Category Archives: Blogging

Where’s Wally?

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Not so much about Wally but perhaps you are wondering where I have been since my last post on Monday evening.

Busy with work most days but GMan and I had a rare weekday off together.  We spent the day at the coast with friends who are visiting from interstate.  The weather was glorious and we had a fabulous day.  However, we did not get home until quite late and then it was back to work the next day.  No time for blogging!

005 Here are a couple of photos that I took when we stopped along the way.  There was a reason that I took these in this location but more about that some other time.

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A New Name

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Here is your opportunity to give me your thoughts.

In the 4 years that I have been writing this blog I have referred to my husband as ‘The Duke’.  It is a long story which I won’t bore your with but it came about several years ago when a friend called him this as it linked to my nickname at the time.

I feel that is important not to use our real names in order to preserve some degree of anonymity.  Regardless of whether you agree with this or not that is my decision.

2015-03-17 01Anyway, he announced the other night as I was writing that he was not happy with this title but neither of us can come up with an alternative which is acceptable and hopefully, original.

So, what name would you use?

Autumn Activities

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No, I am not buried under a stash of fabric.  In fact, I have not touched my sewing this week so there was no “Sew My Stash Sunday” post this week.  It is easy to see how I get side-tracked and the sewing languishes.  I will get back on track though.

The week was taken up with work and my weekend was spent in the garden and the kitchen.

I retrieved 6kg of cherry tomatoes from the freezer and made sauce (ketchup) as we had run out.  The recipe and details are here.

2015-03-16 01The lemon cordial was made using lemon juice that was frozen from last season.

The Duke and I continued working  on the garden beds and now have 5 completed and the sixth one well underway.

2015-03-16 02The bed in the foreground has lettuce as well as some bok choy seedlings that I transplanted.  The bottom bed has bok choy and ‘Purple King’ climbing beans.  I need to put up some trellis as the beans as almost ready to climb.  The seed is some that I had saved as I think this is one of my favourite beans.  They are purple when picked and change colour when they are cooked.

2011-05-28 01It is still mostly hot here but we do catch faint hints of autumn.  I have bought some seeds but we will also be buying some seedlings at the Yandina Market next Saturday.  We have a relatively short season for growing cool weather crops so we need to be ready and buying seedlings is one way to do it.I would love to grow all my crops from seed but it is just not practical while we are working full-time.

My other big project at the moment is sorting out the photos.  The first step is reinstating all of the photos to the old blog posts.  It is not finished but I am well on the way.  In the process I have found plenty of interesting posts which I will share on ‘Flashback Friday’ each week.  Please feel free to search the archives and see what you find.  If you discover a post which looks like it is missing photos please let me know and I will endeavour to add them.

Flasback Friday

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Today marks the beginning of a new series of old posts.  I was inspired by Julia’s comment last week in which she said how much she was enjoying the links to some of my previous posts as it gave her a reason to read some of the content I had published before she started following my blog.

I have also been enjoying re-visiting some of the earlier blog content as I continue to add back more of the photos.  So, I have decided to dedicate my Friday posts to some interesting tidbits from the archives.  It will not always be a simple link – there may be updates, comments or even additional photos to go with it.

This week, I thought I would start with a post that is mostly photographs which showcases the area where I live  – Living in Paradise.

Perhaps you would like to share a little about where you live and why?

An Anniversary

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Today is a milestone in the life of this blog.  It is exactly four years since I tapped out those first tentative words and then hit ‘Publish’.

2015-03-12 01It is a rather daunting prospect to write and not know who will read or what their reaction will be.  I have to say that the experience of the last four years of blogging has been overwhelmingly positive and that is entirely due to my readers.  Thank you from the depths of my heart.

I have been lucky enough to meet some of you from the USA and UK as well as the other side of Australia.  To develop a connection with fellow bloggers is really special and I have formed some enduring friendships.

Recently, I have been working to re-instate the photos which I inadvertently deleted from the first two years of the blog.  It has been interesting to re-read some of my posts and to see how things have changed.  A real lesson in the dynamism of life.

When I began I was not really sure how long I would or could continue blogging but it is now such a part of my life that I would feel quite lost without it.

Thank you once again for your continued support and comments.

Sew My Stash Sunday – 8

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Sadly, I have not done any sewing this week.  I had a particularly busy week at work this week so the weekend was mostly devoted to household chores like washing and ironing.  I probably could have squeezed some sewing in today but instead I helped The Duke build another raised garden bed.  More about that another day.

