Monthly Archives: June 2011

Weekly Challenge – Week 6

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For those of you who are not familiar with the blog, I started a weekly challenge when we got back from our holidays in the middle of May.  Here is the original post about the challenge.  Each Monday I add 4 things to the list that I want to get done.  They are usually one-off things rather than everyday chores.  This week the challenges are ones which relate to outdoors and the garden.  They will mostly involve some input from The Duke.

It is now 18 weeks until our next holiday.

1. Clean car inside and out -DONE

2. Finish making sandwich wraps for Miss O and Izz – DONE

3. Create a spreadsheet for future holiday packing needs

4. Make trackpants for Miss O and Izz – DONE

5. Send emails to book accommodation for New Zealand trip – DONE

6. Buy and plant seedlings for winter vegetables – DONE

7. Email friend to arrange to meet for lunch – DONE

8. Finish knitting dishcloth and sew ends in on first two – DONE

9. Make dressing gown for Miss O – DONE

10. Upload music to my iPod

11. Declutter and clean bathroom cupboard – DONE

12. Plan birthday celebration for Missy – DONE

13. Make an appointment to have our tax done – DONE

14. List 2 items on Freecycle

15. Clean kitchen windows

16. Book train trip  for New Zealand holiday

17. Follow up what I need to do to change my superannuation

18. Assemble the required paperwork for our tax appointment

19. Finish pinafore for Izz – DONE

20. Discuss 80th birthday celebration plans with my mother – DONE

21. Clean patio using high-pressure cleaner

22. Clean back wall of the house using high-pressure cleaner

23. Organise quote to have poinciana tree lopped and mulched

24. Plant seeds in seed-raising mix

Gradually making progress on the list.  It is good to see what I have actually achieved.

Meanwhile the sorting, decluttering, sewing and general housework continues unabated.

Please feel free to join in (Denise – what are you going to do this week?) or just cheer from the sidelines.

Soup and Compost

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Today we went to the mushroom farm which is about 15 minutes drive from our place.  They sell mushroom compost for 60c per bag.  These are the bags of spent compost once they can no longer harvest commercial quantities of mushrooms.

We have a small garden bed which has had celery growing in it for over 12 months and I finally harvested the last of it and wanted to top the bed up with some compost before planting the garlic.

Since we have to make a trip in the ute to get the compost we generally buy a few bags at a time to make the trip worthwhile.  Today we bought 10 bags and have used 2 so far.

The other bags of compost are stacked and waiting to be added to the vegie gardens at a later date.

At the right time of the year and in the right conditions (cool and moist) you can sometimes get another flush of mushrooms as an added bonus.

While we were collecting the bags of compost I noticed mushrooms in some of the bags so I picked them and brought them home.

Here they are on the kitchen bench

They do not look quite as pretty as the perfect ones that we see in the shops but the large ones are so full of flavour and perfect for making mushroom soup.  It is definitely soup weather and it is great to have a variety of home-made soup to choose from in the freezer.

736g of usable mushrooms after peeling and trimming them.  That is not bad for an incidental acquisition while collecting the compost.

Here is the recipe

MUSHROOM SOUP

4 tablespoons butter

2 cups finely chopped onion

500g mushrooms, sliced

2 cups vegetable stock

1 tablespoon tamari (or soy sauce)

1 teaspoon paprika

3 tablespoon flour

1 cup milk

1 cup water

Black pepper

Sea salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Chopped parsley

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter, add onions and saute.  Add mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes.  Add vegetable stock, tamari and paprika.  Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

In another saucepan melt the remaining butter, add flour and cook for 2 minutes.  Gradually add the milk blending until smooth.  Add the water and stir until thickened.  Add sauce to the mushroom mixture.  Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice.  Sprinkle with chopped parsley to serve.

I find that this recipe freezes quite satisfactorily.

I made one and a half times the recipe with my mushrooms and have 7 large meal-sized serves from that.

