Monthly Archives: June 2011

Exercise and Electricity

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In my first 7 days of walking in the Global Challenge I managed to average over 9,000 steps per day.  Today, Day 8, has been a bit of a failure as I have only done about 5,500 steps.  I am working from home tomorrow so hopefully will find the time to go for a long walk and improve my average for Week 2 of the challenge.

Speaking of challenges, I hope to cross a few more things off the list tomorrow as well.

The final challenge will be ringing Origin Energy tomorrow, no, the bill did not arrive in the mail today.  However, I did get some mail from Origin.

I will address the issue of “One month of free electricity” when I phone Origin tomorrow.  How will they measure it when I am in credit?  I think a reasonable option would be to give me credit equivalent to the cost of my usage for the month.  What do you think?

Stamp of Approval

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Today I spent about an hour with Miss O as Belle had a specialist appointment for Izz.  I took the various garments that I am making for Miss O so that I could show her, check the fit and length for hemming and generally gauge her opinion.  Everything got the thumbs up so it will be full steam ahead to complete them all.  The yellow pinafore/sundress with red pockets was extremely well received.  She seemed particularly keen on the contrasting pockets and was eager to slip her hands into the pockets to try them out.  I will have to have another look through my stash and see if I have got  other suitable pieces of fabric as I think it will be a very practical style for wearing to daycare.

On another note, Origin Energy are not looking like getting a stamp of approval from me.  We normally receive our bills about 3-4 working days after the meter is read.  Last quarter the meter was read on 28th February and the bill was not generated until 5th April.  When I rang to inquire about a month after I expected the bill I was offered some vague explanation about the delays being due to the floods.  I am not sure how that works.  The meter was read last Tuesday (I was home so I saw it being done) and we still have not received the bill.  If it does not arrive by Thursday I will be phoning Origin to find out what is going on.  Just strikes me as a bit odd because these are the first 2 readings since the solar panels were installed and our account is in credit that there seems to be a delay in notifying us.  Call me a cynic if you like!  I want to know how much credit I have so that I can request it to be paid to us.  Better earning interest for us than Origin.

Watch this space for an update on me vs. Origin.

Weekly Challenge – Week 4

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Another week – another 4 tasks added to the list.  While having the list has not necessarily ensured that I do everything each week it has certainly made me accountable and is a reminder of what I need to catch up on rather than just letting things slide.  It is now 20 weeks to go till our 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 – STARTED

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

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

9. Make dressing gown for Miss O

10. Upload music to my iPod

11. Declutter and clean bathroom cupboard – DONE

12. Plan birthday celebration for Missy – STARTED

13. Make an appointment to have our tax done

14. List 2 items on Freecycle

15. Clean kitchen windows

16. Book train trip  for New Zealand holiday

I have not achieved much from the list yet but I am ever-hopeful.

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

Sunday – Sorting, Sewing and Stepping

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I have a moderate-size walk-in pantry in the corner of my kitchen.  It was not spectacularly untidy but I did need to clean the shelves, check for any ‘orphans’ lurking in the back corners and generally get things sorted.  I do not have a before photo but here it is when I had finished.

001I only store the things that I am currently using in here as I have bulk stores in 10 litre buckets downstairs as well as another stock cupboard in the kitchen where I keep quantities of tinned food and extra packets of pasta, dry crackers etc.

002The container in the middle of the bottom shelf is a few things I found that were not likely to get used so I have put them all together and made a note to myself to use them up.  One thing in this bundle was some rice noodles which have been used the the stir-fry for dinner.

Today I did some more sewing for my grand-daughters.  Here are the results of my efforts over the past week or so.  I still have more that I am working on and will add the photos when they are done.

003This the pinafore made from the sea-green corduroy I mentioned in yesterday’s post.  I have yet to do the hem.  The photograph does not do the colour justice and it is difficult to see the little embroidered flowers also.

004While I had the pattern out I decided to make a summer one as well.  It can be worn with a blouse or t-shirt underneath or alone in really hot weather.  The fabric I used was originally a caftan I made for my sister many years ago.  The only variation I needed to make was contrast fabric for the pockets and facings as well as a join in the centre front of the front and back bodice pieces.

This is the pattern I used – originally bought in 1986 and still going strong.

006Here are a pair of basic trackpants I made.

005That is it for today.  I am still working on a dressing gown for Miss O as well as a hooded polar fleece jacket.  I bought material today to make some more winter nighties for her and I have material here to make singlets and skivvies for both of the girls.

I managed 7,500 steps today which is not too bad since I did not go walking as such.  That was just incidental at home and also at the market and Spotlight.

More Sewing

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Today I bought two pieces of pretty corduroy fabric to make make winter pinafores for Miss O and Izz.One piece is burgundy while the other is a sea-green colour.  The sea-green is for Miss O. I have made her dress apart from the buttons and buttonholes and also the hem.  I have used a pattern that I have had since Belle was a similar age.  I have made good progress on Miss O’s dressing gown as well.  I think I will need to go to Spotlight again tomorrow for more buttons, thread and look for some fabric to make winter nighties as well.

No photos today as I am too tired to worry about uploading them.

The exercise is going well – yesterday was just a fraction under 10,000 steps and today about 6,000.  I hope to do lots of walking tomorrow and get the numbers up again.

E is for Exercise

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A couple of weeks ago I posted the acronym ‘COFFEES’ to describe facets of my life which I would blog about.  One of the E’s was for exercise, however, that has been sadly neglected for quite some time.

I have recently had the prod to make me get back to doing what will hopefully be regular exercise.  Firstly, I discovered Frugal Queen’s blog Frugal in Cornwall in which she writes of all things frugal, including her decision to eat well and exercise on a shoestring.

If this was not enough to inspire me, my employer (a large global business) is running a pedometer challenge for the whole of June and I got roped into a team.  There are 4 per team and I could not let the rest of the team down so today I was out pounding the footpaths in my lunchbreak.

After a slow start yesterday of only 4,500 steps today has been better with a total of 11,050 steps.  I do not know that I can keep that up every day but I do know that wearing the pedometer and being in a team certainly provide some focus.

I will update my progress from time to time throughout June and hopefully beyond.

Bathroom Cupboard

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One of my challenges this week was to clean and tidy the vanity unit in the bathroom.  I tossed out a few things but mostly this project was about finding things that I had forgotten and making a mental note to use them up.  My goal is to have things simplified so that there are not multiple jars of  similar items.

Here are the ‘before’ photos.

2011-06-01 01All out on the floor

2011-06-01 02…sorted and back in an orderly state.

2011-0601 03I also sorted the 3 small drawers, however, I did not take any photos.  One thing I found was some toiletries which were half-used from a motel when I was travelling at some time.  I put the shampoo, conditioner and shower gel in the shower cubicle as a reminder to use them up.

Over the years I have heard lots of varying comments regarding the toiletries which are generally provided in motel accommodation.  So, here is your chance to have your say on this ‘important’ topic.