Well, I've been on the hunt for new vegetarian recipes. We've become a bit tired and bored of the same old ones we've been using. The trick is to also find recipes that use up our vege box delivery or can at least be substituted (there seem to be a lot of recipes that call for mushrooms which we just don't get in our box).
So I got a library book out over the weekend and trawled through it and found a few promising recipes. I particularly liked that it was broken down into seasonal eating.
Garlic polenta and roasted vegetables - very similar to the previous post only with polenta instead of noodles. Nathan liked his, but Danielle wasn't fussed at all.
A hearty vegetable soup - a bit spicy for Danielle, but Nathan loved it and came back for seconds. Danielle ate it up the next day for lunch though - so it must have mellowed or she just happened to be in the mood for it then.
Tonight's was a pasta with sauteed vegetables and a sauce made from eggs, yoghurt and cheese. Both kids only ate the saucy pasta.
So, not the most successful, but we'll try them again. I think new foods aren't so good for Danielle at the end of the day when she's tired - and maybe need to try them as lunches and see whether that gets her taste for them.
April 30, 2008
April 28, 2008
Streamlining my processes
We've been living in this home for 5 years. Prior to moving in we did a complete paint job on the place - I was 7mths pregnant with Nathan. I was fortunate to have my parents come and help out - I was chief lunch and cup of tea maker, sewed curtains, swept and did a bit of pre-cleaning.
The place has pretty much stayed as it was when we moved in. I had recently completed a diploma in Interior Design and put my new skills to use. I had it all planned out, cute little to-scale room plans with mini to-scale cut outs for the furniture placements etc. On the whole, it's all worked out great and I love the feel of our home. Over the years I've implemented new ways of doing things, rearranged occasionally, and have become more "green" which has brought with it new routines and things to take into consideration.
However, over the past few days I've been reassessing some of my processes in the ways I do things. Our house is reasonably small - not tiny, but not large - just over 100 sq metres. We have minimal storage space - or so I thought. The only cupboards we have are in the kitchen, a linen cupboard in the laundry and a wardrobe in our room and Danielle's (Nathan's now has a small stand alone wardrobe). We've relied on other storage ideas to help out, such as shelving, cabinets and storage chests.
Here is the list of things that have always annoyed me but I thought were beyond doing anything about...
The vacuum cleaner being stuffed into the laundry cupboard which is behind the door into the laundry - so a clutter of doors and vacuum cleaner bits would drive me nuts having a wrestle with them to get them out. I found vacuuming a big hassle because of this and was lucky if I vacuumed once a week despite needing to be done more frequently. I also have a 3-drawer plastic storage unit in here for my stationery and elctronic cables/software etc which was also difficult to access.
There was the loss of cupboard space under the kitchen sink due to recycling tins and platics and the large bag of plastic bags jammed in there.
There was the compost scraps container cluttering up the kitchen bench, there for convenience but too small to even hold a days worth (and flicked scraps ending up on my wall).
The large wicker laundry hamper in the laundry was jammed into a space that was a bit inconvenient to access, so I rarely used it and dirty clothes would just be piled up in our bedroom and transferred daily when I do the washing.
Storage space in our bedroom wardrobe was crammed with all sorts.
So..it only took moving the first thing and the rest just fell into place.
~ I moved the laundry hamper into our bedroom
~ The vacuum cleaner has come out of the cupboard and is now in the spot where the hamper was
~ The plastic bags are now out from under the sink and hung in the laundry
~ I found an unused small flip top rubbish bin poked into a corner in the laundry that I have placed under the sink where the plastic bags were and that now holds my compost scraps. It's much bigger than the previous container and more practical and gets the container off my benchtop.
~ I cleared out our wardrobe shelving, had Simon buy a large lidded plastic bin to store the surplus in down in the garage (the bin is large enough to be useful for other things if required). The bin mostly consists of clothing that is made from useful fabrics that can be refashioned at some stage.
I have come up with new solutions and they seem so...simple, and I ask myself why I didn't think of them earlier. I guess life just became comfortable and it was easy to just pass the house off as small and lacking space for things. Now I have a heap of spaces that can be filled if ever needed - but I'm such a declutter that I can't imagine that happening.
My problem wasn't lack of space - I just wasn't using what I had wisely.