If you have the opportunity to try this recipe I would love to hear what you think.

When Life Gives You Lemons………

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………….make lemonade, or in my case, lemon cordial.

It is winter and the time of year when the citrus trees are absolutely laden.  The branches are groaning with the weight of luscious fruit waiting to be harvested.

We have 2 lemon and 3 orange trees as well as a lime, grapefruit and a mandarin.  One lemon and one orange were here when we came but we have planted the others.  The original lemon tree is a Meyer variety which is actually a cross between a lemon and an orange.  This variety is particularly suited to the warmer, more humid climate of coastal Queensland.

The tree is only quite small and looks very ordinary, to the point where we think that each year may be the last.  Here it is with the few remaining fruit after I had picked most of them.

However, it keeps bearing amazing fruit.  Unlike other lemon varieties, you cannot leave the fruit on the tree once it is mature as it does not last and tends to spoil.

Late one afternoon when I was in the vegie patch picking some produce for dinner, I noticed that the lemons were very ripe – skin tends to turn to a golden yellow and a few were starting to fall from the tree.  It was time to harvest the lemons and I picked almost all of the fruit from the tree – 117 lemons!!

It is times like this that I am very thankful for technology.  I could not imagine squeezing all of them by hand.   There were about 6 buckets of lemons which yielded 11 litres of juice which is about 100ml per lemon.

My food processor with juicer attachment.

My lemon cordial recipe is an adaptation of the one with was originally given to me by my mother-in-law.  I have adjusted the recipe over the years and have reduced the amount of sugar as well as taking out various preservatives such as sodium benzoate.  What I am left with is lemon juice and sugar and I am very happy with the result.

Since the recipe has no preservatives I err on the side of caution and store it in the refrigerator and make about 2 litres of cordial at a time.  Modern appliances come to the rescue yet again as I store the excess juice in the freezer until required to make another batch of cordial.  Do not try freezing the cordial as it does not stay properly frozen, probably due to the high sugar content.  I freeze my juice in 2 litre ice-cream containers which easily hold 1.5 litres of juice with a little headspace.

LEMON CORDIAL

1.5 litres of lemon juice

750g sugar

Mix together until the sugar has dissolved.

Pour into bottle and store in refrigerator.

I choose to use raw sugar so my cordial is quite a dark, but not unpleasant colour.

Use within 3 months.

Mix 1 part of cordial with 4-5 parts of water,

We use this cordial mixed with soda water made with the Soda Stream soft drink maker to create an excellent substitute for bought soft drink.  This is what we serve at functions and special occasions.

As an added bonus, there are no plastic bottles generated in this process.

Living in Paradise

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Well, maybe not paradise but it is certainly a beautiful part of the world.  These photos are all taken within a 1km stroll of our home.

This is the view from the top of our driveway.

2011-06-17 01Looking across the valley

2011-06-17 021km south and we have spectacular views of the Glasshouse Mountains

2011-06-17 03Looking west in the late afternoon from our front boundary

2011-06-17 04Walk about 1km east along our road and this is the view of the coast.

2011-06-17 05A slightly different angle  shows Ewen Maddock Dam as well.

2011-06-17 06Perhaps we should take time out more often to appreciate what is around us.  Have a wonderful weekend.

A Winter Wardrobe

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This is not about my winter wardrobe as it is pretty much the same as last year.  In fact I don’t think I have bought any new clothes this season.  That may change, of course, but I don’t really need anything extra.

Miss O and Izz are a different story as they are still at the age where they grow out of almost everything from one winter to the next.  So, I have have been busy sewing for them and here are some of the results.

A dressing gown for Miss O

2011-06-16 01……and a nightie – I actually made 2 of them.

2011-06-16 02Pyjamas for Izz

2011-06-16 03Corduroy pinafore for Izz

2011-06-16 04Finally, a hooded jacket for Miss O.

