something I would never have known or even guessed if we hadn't watched sooo many of these House Hunters Internationals. 

When people are looking for property for a vacation home, usually they are looking for property right on the beach, or with a great view to the beach, and, wow, do they deliver.  It is incredible what you can buy for not all that much, right on the beach in many countries you might not have thought of, before watching this show.  You get to go in and see what the houses, apartments and condos look like, how much they cost, and the square footage. 

I would like to know more about whether people can obtain mortgages for any of these foreign owned properties, because, usually, you would have to pay cash for a property outside of your own country.  Or if you already own a home in your own country, you might choose to put a Second Mortgage on your first home, to cover the cost of the new vacation home... or just buy that $20,000 fixer-upper in Italy, forget all about a mortgage! lol!  (Can you tell that was one of my favorites?? haha!)

We get HGTV on Channel 74, and we're with Direct TV, but check your local guide, see what channel HGTV is for you in your area, and start having some fun dreaming about where your next home could be!!

Survivor, Redemption Island: Phillip Plays The Race Card

Omg, is Phillip completely losin' it out there on Survivor??  He's got that crazy feather on his forehead (not a good start, and often a dead giveaway of further problems... lol!), he's communing with his Grandfather and somehow he's connected that to Rob (super-weird).  Poor guy.  He's been going downhill steadily since those girls wouldn't pay him the attention they readily gave to Rob, and it really looked like he was going to be voted off very quickly, at the beginning, with his crazy antics, and now Phillip's at a whole new level of Crazy, with a capital 'C'... but man, using the Race Card, and using the 'n' word, the most reprehensible of all the words... but you never know someone's history, personal and being African American in America (a very different experience from being black and living elsewhere in the world, where the colour of someone's skin is not the issue it is in the US... a sad state of affairs, in 2011, to be sure... ).  Hard to watch.  And I felt for Steve, too, because he is clearly not a racist, and in no way implied anything like that... but very interesting that Jeff Probst talked openly at the Tribal Council -- too often, people are afraid to bring up the issue, but there it is, alive and well, still sitting there.

I've been reading The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, this week, and man, is it a powerful book.  I happened upon it in an article by Stephen King, where he gave a list of his favorite new books... so lucky, becasue I hadn't heard of The Help before that, and I'll tell you, I can't put it down.  It's one of those great reads you're always looking for, and it deals with the Civil Rights Movement, a subject matter near and dear to my heart. I am horrified by the racism I see in California... it's shocking.


So back to Survivor... what's the deal on Redemption Island, now?  If three people were there, and two survive the contest (Mike and Matt), then Julie is sent over to Redemption Island, tonight, and two people always remain after the 'dual', does that mean that eventually two people will come back onto Survivor??  Would be sooo cool, and a real twist to the usual Survivor Strategy... interesting, right?  Would change everything up, and would definitely knock Rob off his Kingly pedestal.  I am always surprised when any Survivor refers to themselves as the king of anything, or even as the leader, since they are usually the next to go, but Rob is covered in Immunity Idols, lucky dog! 

Well, we'll see what happens to Phillip, next week.  He seems to be unravelling in front of our eyes.. going stir-crazy, perhaps? Happens to the best of us, in confined spaces.  Will be interesting to see how many feathers he has in his 'cap', next week... oh, and that whole Rice deal was ludicrous... why would anyone even ask if they could put their maggot-infested, sandy rice in with someone else's rice, people they have openly ostracized, then be shocked when they said, uh, nooo...?  That is crazy.  Full on crazy. And from my own experience, crazy has no colour... it's open for anyone...

Okay, 'til next week... or the next show that catches my attention enough to write! lol!  Ailsa xox

#EasterTraditions -- Roll Your Eggs at Easter (A Lovely Scottish Tradition) #Easter #Family #EasterEggs #PaintedEggs #Ellen! #ToyCleanUp

Easter Eggs -- yes, real, actual eggs, not just chocolate eggs!! lol!

How to Make Your Easter Eggs So They Are Easy to Peel 

It's So Lovely to Send an Easter Card! Yep! Good Idea! : )

Painting and Rolling Easter Eggs is an old Scottish Tradition that we do every year on Easter Day. It's always fun for the kids (and me, since I have lots of great family memories of all the times we rolled our Easter Eggs!).