The place has pretty much stayed as it was when we moved in. I had recently completed a diploma in Interior Design and put my new skills to use. I had it all planned out, cute little to-scale room plans with mini to-scale cut outs for the furniture placements etc. On the whole, it's all worked out great and I love the feel of our home. Over the years I've implemented new ways of doing things, rearranged occasionally, and have become more "green" which has brought with it new routines and things to take into consideration.
However, over the past few days I've been reassessing some of my processes in the ways I do things. Our house is reasonably small - not tiny, but not large - just over 100 sq metres. We have minimal storage space - or so I thought. The only cupboards we have are in the kitchen, a linen cupboard in the laundry and a wardrobe in our room and Danielle's (Nathan's now has a small stand alone wardrobe). We've relied on other storage ideas to help out, such as shelving, cabinets and storage chests.
Here is the list of things that have always annoyed me but I thought were beyond doing anything about...
The vacuum cleaner being stuffed into the laundry cupboard which is behind the door into the laundry - so a clutter of doors and vacuum cleaner bits would drive me nuts having a wrestle with them to get them out. I found vacuuming a big hassle because of this and was lucky if I vacuumed once a week despite needing to be done more frequently. I also have a 3-drawer plastic storage unit in here for my stationery and elctronic cables/software etc which was also difficult to access.
There was the loss of cupboard space under the kitchen sink due to recycling tins and platics and the large bag of plastic bags jammed in there.
There was the compost scraps container cluttering up the kitchen bench, there for convenience but too small to even hold a days worth (and flicked scraps ending up on my wall).
The large wicker laundry hamper in the laundry was jammed into a space that was a bit inconvenient to access, so I rarely used it and dirty clothes would just be piled up in our bedroom and transferred daily when I do the washing.
Storage space in our bedroom wardrobe was crammed with all sorts.
So..it only took moving the first thing and the rest just fell into place.
~ I moved the laundry hamper into our bedroom
~ The vacuum cleaner has come out of the cupboard and is now in the spot where the hamper was
~ The plastic bags are now out from under the sink and hung in the laundry
~ I found an unused small flip top rubbish bin poked into a corner in the laundry that I have placed under the sink where the plastic bags were and that now holds my compost scraps. It's much bigger than the previous container and more practical and gets the container off my benchtop.
~ I cleared out our wardrobe shelving, had Simon buy a large lidded plastic bin to store the surplus in down in the garage (the bin is large enough to be useful for other things if required). The bin mostly consists of clothing that is made from useful fabrics that can be refashioned at some stage.
I have come up with new solutions and they seem so...simple, and I ask myself why I didn't think of them earlier. I guess life just became comfortable and it was easy to just pass the house off as small and lacking space for things. Now I have a heap of spaces that can be filled if ever needed - but I'm such a declutter that I can't imagine that happening.
My problem wasn't lack of space - I just wasn't using what I had wisely.
April 26, 2008
We may be rationing the cheese...
But, we're still using it as a dinner ingredient.
With the price of cheese 50% more than what we were paying last year (and sometimes that's even when it's on special!), and the fact that the common sized blocks are now released in 800gm instead of 1kg, we have cut out all uses except dinners. The kids used to eat it as grilled cheese on toast for breakfast about 3 times a week, we'd have it grated with our lunches several times a week and occasionally I'd do slices of cheese for the kids as a snack - but no more.
I used to buy 2kg's of cheese in my fortnightly shopping, now I buy my one 800gm block and make that last 2wks.
We're doing well, it's lasting and nobody is missing it (I did explain to Nathan why he couldn't have cheese on toast anymore and he was willing to forgo it and hasn't put in an order for it once). Not that the price of gluten bread or cereal is much cheaper in comparison by the time I've offset one food against the other...
This afternoon as I was pondering what to have for dinner as I was blog-surfing, I caught up on a few days reading at BeanSprouts and saw that Mel had made a lovely looking vegetarian meal a few days back - Roast Vegetables and Goats' Cheese pasta. We have had combinations of this type of dish many a time, but never together. So, since I had all the ingredients (except goats cheese, which was substituted with colby cheese and instead of pasta I used rice noodles) it made a delicious meal that the kids gobbled up. I enjoyed picking my fresh herbs from the garden for making up the tomato sauce (and as usual I add some silverbeet to my tomato sauce for the "green" factor for the kids). They're not fooled, but some slips in there somewhere.
Better late than never
I REALLY have been behind in planting out new vegetable plants. I haven't put anything in the ground for months.
So this morning the kids and I weeded and planted out heaps of broccoli, beetroot and lettuces.