2011-06-16 05These projects have been successful on two fronts – the girls now have more clothes that they needed and I have less fabric in my stockpile to be used up.  Lots more to use and numerous other things I want to make.

I am looking forward to doing more sewing.  I must admit I had forgotten how rewarding it is to make garments for small children.

Some people believe that it is not economical to sew but I have to disagree.  These things should not be compared to the cheapest you can buy but mid to top-range garments which are of similar quality fabric and construction.  It is also important to remember that hand-made garments can be custom-sized  with extra allowance in seams and hems to allow for growing, thus ensuring at least 2 years wear out of most items.

Sewing, like knitting, cooking from scratch and growing our own food is a skill which we should all have if there is to be any degree of self-reliance.  We cannot simply expect that mass-produced, cheap imported clothing that is produced in overseas sweatshops will always be available.

Do you sew?  Maybe knitting or crocheting?  Do you use your skills or teach others so that these arts are not lost forever?

Fully Indexed

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Although it is some way off yet, one of my goals is to create a household index which will list every item in the house and its location. Before I achieve this exalted state I need to declutter, sort and re-arrange all of the cupboards and storage spaces. As you can imagine it is a huge project so I don’t think too much about it but just concentrate on little steps.

My end goal was brought sharply into focus last weekend when The Duke was looking in the wardrobe in the sewing room and I discovered he wanted a gift bag. This was for the bottle of wine we had bought for a 60th birthday gift. I quickly re-directed our search to the shelf above the filing cabinet in the study but soon realised that I had moved all of the Christmas/gift stuff to the wardrobe in the guest bedroom. – OOPS!! Its is great to re-organise things but you do have to remember where things are. This is where the list would be very useful.

I have planned how the list will work, now I just need to get it started. I actually intend to have 2 lists – one listing items alphabetically and then their location and the other listing every item located in a particular space eg: “Sewing room cupboard – 3rd shelf” and then a list of everything which is stored there. This will mean that we can find something when we know what it is or if something happened to a particular cupboard; such as water damage, we could know what was in there that might need replacing.

I am interested to know if anyone has done a similar thing. How detailed was your list? Did you remember to update the list as required?

Meanwhile , I will keep dreaming about the list, continue decluttering and sorting and try my best to remember where I have put things.

Weekly Challenge – Week 5

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I forgot to post the new challenges yesterday as I did not realise it was Monday due to the public holiday , but here I am now, back on track.

Countdown time – 19 weeks to go!  I hope everyone and everything are OK in Christchurch after the most recent round of earthquakes.  Although we will only be spending 3 nights there, Christchurch is our arrival and departure point for our trip.  Keeping our fingers crossed!

1. Clean car inside and out -DONE

2. Finish making sandwich wraps for Miss O and Izz – DONE

3. Create a spreadsheet for future holiday packing needs

4. Make trackpants for Miss O and Izz – DONE

5. Send emails to book accommodation for New Zealand trip – DONE

6. Buy and plant seedlings for winter vegetables – DONE

7. Email friend to arrange to meet for lunch – DONE

8. Finish knitting dishcloth and sew ends in on first two – DONE

9. Make dressing gown for Miss O – DONE

10. Upload music to my iPod

11. Declutter and clean bathroom cupboard – DONE

12. Plan birthday celebration for Missy – DONE

13. Make an appointment to have our tax done – DONE

14. List 2 items on Freecycle

15. Clean kitchen windows

16. Book train trip  for New Zealand holiday

17. Follow up what I need to do to change my superannuation

18. Assemble the required paperwork for our tax appointment

19. Finish pinafore for Izz

20. Discuss 80th birthday celebration plans with my mother

Gradually making progress on the list.  It is good to see what I have actually achieved.

Meanwhile the sorting, decluttering, sewing and general housework continues unabated.

