Edging Closer

2 Comments

Posted on February 9, 2014

It is not a new year nor the anniversary of my blog but I am on the brink of a milestone. As I write this the statistics show that there have been 99,992 views.

Almost 100,000 views of my blog! Who would have thought when I started this almost 3 years ago that I would still be writing posts almost every day and that there would be people in well over 100 countries on every continent reading my blog. It is the knowledge that each and every one of you are interested in at least something that I write that keeps me going. Your comments and feedback are very welcome and thank you for visiting.

Catching Up on Comments

2 Comments

Posted on January 3, 2014

I have been somewhat tardy in responding to your thoughtful comments over the past 3 weeks. I have just gone back and replied or acknowledged all of them.

I read each and every one of your comments and am touched by the thought you put into them. They really add an extra dimension to the blog and I would like to sincerely thank you.

The past couple of days have been a whirlwind trip to Sydney with my Belle, Miss O and Izz but more about that another day.

It has been hot here today and tomorrow is expected to be in excess of 40C so our focus while be on keeping cool. I will be looking for some little jobs that I can do while staying as cool as possible. Some of you are struggling to keep warm at the moment so my thoughts are with everyone who is doing their best to continue to function despite extremes of heat and cold.

2014 – A Clean Slate

10 Comments

Posted on January 1, 2014

Well, that is another year done and dusted.

I am pleased to be able to rule a line under 2013 with all of its ups and downs. Unfortunately, there were quite a few downs last year and I am hoping that this year will be brighter.

Thank you to all of my readers for your loyalty during the past year. I am grateful to you for your comments which really adds an extra dimension to the blog. I am considering the structure and focus of the blog for this year and would love to hear from you if you have any suggestions. Some of my thoughts include doing a series on a particular topic for a week or having a regular focus on a particular day of the week such as Project 333 on Monday, recipe on Tuesday etc. I could simply continue with my totally random posts which are based on whatever pops into my head. The other conundrum I am facing is whether to continue to post almost every day or perhaps only weekdays or perhaps 2 or 3 days per week. Please let me know what you would prefer.

Wishing you health and happiness for 2014.

Project 333 – Packing

2 Comments

Posted on November 28, 2013

For those of you who may be new to reading this blog, it is probably timely to explain about Project 333. It is a concept developed by Courtney Carver in which you commit to wearing a maximum of 33 items for 3 months. You can read all about it at her blog, Be More With Less.

I first discovered Project 333 in April 2012 and followed the guidelines carefully for the next 3 months. Since then, I have continued to streamline the contents of my wardrobe. I am constantly striving to create a small but effective selection of pieces which work for me. For ease of searching, I have used “Project 333” in the title of all of my clothes-related posts. If you have not read them all you can search all posts under this topic to gain a broad understanding of what I am doing.

I have been in Sydney for the past 2 days for work. I needed to be appropriately dressed on Tuesday when I arrived as well as yesterday and today. I was meeting friends for dinner on Tuesday evening and attending a work-related dinner last night. The constraints were that I planned to only take carry-on luggage as well as staying in a hotel and no opportunity to wash clothes.

Here is what I packed.

Green jeans, denim jeans and white 3/4 trousers.

Floral cardigan, teal top, red/white striped tee and black pullover. These all have 3/4 sleeves. I find these very practical for a range of weather and they can be worn in a variety of ways.

I also packed a black camisole, black/white checked short sleeved shirt and leopard print scarf.

2 pairs of flat shoes completed the selection. I try not to wear the same shoes every day.

I chose the items with a specific plan in mind but sufficient versatility to change the choices if my mood or the weather dictated it. The plan (which I adhered to) was:

Denim jeans, red/white tee and red flats on Tuesday flight.
Green jeans, black pullover and scarf with pewter flats for dinner on Tuesday.
Green jeans, black camisole, floral cardigan and red flats – work on Wednesday
Denim jeans, black camisole, teal top and pewter flats – dinner on Wednesday.
White trousers, checked shirt with black pullover (if needed) and flats – work on Thursday and flight home.

I really only wore each item once , however, the combinations are almost endless. The only ‘no go zones’ as far as I can see were the green jeans with the teal top, the red flats with the teal top or the the striped top and floral cardigan together! My maths is not good enough to be able to calculate all of the possible permutations but I know there were plenty of choices. All of this confirms what I have often said, “You need almost as many clothes for a couple of days as for a few weeks”.