I noticed when I'd pulled out my old pumpkin vines and tidied up the remains of the summer garden that several little seedlings (broccoli and cabbage) that never thrived over that time from being swamped by the pumpkin vines have started to come away. I was really surprised to see them still there (they were planted probably 4mths ago) and now that they get sunlight they're off.
So this morning the kids and I weeded and planted out heaps of broccoli, beetroot and lettuces.
I noticed when I'd pulled out my old pumpkin vines and tidied up the remains of the summer garden that several little seedlings (broccoli and cabbage) that never thrived over that time from being swamped by the pumpkin vines have started to come away. I was really surprised to see them still there (they were planted probably 4mths ago) and now that they get sunlight they're off.
April 25, 2008
Our recylced benchseat
This morning I was telling Simon how I've been loving sitting out on the porch now that the sun is lower in the sky and it sweeps in around there all day and is a gorgeous sun trap. He had been down in the garage and came up to float the idea of using a couple of large tree trunk rounds as part of a benchseat for the porch - an idea I liked very much. We then pondered what we could use as the bench part as we didn't want to go out and buy wood - would kind of defeat the purpose of what we were wanting to do. A few weeks back we had dismantled our square foot garden and the macrocarpa sleepers were still lying in the front garden, so although they were huge and an overkill for what was required, it felt right that we use them here. The bench seat can always be remodelled into something else if the need arises. We also now have a large bag of sawdust which I will be able to use as mulch on the garden paths in Spring.
A thinking day
Today was ANZAC day - 25th April.
This is the day we commemorate New Zealanders killed in war (and Australians do likewise) and honour our returned servicemen and women.
For me, today constantly had me thinking about the women at home - and the hard work it would have been to help keep the country ticking along by signing up for labour intensive work and military jobs, keeping homes and families together, fed and looked after.
As I watched Simon labour away making a bench for our sunporch I reflected how that would have been near impossible for me to do if I so wished (although I doubt I would have dedicated the time to do such a non-practical task back during the war). And as I dug my garden some more and leisurely planted some herbs I'm not so sure that the same could have been said for wartime women who would have approached their gardening in a different mindset.
It also felt right to be eating a humble - yet tasty - vegetable soup (Borscht) for dinner.
This is the day we commemorate New Zealanders killed in war (and Australians do likewise) and honour our returned servicemen and women.
For me, today constantly had me thinking about the women at home - and the hard work it would have been to help keep the country ticking along by signing up for labour intensive work and military jobs, keeping homes and families together, fed and looked after.
As I watched Simon labour away making a bench for our sunporch I reflected how that would have been near impossible for me to do if I so wished (although I doubt I would have dedicated the time to do such a non-practical task back during the war). And as I dug my garden some more and leisurely planted some herbs I'm not so sure that the same could have been said for wartime women who would have approached their gardening in a different mindset.
It also felt right to be eating a humble - yet tasty - vegetable soup (Borscht) for dinner.
April 23, 2008
A tiny moment
You know when something happens or you see something and it just touches you for whatever reason?
Well, this morning as I was walking down the hallway on the way to have my shower I spotted the sunlight glowing on the table illuminating a jar of flowers that I had received for my birthday last week.
What made it so gorgeous was a combination of the colours so bright in the dull room and the fact that the sunlight had to hit through the skylight in the lounge about three metres away at that particular angle to get anywhere near my table (doesn't happen in summer) let alone right on top of the flowers. It's a shame my photo skills don't do it justice.
I love gerbera's - they're my favourite flower.
A few years ago I wrote down what gerbera's symbolise to me...(as retrivied from my journal).
~ beauty
~ softness
~ light
~ petals reach out in all directions (not closed or linear)
~ fluidity
~ change
~ flexibility
Kind of sums up this Journey as well.
April 22, 2008
Stretching those crusts
Gluten free bread isn't the nicest at the best of times. It's kind of hard, stiff and not that tasty (and more savoury than good with jams) - well, in my opinion anyway. I don't eat the stuff, but the kids do for their toast - it's no good as sandwich bread really. (That's the negative, moany part of my post lol).
So, the end crusts really are even less appealing and they have been piling up in the freezer till I decided what to do with them. One idea was to put them in the kitchen whizz and make breadcrumbs. But today I decided we'd make a little snack from them. I made up some garlic butter, cut the crusts into strips, coated in butter and baked till they were crispy. They came out like little pita bread chips and were a success.