Tourists in Our Own Town

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This morning we went to Baroon Pocket Dam.  The southern, or Maleny side where we went is only about 5 minutes drive from the centre of Maleny.  We took a short walk on a circuit overlooking the lake.  It is easy to overlook some of the spectacular natural scenery on our doorstep so I took these photos to remind us of how lucky we are.  We travel halfway around the world to see views like these and here it all is in our own backyard.  We took the camera, stainless steel water bottles, home-made muffins and apples in a backpack for our excursion.  So for next to no cost or environmental impact we had a lovely morning walk.

Here is one of the lake…..

2011-06-13 01And another….

2011-06-13 02Nesting box

2011-06-13 03Bunya pine – a local species

2011-06-13 04We have decided to discover a new place in our local area each weekend.  There are some hidden treasures nearby.

What natural attractions do you have on your doorstep?

Birthday Brunch

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Today is Missy’s 25th birthday.  My, how time flies.  We have had a lovely day – brunch at Five Sisters Cafe in South Brisbane.  What a fabulous little gem, tucked away between Melbourne Street and Fish Lane.  If you are in the area please take the time to pop in.  The food was delightful and the coffee fantastic (according to the coffee drinkers).  We were made welcome by friendly staff and it is child-friendly in the true sense of the word.

Later we went to Indooroopilly Shopping Centre, a large suburban shopping mall, in order to buy Missy a birthday present.  We had promised her would give her a camera and we also got a Gorillapod.  The Gorillapod is the niftiest little invention I have seen.  Although the shopping expedition was successful in terms of finding what we were looking for I found the tide of people ‘trawling the mall’ more than a little overwhelming.  As Missy described it, the “rampant, mindless consumerism” is quite sickening.  When I see people buying so much ‘stuff’, I really feel as though I am swimming against the tide.  But I will continue to swim.

The Duke and I rarely go to large shopping precincts these days as we simply have very little need.  When we do it is a quick visit with a list of exactly what we need and we are in and out as quickly as possible.  Our shopping is mostly small, local independent shops or markets.

Today was particularly interesting in that our brunch was a small, family-run niche business which was in stark contrast to the mass-market, ‘more is better’ mentality of the shopping mall.

I think I am much happier poking around the op shops and markets in our country town and surrounds.

Bargains and Collecting

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Even though I was working from home for part of the day yesterday I did not get around to posting.  It may have had something to do with how cold it was.  The temperature did not make it into double figures all day and although we do get quite cool days here things are not really set up to cope with that kind of weather.  It was grey and overcast as well which did not help my mood.

Anyway, I am back and keen to tell you about my latest acquisitions.  When I went into Maleny to do some errands and shopping I popped into the 2 op shops we have here in town.  I dropped some thing off to the first one and then had a look at their buttons.  Apparently any garments that are not fit for resale have any buttons cut off (still attached to a strip of fabric) and these are all tossed in a basket.  I went through the stash and found these to add to my collection.  They cost 5c each.

Then it was off to the other op shop to see if they had anything that caught my eye.  I was in luck and picked up a pair of jeans for Izz for $3.95.

They don’t look anything out of the ordinary from the front.  But the back view…..

…..is rather cute.

As I was heading back towards the counter I saw these for $5.95

A pair of unworn Clarks leather shoes.  They will not fit Miss O for a few years yet but too good a bargain to pass up.  They will be great with jeans when she is a bit older.

For those of you who are interested in my dialogue with Origin – I rang yesterday and they will be sending the bill as a priority so I should get it in the next week!  I did establish that the 1 month free is the offer I signed up for and it is an average of our usage over the past 12 months.  It is a credit of about $35 – every little bit helps.  I have changed the bonus offer so that we actually get 5% discount on all electricity used from the grid for the next 12 months so that will make the differential between the amount they pay for what we generate and  put into the grid and what we draw out even more substantial.  Bring on the savings!  I also asked how I could claim the credit from our solar panels.  Once we receive the bill/statement I will know much credit we have and I then ring and ask for it to be credited to us.  I am not sure yet whether it is paid as a cheque or directly into our account.  More on that another day.