How do you decide what to pack? Have you ever travelled for an extended period of time with only one bag?

Other Stuff

Guest Room

6 Comments

Posted on August 20, 2013

Hello Again!

I think I have caught my breath. The last week has been a bit of a whirl with Air BnB guests, family visiting, Izz’s birthday and planning a trip to visit an ill relative as well as work and all of the routine stuff around the house.

We also managed to fit in a small project last weekend. We hung the timber blind which we bought for the guest room and I am really pleased with the result.

It is something that I had been contemplating for quite some time but I had not been able to convince myself of what the best window treatment for the room would be. I mentioned to The Duke that I thought the timber blinds would be good after one of our guests suggested that a window covering would afford a bit more privacy as the window overlooks the verandah. The Duke promptly found that Spotlight were having a half-price sale on blinds that week so we procrastinated no longer.

When we bought the blind we were a bit unsure about the size but discovered that for and extra $20 you can have them cut and made to measure. All you need to provide is the inside width of the window frame.

I will show you more of what I have been working on in the coming days.

In the meantime, here is the moonrise this evening. It looked spectacular as it rose over the trees.

Busy

4 Comments

Posted on August 18, 2013

The title says it all. I am very busy at the moment, juggling lots of balls in my life so something had to give. It is the blog. Normal service will resume when I catch my breath.

Blessed

16 Comments

Posted on August 6, 2013

Once you post a new entry on your blog it is out there for the world to read. I sometimes wonder who reads what I write and what they actually think of it. I am not alone in finding that those who comment represent a minute proportion of those who read. However, the identity and thoughts of most of my readers will continue to be a mystery.

Since I have been blogging, I tend to find a lot more blogs that I read. Some are like old friends that I diligently seek out every time there is a new post, others less regularly and many that just capture my interest with one post. Many have an underlying theme of struggling. This may be financial, health or relationships. For some, the struggle appears to define them but others it seems to be an ever-present shadow lurking in the background.

The more I read, the more grateful I am for what I have. We are both employed, have a roof over our heads and plenty of food. Severe chronic or terminal illness is not part of our world. I maintain good relationships with family and friends.

In other words, we have the freedom to make choices about how we live rather than it being driven by the need to deal with issues that constantly threaten our physical or mental well-being. For that I am forever grateful.

Itis easy to take much of what you have for granted. Blogging and connecting with others’ blogs adds to my awareness.

What are you grateful for in your life?

Slow Living – July

10 Comments

Posted on August 2, 2013

Yes, it is the end of the month again and time for a round up of the slow-living activities.

However, I am sorry that I have to let you know that I will no longer be continuing with this series of posts.

I have tried really hard for 6 months to get into the swing of writing these posts but it simply does not work for me. A couple of days before the end of the month I actually start worrying about what I am going to write and whether I can manage to complete the task. I have decided that this is not useful for me and I would rather continue to be a free spirit and write as and when the mood takes me. Just like real life, some days I have lots of topics and other days I scratch around for something useful to say.

It is not farewell from striving to live slowly and simply but rather it is simply that I will no longer be participating in this project.

Please drop in to Christine’s blog and check out the fabulous blogs that are written by people who are more disciplined than me.

Filling the Freezer

13 Comments

Posted on July 22, 2013

I am putting the disaster of my photos behind me and moving on.

This week is going back to the basics of the things I do.

We have a refrigerator with a freezer section as well as a small upright freezer which is the size of a bar fridge. It has been turned off and not used for a couple of months as I simply did not need it and it seemed pointless to be wasting electricity when I could fit everything in the other freezer. However, I turned it back on last night as I opened a large, catering-size tin of crushed tomatoes and divided them into portions to freeze.

I also cooked a quantity of refried-beans in the slow-cooker.

Tonight I removed the frozen blocks of tomatoes from their containers and placed them in a double bag. These are old bread bags that have been washed and re-used many times.

The containers were then re-used to freeze the refried beans.

There was some leftover quiche which I portioned up for my lunches and 2 pieces are ready for the freezer.

The plastic sheet to separate the slices is from cereal packaging. I rarely buy prepacked cereal of any kind but these have been saved and rewashed many times. I store them in a bag in the kitchen drawer when they are not in use.

The freezer is not full yet but I will be working on that over the coming days.