April 21, 2008
Giving my home and garden a little TLC
I've been caught up in Peak oil stuff for so long now, that I feel like I've lost the desire to keep things around me ticking along, comfortable and homely. I've been focusing on just doing the practical stuff.
So today, I did more deep cleaning - the laundry and oven. Major job. But done and it look great.
I decluttered some of those high kitchen cupboards - I've been through them many times over the years, but have always found a need to hang on a little longer. But today I released a few more things and they were taken off down to the Hospice shop when we went out later on.
We've already been overrun with mice with winter arriving, so far we've trapped 5 mice. Not a nice job, but I'm also not keen on finding mouse poop and mouse stink where-ever I go and my rice supplies nibbled. So I needed to clean out the laundry cupboard of all the mousey evidence and re-sort it while I was there. When I was vacuuming Nathan's room the other day I saw the evidence of being woken up during the night hearing gnawing and scratching (Simon was kicked out of bed to free it before it ran off down the hallway) - there was a pile of wood shavings and a hole in one of his drawers.
The deck was swept and the sand returned to the sandpit - but not before both kids got absolutely coated in wet soggy mud again and needed a bath before it was even lunchtime (how can they run around with barely any clothes on in the freezing cold and getting wet and sandy??).
I dusted!
I disposed of a dead house plant and repotted it with one of my aloe vera's that had outgrown it's other pot.
I sorted the DVDs and videos which were in a shocking over flowing state around the TV cabinet and drawers.
The chicken's tractor has been relocated back onto the garden grid - it's been off it all summer. But with some vacant beds there now, we can put them back on to keep the weeds in check. It's a shame that I still have about 6 vege beds in use - only thing is that there are only a few plants per plot (mostly silverbeet and spinach, but the odd brassica too). If I were to consolidate them they would only take up two beds. But I think the plants are too big and established to risk moving them now. I will need to keep the girls nesting box stuffed full with straw over winter to help them stay nice and snug. They do like to snuggle up in there at nights and it's a firm fit, so they should be fine.
So today, I did more deep cleaning - the laundry and oven. Major job. But done and it look great.
I decluttered some of those high kitchen cupboards - I've been through them many times over the years, but have always found a need to hang on a little longer. But today I released a few more things and they were taken off down to the Hospice shop when we went out later on.
We've already been overrun with mice with winter arriving, so far we've trapped 5 mice. Not a nice job, but I'm also not keen on finding mouse poop and mouse stink where-ever I go and my rice supplies nibbled. So I needed to clean out the laundry cupboard of all the mousey evidence and re-sort it while I was there. When I was vacuuming Nathan's room the other day I saw the evidence of being woken up during the night hearing gnawing and scratching (Simon was kicked out of bed to free it before it ran off down the hallway) - there was a pile of wood shavings and a hole in one of his drawers.
The deck was swept and the sand returned to the sandpit - but not before both kids got absolutely coated in wet soggy mud again and needed a bath before it was even lunchtime (how can they run around with barely any clothes on in the freezing cold and getting wet and sandy??).
I dusted!
I disposed of a dead house plant and repotted it with one of my aloe vera's that had outgrown it's other pot.
I sorted the DVDs and videos which were in a shocking over flowing state around the TV cabinet and drawers.
The chicken's tractor has been relocated back onto the garden grid - it's been off it all summer. But with some vacant beds there now, we can put them back on to keep the weeds in check. It's a shame that I still have about 6 vege beds in use - only thing is that there are only a few plants per plot (mostly silverbeet and spinach, but the odd brassica too). If I were to consolidate them they would only take up two beds. But I think the plants are too big and established to risk moving them now. I will need to keep the girls nesting box stuffed full with straw over winter to help them stay nice and snug. They do like to snuggle up in there at nights and it's a firm fit, so they should be fine.
April 18, 2008
Will people get it?
We went down to do our fortnightly (that's 2 weeks for my US readers) grocery shopping today.
As I was loading up the car at the end - admittedly a little bit of a squish since I forgot about the things in the back when I went out - a man walked past me and said "you need to get yourself a bigger truck darling". My response, "nah, it fits fine thanks". Huh? Why would I get a bigger car for my once a fortnight shopping trip, and considering my car had Nathan's bike, a stroller and a scooter, plus a few bags of other things, I think it was way big enough - afterall we managed to go away for a 10 day road trip with the use of a roof storage box to help out - I think I could have fitted another 2 weeks of shopping in somewhere else if I needed to!
