Something from the Garden

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Posted on June 29, 2014

Back to one of my favourite topics – eating what is in season.

Last night we had salmon for dinner. While the salmon is not strictly local, it does come from Australian waters. It is farmed in the clear water of the Huon River estuary in southern Tasmania. The salmon could hardly be considered a budget meal as it costs about $10 for enough for 2 serves. We always barbeque the salmon and season it with a little salt and some lime juice to enhance the flavour.

I served it with pumpkin mash, stir-fried pak choy, balsamic roasted cherry tomatoes and avocado slices. I poured some of the balsamic/tomato juice over the salmon as a glaze to finish it off. All of these ingredients came from our garden so you can’t get much more seasonal or local than that. It also means that a meal of salmon is quite a reasonable price. What would you pay in a restaurant for a meal like this? $30 – $35 perhaps?

Not every meal contains as much of our own garden produce but I do try to include it as much as possible. Tonight we are having pizza which will be spread with mango chutney (made from the neighbour’s mangoes) instead of tomato paste and have balsamic roasted pumpkin as the main topping.

We have had a bumper harvest of pumpkins this year so I am constantly looking for creative ideas to use them. As well as the ubiquitous pumpkin soup, pumpkin mash and being used on pizza topping I have also made some pumpkin scones recently.

What do you have a glut of? Do you have any pumpkin suggestions?

Hello Again

Housekeeping – How To?

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Posted on June 23, 2014

What is housekeeping? The literal definition would be ‘keeping house’. According to the wonders of Google it is ‘the management of household affairs’. This is a fairly broad definition but allows for everything from shopping, cooking, providing meals to cleaning, organisation, paying bills and filing. Does this sound familiar?

I am not planning on getting into a debate over the merits of mothers who stay at home versus those who do paid work or male versus female workload within the home.

My interest is more about what you do, how to do it and where you learned the skills/methods that you use. Today I was at home and it was a sunny winter day here. I took the towels and bathmat from the bathroom and hung them on the line where they could air thoroughly and dry.

This got me thinking about how often I wash the towels and why. We have one towel each and a bathmat and these are washed once a week. I do this because this was the routine my mother used when I was growing up, and I suspect, her mother before that. That is not to say that that I have religiously followed everything my mother did. An example is the 3 pegs on the towel: I do this because I can’t stand the way the towels go out of shape if you just peg them with a peg at each corner.

We have a climate where it is possible to line dry the washing virtually all the year round. As you can see from the photo the line is undercover which gives protection from the rain and when it is cold we generally have the fire on at night so the washing is finished off indoors.

So, where did you learn your housekeeping routines and skills? Have they changed and evolved over the years? Do you ever discuss things of this nature with others – friends or family? Have you intentionally taught your children or do you just expect that they will work it out for themselves.

Shopping & Sewing

8 Comments

Posted on June 22, 2014

Firstly, thanks for your kind comments on my ‘Hollywood’ outfit. I am really pleased with it and quite looking forward to the occasion. I am considering keeping the skirt as well as the top because I am thinking that there could possibly be other occasions for which it will be suitable. Also, I dislike being cold and it can be quite difficult to be warm and glamorous so this would definitely fit the bill. I could even add leggings under the skirt.

I am not keen on shopping but sometimes it has to be done, so yesterday we made a bit of a pilgrimage to a couple of the larger shopping centres which are about 30 minutes drive from where we live. I won’t bore you with all of the details but I did manage to buy this piece of fabric at Spotlight. I will make a camisole to go under the black top of my Hollywood outfit.

While I was at Spotlight I also bought a round plastic tablecloth. It was reduced in price and I had a discount voucher so ended up being priced at $5.70. It is to go on a plastic outdoor table that previously belonged to my mother. I wanted a permanent cover on the table so I decided to cut it a bit bigger than the table and attach elastic to the outer edge.

Here is the piece I cut off the cloth.
Coincidentally, there is a discount clothing store in the same complex as Spotlight and The Duke bought some new underwear and discarded several pairs that were looking the worse for wear. I salvaged the elastic and used that to attach to the plastic cloth.

Here is the finished article on the table – and no sign of the Bonds underwear elastic!

Project 333 – Cinderella

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Posted on June 20, 2014

The whole essence of Project 333 is about owning clothes that you wear and love. As well as considering things like the style, colour and size of your clothes, you need to make sure that that your clothes are appropriate to your lifestyle.

So, what happens when life throws you a curved ball? I discovered this week that the work conference I am attending in a couple of weeks includes a gala dinner with a “Hollywood Glamour” theme. I don’t own a full-length frock, I’m 5’2″ tall, do not plan on wearing high heels and I have 10 days to create a red-carpet look!!

I canvassed a few options – buying in the city where I work, buying online, hiring or buying secondhand – either in person or online. If I had a bit more time I may have bought this frock online. I would have chosen the jade green.