So here's the Symbolism of the Rolling Egg :

The Egg symbolizes New Life, Fresh Beginnings and Good Health (always good!).

Rolling the Egg Symbolizes the Stone rolling away from the Tomb where Jesus was Resurrected. Isn't that nice? This is one of my favorite Traditions to do every year.

If you have a child with Egg Allergies and you still want to do this activity, you can use the little Plastic Eggs you can pick up at Walmart and just put a special wee treat in each Egg.

What You Need:

A Dozen Eggs (or as many as you need for your family... I usually put in 2 or 3 per person)
Markers, Crayons, Paints, an Egg Coloring Kit (optional but fun!)

Directions:

Boil all the Eggs. We used to live in a High Altitude Area (Calgary, Alberta), so we had to Boil our Eggs for 14 minutes, but normally it would take about 7 or 8 minutes for Hard-boiled Eggs (I would err on the side of caution... go for 10 minutes, crack open one egg to make sure it is firm, throughout...). Some of the Eggs will crack, so save them for a wee snack later, and Paint the Eggs that are perfect.

After the eggs are boiled, put the 'Good Eggs' (the eggs that haven't cracked during the cooking process) in a Bowl of Cold Water so they can cool down enough so you can hold them in your hands.

I always put the eggs back into the Egg Carton so they can dry off completely before you start to paint or draw on the eggs.  For some reason, I always, invariably, end up drawing chicks and flowers, with a big sun on one side of my egg, and a lovely mountain scene with a pristine lake and a tiny deer on the other... must be my two favourite scenes! lol!   It's really easy to work with magic markers... just a wee bit of food for thought!

This is a fun Family Activity, so get everyone involved.

Pack up your Fancy Painted Eggs for a Picnic. Bring along some Salt to sprinkle on the Eggs, if you like that (We do!)...

Find a nice Hill to roll your Eggs down. Everyone runs after their Eggs and keeps tossing them down the hill until they break. Peel the shell off carefully and enjoy. Lots of Laughs! If you bring your Dog, watch how funny it is to see them try to get to the eggs first!

Happy Easter!!

In the photos:  Cara and Aidan painting their Eggs on Easter, and Aidan madly running after his egg. Then we went over to what we call 'the Mountain Park' with Cara's Friend, Jenise, and we all rolled our Eggs.

That's our Dining Room, all set up for Easter Morning -- pretty, eh??


And that was lovely wee Tia, our sweet little dog, trying to score some Chocolate for herself! She never got any, of course (chocolate is very bad for dogs, even if they would have you believe otherwise with their eyes... lol!), but she did like to have a wee look!







And these are our 2005 Easter Eggs -- and I made a special one in Honor of Ellen Degeneres' 300th Show! (You know I love Ellen!!)












Can you see Aidan on his Easter Egg Hunt in this picture? Click on it to make it bigger to see him better... Oh, and if you notice what looks like a 'pile o' toys', here's my new trick now that Aidan has a million tiny pieces to every single toy.









Here's a Good Way to Never (or, hardly ever!) Step on Your Child's Lego or Tiny Toys, Again! Yahoo! 

I cut out this part of the picture to show you the Toys in the Tablecloth Trick. I'm sure you could be a whole lot neater with this idea, but I can't be bothered unless I really have to...!

I put out a big, cheap, vinyl (with a flannel back, so it's comfortable to sit on) tablecloth on the floor in the Living Room, and Aidan can spread out all the little Lego and K'nex pieces so he can figure out the next thing he wants to build. When Dwight came home, we just folded the toys in the middle of the Tablecloth and pushed it under the Table or as close to that as we could, since there were a lot of other little toys already under that table... Anyway, it's a good thing to try when you have small children and perhaps a slightly anal-retentive other parent! Let's everyone have a happy life.

Beautiful Easter Prayer: May today be all you need it to be. May the peace of God and the freshness of the Holy Spirit rest in your thoughts, rule in your dreams tonight, and conquer all your fears. May God manifest himself today in ways you have never experienced. May your joys be fulfilled, your dreams be closer, and your prayers be answered. I pray that faith enters a new height for you; I pray that your territory is enlarged. I pray for peace, healing, health, happiness, prosperity, joy, true and undying love for God. 

  (No, no, I didn't write this prayer, myself, but it's really lovely... I hope you have a truly lovely Easter Day, and everything in this prayer comes true for you and yours!)  Ailsa : )