We then drive over to the service station with our discount voucher from the supermarket and I couldn't believe my eyes to see that the price had risen 3 cents a litre from the time I'd driven past it an hour prior. We're now sitting at $1.918 ($1.51 USD).
So to the guy in the carpark, WHY would I want to a/ bother upgrading a car, forking out more $$ when petrol is getting so spendy that I will soon be cutting back my driving even further, and b/ get a bigger "truck" (I only have a little 1.5 litre wagon) only to have my $$ go less distance.
And as for food prices - well, we're doing OK so far I guess and I'm still maintaining our budgeted amount. We're not too much affected as yet (aside from dairy prices and needing to cut back on how much cheese I buy, and I now only buy milk powder), but I do wonder if because we buy only basics and mostly whole foods that those things haven't dramatically risen to be noticeable (we don't eat a lot of rice or pasta). Of course, over the past year I've been skimming the shopping list where I can. Meat purchases are now reduced to minced beef only which we eat twice a week (and we had 2 sheep in our freezer from a family friend's farm which we are slowly going through).
As I was loading up the car at the end - admittedly a little bit of a squish since I forgot about the things in the back when I went out - a man walked past me and said "you need to get yourself a bigger truck darling". My response, "nah, it fits fine thanks". Huh? Why would I get a bigger car for my once a fortnight shopping trip, and considering my car had Nathan's bike, a stroller and a scooter, plus a few bags of other things, I think it was way big enough - afterall we managed to go away for a 10 day road trip with the use of a roof storage box to help out - I think I could have fitted another 2 weeks of shopping in somewhere else if I needed to!
We then drive over to the service station with our discount voucher from the supermarket and I couldn't believe my eyes to see that the price had risen 3 cents a litre from the time I'd driven past it an hour prior. We're now sitting at $1.918 ($1.51 USD).
So to the guy in the carpark, WHY would I want to a/ bother upgrading a car, forking out more $$ when petrol is getting so spendy that I will soon be cutting back my driving even further, and b/ get a bigger "truck" (I only have a little 1.5 litre wagon) only to have my $$ go less distance.
And as for food prices - well, we're doing OK so far I guess and I'm still maintaining our budgeted amount. We're not too much affected as yet (aside from dairy prices and needing to cut back on how much cheese I buy, and I now only buy milk powder), but I do wonder if because we buy only basics and mostly whole foods that those things haven't dramatically risen to be noticeable (we don't eat a lot of rice or pasta). Of course, over the past year I've been skimming the shopping list where I can. Meat purchases are now reduced to minced beef only which we eat twice a week (and we had 2 sheep in our freezer from a family friend's farm which we are slowly going through).
April 13, 2008
Back to basics
For many months now I haven't really read any Peak Oil stuff - websites, blogs, books or message boards. The sense of doom eased off and I was just enjoying life at where we were at.
I'd done plenty of preparation stuff for most of last year - educated myself (and gave it a go) on vegetable gardens, stocked up on seeds, assessed our equipment/supplies/knowledge for all aspects of life, learned about food preservation, implemented systems to utilise our roof water on the garden, streamlined our day to day life as far as petrol usage, stopped buying non-essentials (but stocked up on a few key things that I felt were important to have on hand), put together an emergency food kit/first aid kit...
Then I just let things be and went about our life without thinking about Peak Oil and the post-peak oil world.
However, in the past month I've started a little reading here and there again and have reconnected with where things are at. It's been timely, and helped me refocus. It could also be the seasonal change - my garden focus during Spring and Summer has come to an end and it feels like it's time to refocus on gaining more skills and preparing in ways I hadn't already done or thought of.
I don't feel the real sense of doom and gloom that I did when I first became aware and delved into PO and the surrounding issues, but it's back in my fore-thoughts but in just a reminder kind of way rather than depressing.
So today I set myself a few little projects...
As a part of my organic horticulture course we needed to complete a Shelter Belt (wind break) module. I wasn't particularly interested when I first read it, but one option was to plan an Insect Habitat. That got me thinking about a Real project, rather than just a mock one to get the assignment out of the way. In my front garden there is currently a herb circle which is partly planted out and a redundant square foot garden. So for my assignment I planned to fill in one side of our garden with trees and herb plants to provide wind shelter (my tomatoes up in this garden took a bashing during the spring winds), insect habitat and a place to grow medicinal and culinary herbs. I had Simon chop down a dead tree that had just been sitting there (a bit more firewood lol) and dismantle the square foot garden, I bought my herbs and plants based on my assignment plan (already assessed for soil type, location and space required - I have very sandy soil and this garden receives full sun) and we spent some time planting them all before dinner. The kids got right into it and this was the first time that Danielle has really shown a lot of interest in the garden and wanting to help out. We dug into our home made compost that has just been decomposing over the past year.