I decided that my first choice was to see if I could find something secondhand so I went to the Lifeline charity shop located not far from where I work. It is in the middle of the city and generally stocks good quality items. I did not have any particular idea of what I wanted so was open to all ideas.

A skirt caught my eye.

I did not try it on straightaway but turned my attention to finding a suitable black top.

The skirt is clearly meant to be mid-calf length and it is slightly big in the waist for me, however, by allowing it to sit on my hips it becomes a floor-length skirt. The top is a crossover black knit by Alannah Hill embellished with feathers and sequins. It has 3/4 sleeves with drawstrings at the elbow. The length is perfect as it covers the top of the skirt but is short enough for me. I will either buy or make a camisole to wear under the top.

Teamed with my existing patent leather heels and a small black evening bag, I think I will be ready for the red carpet!

My shopping spree cost me $52 – $25 for the skirt and $27 for the top. I am not sure about the skirt but I can definitely see a place for the top in my wardrobe. It could even go with a pair of jeans.

Simple Pleasures

9 Comments

Posted on June 18, 2014

I have been absent a bit recently for no reason other than the fact that I have a life to live as well as a blog to write. I am busy at work and it is a little over 7 weeks until our overseas trip and the days are filling up fast with appointments as diverse as dentist, retirement seminar, work conference, tax accountant, haircut and so on.

I am able to work away from the office some of the time and yesterday was one of those days. After spending the best part of the day at my desk, I ventured outside in the mid-afternoon. This is the peak season for the citrus that thrive in our climate.

The netted tree in the foreground is the mandarin. The birds do not touch the oranges, lemons or grapefruit but they love the mandarins. It may be because of the thinner skin but the scrub turkeys would take them all if it were not for the protection that the netting offers.

I picked some mandarins for our lunches and then took an opportunity which was too good to pass up.

I sat one the step in the winter sunshine and savoured a sweet, juicy mandarin picked straight from the tree. Delightful!

By the way, this photo was taken yesterday and it has not been edited or altered in any way. That is really what the day was like – perfect.

Pause and Reflect

2 Comments

Posted on June 11, 2014

In the midst of our busy lives it can be useful to take take some time out. Stop, and savor this 10 minute interview with some pretty amazing sentiments.

Patchwork – Part 2

2 Comments

Posted on June 9, 2014

It is a week since my last post and I have not even replied to your kind and thoughtful comments. I think work got in the way last week. I also went to a community meeting about solar power one evening and spent time with members of my family so blogging has taken a back seat.

Today I did some more of my patchwork. I now have 22 of the 36 squares I need. I have decided that I will just join the blocks directly rather than putting sashing between them as I am looking for a random allover pattern. I spread the completed blocks out on the floor to get an idea of how it is going to look and I am very pleased with the result so far.

I also mended a pair of jeans for DD’s partner. They were brand new but the stitching had come undone for about 3cm on one side seam. I completely reinforced both side seams so hopefully they will be OK now. There was a pair of The Duke’s socks with a hole in the toe so they are now fixed too. Finally, I put my skills to the test and replaced the legs of this bear.

It was signed by DD’s friends when she finished school and we were moving interstate so it has some sentimental value for her. However, I think my granddaughters had been ‘playing’ with him and the buttons that hold his legs in place had come adrift. Luckily the thread was still through his torso so with a bit of ingenuity and a large curved needle I was able to reattach the legs. I don’t think I will repair dolls and bears for a living!

It has been a long weekend here and I have enjoyed the break from work.

My First Attempt

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Posted on June 2, 2014

It is never too late to learn something new so today I have started some patchwork. I am hoping to make a quilt. It is not entirely true that I have never done patchwork before but it has been generally on a small scale and my own ‘design’.

Following some basic tips that I gleaned from Frugal Queen and this Youtube video, I set about making my first disappearing 9 patch square.

I did not buy any fabric because I believe that patchwork should be the ultimate in making do with what you have, not an excuse to rush out and buy all of the latest mix’n’match patchwork fabrics. I am using leftovers and offcuts from many of my own sewing projects as well as some that my mother gave me recently. Some of the pieces in the bundle are over 40 years old.

Here are some of the first squares I cut out. I was starting to arrange them for the block.

I chose to use mostly blue in my first project as that is the colour that I have most in the available fabric. It is also the colour of our bedroom so the quilt will look perfect on our bed if it reaches completion.

The first nine squares sewn together.

The disappearing 9 patch depends on then cutting the block into 4 squares, rearranging them and then sewing them together. This is the result.

So far today I have made 4 of these blocks and I am really happy with how they are turning out.

I think I am hooked but there are other things I need to do today as well. I will be back tomorrow with more adventures. In the meantime, let me know if you quilt or sew. Is it for fun or frugality?