2015-03-01 01I have also been working on re-installing the photos into all of the old posts.  It is a slow process but I am making progress.

So, I lieu of any new sewing projects I thought I would share this blog post from 2012.  It sounds as though nothing much has changed – I am still trying to tidy up my sewing room and complete some projects!

Welcome & What’s New

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A warm welcome to all my new readers.  Please leave a comment and say hello.  I would love it if you would tell me a little about yourself and your interests.

This blog is wide-ranging and reflects what happens to be on my mind.  It can be anything from mending, gardening, sewing, cooking, decluttering or anything else that catches my fancy.

I am currently posting a series titled, “Sew My Stash Sunday” in which I am showcasing what I am making from the fabric I already have.  Do you have a stash?  I’d love to hear if you are trying to reduce it and what you make.

I have also changed the settings on the blog which should mean that you never see any ads on the blog from now on.  If you do, could you please let me know?

This week has been a bit unsettled with the approaching cyclone and then some very wet weather.  Hopefully, I will soon be back on track with lots of news and tips to motivate us all in our quest for a simpler, organised life.  If you have anything that you would like me to focus on, please let me know.

2011-09-29 02Meanwhile, take some time to smell the roses (or any other flower that you have in the garden).

Sew My Stash Sunday – 1

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I do not usually read heaps of sewing/craft blogs because they often feature projects or items that I am simply do not interest me.

However, I stumbled across this idea here and seemed almost too good to be true.  Basically, I can sew or make whatever I like as long as at least 50% comes from my stash.  I had pretty well intended to do this but had not thought of articulating my ideals quite so eloquently.  I love sewing and am working towards decluttering more stuff so this challenge will definitely help.

003My personal plan is to post each and every Sunday about what I have done in the preceding week which fits the challenge.  This will help to keep me accountable and will also be an interesting future record of just what sewing  I achieved in 2015.

002To see what I did last week see my previous post.

Thanks to the lovely Leasa who decided to run with this germ of an idea and also StitchnSewCreates for linking to the original.  Please check out these blogs if you are interested in this project.

001Then when the pieces are too small for much else there is always the ongoing patchwork!

I know that my fabric stash is not huge compared to what some people have but it is getting to the stage of frustrating me because I have so many plans/ideas for a lot of the pieces and I simply haven’t got around to doing it.  2015 is the year.

2014 – A Year in Review

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Bizarre, tragic and downright evil are some of the adjectives which come to mind when looking to describe the events which shaped 2014.

Invariably, the most recent events are those which are clearest in our minds – the Sydney siege, the stabbing murders of 8 children in Cairns and the loss of the Air Asia flight.  Unfortunately, the horrors seem to have been almost never-ending.  Two Malaysia Airlines flights lost in very different circumstances, the untimely death of Phillip Hughes and the tragic death of Luke Batty at his father’s hand.

Two other matters were resolved with trial and sentencing of the perpetrators of crimes against Daniel Morcombe and Alison Baden-Clay.

On a different note the G20 roadshow came to town and despite Mr Abbott’s threats, Mr Putin appeared to depart with his shirtfront intact.

Ferries sank, volcanoes erupted, the Ebola virus rampaged through parts of Africa, we became aware of the appalling agenda of Islamic State and the fighting continued in Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan and Gaza.

It is not exactly a good news story.  I am sure there were some highlights but I am struggling to find them.

Meanwhile, I tried to keep my focus on blogging but there were times when I just felt too overwhelmed by events in the world around me to write about simplifying our life.  There was also a 6 week hiatus while we jetted off to the UK and Ireland for an amazing holiday.  That adventure is documented here.

One of my goals for 2015 is to re-capture the enthusiasm for my simple,organised life and share it with you all on a much more regular basis.

Thank you for sticking with me and may 2015 be all that you wish for.

Happy New Year!

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 33,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 12 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

That Moment When……………………

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You realise that the ironing board cover needs replacing.

2014-12-21 01One minute it seems OK and the next it has ripped to shreds.

2014-12-21 02This is the cover I made from a brand new cotton doona cover I bought from the op shop.  It was the first time I had made one and I was very pleased with the result.  You can read about it here.

I could never have told you how long an ironing board cover lasted but thanks to this blog I now know that this one has given 2.5 years of service.  I regard that as pretty reaonable as I do a fair bit of ironing.