We planted a self-fertilizing feijoa, rosemary, lavenders, geranium, clary sage, winter savory, chamomile, lemon balm. I still have a backrow space for a lemon verbena when I find one.
Earlier on in the afternoon I decided my emergency food bin was well overdue for checking for expiry dates, so after pulling out a few things and replacing them with pantry items I had on hand (and the rest added to the shopping list) I felt relieved it had been done.
Other projects I want to get into...
~ Make more ginger beer
~ Find some driftwood or similar to edge my new herb garden
~ Put the chicken tractor back onto the garden grid over winter to keep the weeds in check now that only a few beds are being used with mostly silverbeet, spinach and brassica's
~ Relocate my compost bin down to the lower garden
~ Crochet a bag (and make some crochet stitch markers)
I'd done plenty of preparation stuff for most of last year - educated myself (and gave it a go) on vegetable gardens, stocked up on seeds, assessed our equipment/supplies/knowledge for all aspects of life, learned about food preservation, implemented systems to utilise our roof water on the garden, streamlined our day to day life as far as petrol usage, stopped buying non-essentials (but stocked up on a few key things that I felt were important to have on hand), put together an emergency food kit/first aid kit...
Then I just let things be and went about our life without thinking about Peak Oil and the post-peak oil world.
However, in the past month I've started a little reading here and there again and have reconnected with where things are at. It's been timely, and helped me refocus. It could also be the seasonal change - my garden focus during Spring and Summer has come to an end and it feels like it's time to refocus on gaining more skills and preparing in ways I hadn't already done or thought of.
I don't feel the real sense of doom and gloom that I did when I first became aware and delved into PO and the surrounding issues, but it's back in my fore-thoughts but in just a reminder kind of way rather than depressing.
So today I set myself a few little projects...
As a part of my organic horticulture course we needed to complete a Shelter Belt (wind break) module. I wasn't particularly interested when I first read it, but one option was to plan an Insect Habitat. That got me thinking about a Real project, rather than just a mock one to get the assignment out of the way. In my front garden there is currently a herb circle which is partly planted out and a redundant square foot garden. So for my assignment I planned to fill in one side of our garden with trees and herb plants to provide wind shelter (my tomatoes up in this garden took a bashing during the spring winds), insect habitat and a place to grow medicinal and culinary herbs. I had Simon chop down a dead tree that had just been sitting there (a bit more firewood lol) and dismantle the square foot garden, I bought my herbs and plants based on my assignment plan (already assessed for soil type, location and space required - I have very sandy soil and this garden receives full sun) and we spent some time planting them all before dinner. The kids got right into it and this was the first time that Danielle has really shown a lot of interest in the garden and wanting to help out. We dug into our home made compost that has just been decomposing over the past year.
We planted a self-fertilizing feijoa, rosemary, lavenders, geranium, clary sage, winter savory, chamomile, lemon balm. I still have a backrow space for a lemon verbena when I find one.
Earlier on in the afternoon I decided my emergency food bin was well overdue for checking for expiry dates, so after pulling out a few things and replacing them with pantry items I had on hand (and the rest added to the shopping list) I felt relieved it had been done.
Other projects I want to get into...
~ Make more ginger beer
~ Find some driftwood or similar to edge my new herb garden
~ Put the chicken tractor back onto the garden grid over winter to keep the weeds in check now that only a few beds are being used with mostly silverbeet, spinach and brassica's
~ Relocate my compost bin down to the lower garden
~ Crochet a bag (and make some crochet stitch markers)
April 11, 2008
Deep cleaning
A sudden burst of energy came over me today and I decided to get stuck into my kitchen and remove a bit of grime. It'd gotten kind of embarassing really. I've mopped the floors randomly over the years, but it has been bugging me for a while that the kitchen floors just look grimy. Yuck! So this afternoon I got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed it! Then I moved on to removing the fly poo from the walls and ceiling since most of the summer flies have died off. Then I had to wipe down the cupboards. Then a thorough vacuuming (after butchering my vacuum cleaner which had lost it's suck but is now fantastic!) of the rest of the house and mopping the floors. I really went to town over it. So much nicer too. I think I might try doing a few more "deep" cleaning chores a bit more frequently to avoid the build up - let's see how long that thought lasts. Fortunately the kids were happy to play outside for a lot of that time - so, I might have cleaned up one lot of mess inside, but they sure made up for it outside...
April 10, 2008
The first fire...
It was chilly enough yesterday and late afternoon to think about lighting the fire. So Nathan helped build the fire and wanted to light it. We had run out of matches, so I lit a birthday candle with the lighter and he used that to get it going.
Here is my 2nd hat attempt. It only took me 3hrs to do on Tuesday night and was great to see the quick results which kept me going. I'm really happy with it.
Here is my 2nd hat attempt. It only took me 3hrs to do on Tuesday night and was great to see the quick results which kept me going. I'm really happy with it.
April 07, 2008
Feijoa Feast
After all the wind we've had, a heap of feijoas were tossed off their branches ready for devouring.
I spent my day...
Sitting on my bed trying to complete my organic horticulture course assignments (boy that brings back memories of studying all set up on the bed away from others but no desk available - I prefer it like this anyway - plenty of space to spread out in!).
We have our final week this Wednesday. Although the assignments don't need to be done by then, I just want to knock a couple off before then (had 3 to get through). So I spent hours on and off today while Simon spent time with the kids and got through my permaculture assignment. It was really worthwhile doing and I have identified a few areas that I can improve on as far as zones go. I haven't got the most efficient set up at the moment. My compost bins are close to the house for being able to empty the scraps from the house, but the bins are too far from the garden and where the compost is required. It worked fine when I didn't have a garden or chickens, but now that I do, it makes better sense to relocate the bins back down there since I visit it daily because of the chooks.
I also require a garden shed - at the moment my tools are very uncared for and left lying around the yard because I can't be bothered accessing the garage everytime I want to get something out (need my key for the padlock, then would have to open the main garage door to get stuff out, that's heavy blah blah - just doesn't happen). So that will be on the plans in the next 6mths in time for spring.
More winter prep...and gaining new skills
Finally! Last winter I blogged about attempting to learn to crochet. A friend had lent me a book and I managed to learn the different stitches, but for the life of me couldn't read a pattern when I attempted to make a few things. So my hooks have been sitting around ever since.
However, last night I had a burst of energy to give it another go and found a pattern for a hat I quite liked (and it didn't look too involved and quite quick to whip up), dug out my wool I found at the op-shop and made a start. After a few attempts without success I looked on youtube to make sure I had my stitches right (and I think the UK and US versions are different) and made a few guesses to what the pattern meant. So I finished it off this morning - it's not perfect and there are a few techniques I need to brush up on, but overall I'm pretty happy with it. I would prefer one without holes, so may hunt out another pattern now that I feel reasonably confident in reading a pattern.
April 05, 2008
Winter preparations
After reading an online thread asking what people were doing in preparation for the coming winter, it had me thinking that we were pretty much prepared.
The fireplace has been swept, the wood and pine cones have been collected and stored over the past year (we may need more, but there is no more storage space for now anyhow), winter clothes/shoes/slippers have been assessed and a few purchases and op-shop finds made and kids pj's sorted.
I then recalled that I had an old queen size feather duvet at the top of my wardrobe that I was saving to convert into two to pop into the kids duvet covers as another layer. So today while my sewing machine was out for other projects I decided to get in and do it. I ended up with a bit of a mess as my plan to do a double row of stitching so I could cut between them to minimise the feathers backfired when I realised that the inner actually had a little separating piece that made it hard to do that.
But I got the job done and Nathan's is in place. I may need to attach ties to the corners and then on the inside of the duvet cover to hold it in place, but I'll see how it goes. Danielle probably won't need hers this winter since we still have fleece sleepsuits that were Nathan's that provide quite a layer of warmth especially since she still tends to get out of her covers and mama doesn't really appreciate the 5am wake up to pull covers up. Over winter we don't use any extra heating in the house over night (except for the heat from the woodburner that permeates through until it cools off once the fire goes out) once the kids are past a year old, but with our extra layers we'll be nice and snugly.
April 04, 2008
Zucchini Jam
I was reading over at Annoushka's and she wanted to know if anyone was keen to give her recipe a go. So, since I had a couple of kilo's of courgettes lying around (a few had grown to semi-marrow size while away on holiday) I decided to use a kilo on jam.
It was really successful! You actually couldn't tell what sort of produce was used in the jam - it was just a sweet, normal textured type jam. I got 4 regular size jars for my efforts.
April 03, 2008
Finding the balance...spendy or frugal
Well, those of you who have been following along with my journey over the past year have seen me decluttering, cutting back on non-essential buying (well, I have always lived a reasonably frugal life anyway and made well thought out purchases even if not essential and that's the way I still live - we're not Compactors here), minimising my cleaning/personal products, discovering ways of eating simply in terms of locally, seasonally and whole foods yet finding tasty ways that still delight us rather than feel like we're missing out, making our entire life work for our family and not concerning ourselves with what others are doing, and connecting with like-minded families...
But boy, what a shake up I had while away on holiday...we stayed with friends and family who live in far from humble homes, stock their fridges with so much food of many varieties and flavours (and not just for our benefit), had lovely homes which looked straight from a Home and Garden magazine and I felt like I was missing out - like I too needed to have more and that we had dropped completely out of touch with reality - I felt envious and poor (rather than remembering we were voluntarily choosing to be frugal and living a simple life) and I felt really out of sorts! I too like a tidy, neat, well-matched home, and having a well stocked pantry, but I felt like I needed more, more, more!
I really felt out of place and like I was caught between proudly stating who we are and what we believe and putting on a false face to feel like I still fit in with the "way I was". Yuck. I don't want or need all that food and besides, the kids are completely happy with what we usually have at home (they do actually get plenty of *other* foods when they request them or we come up with a mutually agreeable alternative), I don't need all those fragranced shampoos, conditioners, face cleansers, body washes, hand creams when I'm perfectly happy with my baking soda, apple cider vinegar and my daily source of "smelly" stuff is in the form of Ecostore Sandalwood soap (I do think some attractive bottles or labels to put them in may alleviate some deep down longing though...).
So, I was really relieved to walk into a friends house (one I hadn't met before but have known online for many years) and felt instantly refreshed and like I was at home. There was kid-mess, there were eaten fruit skins left out on the table, toys and random experiments lying around, I had to step over a pile of smashed up wood outside the front door (homeschoolers making insect discoveries). So I was brought down to earth at a time I really needed it.
The whole experience made me realise how far we've come, but also how much we fit into our life at home, how the community and networks we've created are *so* right for us and how we love it. But it's also just knowing that the people we visited are doing what is right for them but that I have nothing to be envious of. And thank goodness for my online networks which widen my community and help me realise I'm not alone.
But boy, what a shake up I had while away on holiday...we stayed with friends and family who live in far from humble homes, stock their fridges with so much food of many varieties and flavours (and not just for our benefit), had lovely homes which looked straight from a Home and Garden magazine and I felt like I was missing out - like I too needed to have more and that we had dropped completely out of touch with reality - I felt envious and poor (rather than remembering we were voluntarily choosing to be frugal and living a simple life) and I felt really out of sorts! I too like a tidy, neat, well-matched home, and having a well stocked pantry, but I felt like I needed more, more, more!
I really felt out of place and like I was caught between proudly stating who we are and what we believe and putting on a false face to feel like I still fit in with the "way I was". Yuck. I don't want or need all that food and besides, the kids are completely happy with what we usually have at home (they do actually get plenty of *other* foods when they request them or we come up with a mutually agreeable alternative), I don't need all those fragranced shampoos, conditioners, face cleansers, body washes, hand creams when I'm perfectly happy with my baking soda, apple cider vinegar and my daily source of "smelly" stuff is in the form of Ecostore Sandalwood soap (I do think some attractive bottles or labels to put them in may alleviate some deep down longing though...).
So, I was really relieved to walk into a friends house (one I hadn't met before but have known online for many years) and felt instantly refreshed and like I was at home. There was kid-mess, there were eaten fruit skins left out on the table, toys and random experiments lying around, I had to step over a pile of smashed up wood outside the front door (homeschoolers making insect discoveries). So I was brought down to earth at a time I really needed it.
The whole experience made me realise how far we've come, but also how much we fit into our life at home, how the community and networks we've created are *so* right for us and how we love it. But it's also just knowing that the people we visited are doing what is right for them but that I have nothing to be envious of. And thank goodness for my online networks which widen my community and help me realise I'm not alone.
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