Category Archives: Blogging

In the Kitchen

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While our granddaughters were visiting us my kitchen activities were limited to just getting the next meal on the table but yesterday I managed to do a bit of forward planning and preparation.

The first thing was to make some Choc Fruit and Nut Balls. These are perfect for Christmas gatherings (or any other time of the year) when you are asked to contribute a plate. They are always well-received and are super-easy to make (no cooking required). They freeze really well and it is easy to pull some out at a moment’s notice.

My next job was to make some more peanut paste. I buy raw, unsalted peanuts and lightly dry roast them before putting them in the high-speed blender. I have previously roasted them on a baking tray in the oven but this time I decided to try them in the airfryer. This worked perfectly. I did 2 batches in a round cake tin for 10 minutes at 170C.

Meanwhile, I had a batch of grapefruit marmalade simmering on the stove. I never thought I would be making marmalade in December as citrus usually ripen here in late autumn/early winter and it is now officially summer. However, GMan took the car to have some work done on it the other day and was at a loose end for about 4 hours. So, he went walking in Bendigo while he waited and happened upon some free grapefruit in a box on the footpath. He collected 8 grapefruit in his backpack and they are now marmalade.

Also, in the spirit of not wasting anything I had these remnants to deal with. The last of the peanut paste is notoriously difficult to remove from the jug of the blender so I chose to leave about a tablespoonful of the mixture and then used that to make satay sauce. I set the excess coconut from rolling the choc fruit balls aside and then used it in making another batch of gluten-free muesli.

Here is our dinner of satay chicken with rice and green salad.

All of the recipes mentioned are elsewhere on the blog as they are regular favourites here. Here is the link to the recipe index which can be found on one of the tabs at the top of the front page of the blog. I refer to it frequently because a lot of what I write is as much for me as it is for my readers. Please feel free to use the index as your own.

The link for the Choc Fruit and Nut Balls is somewhat different to the ones I make now – there have been multiple modifications and I will add the updated version later today.

More Bargains

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We have been rather occupied with our guests for the past five days so no time for blog posts.

Yesterday I took my granddaughters to Bendigo. I bought more fruit and vegetables, we enjoyed the Australian Women’s Weekly exhibition at the art gallery and we found time to check out a couple of op shops.

I found a summer dress for Liv – no mean feat as she is 15 and liable to change her mind at a moment’s notice. Also, a warm fleecy black top for Izz as well as a skirt, long sleeve knit top and scarf for myself.

However, the standout purchases were a pair of shoes and a chair.

These shoes caught my eye but did not appear to have any size, brand or country of origin markings. In fact, I think they may be handmade. I tried them on and they fitted perfectly. They have barely been worn and were priced at $8. Lucky me!

I actually saw the chair outside the shop as we approached the door. You may remember that I bought a dining setting with 4 chairs from Marketplace some weeks ago. You can read about it here. I was prepared to have one or two extra chairs and was not too worried about whether they were an exact match. I figured that this one would be suitable so I handed over $5 and it was mine.

I brought it home and here is the recent purchase (on the left) beside one of the existing set. Can you pick the difference? The whole chair is marginally (about 1cm) lower, the curve at the top is not quite as pronounced and the top of the sides are rounded rather than flat.

I am absolutely chuffed with my finds.

The New Castle

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We have now been in our new home for 6 days. I had delusions that I would share the unpacking journey with my readers, however, the reality has been a bit different. I have been either flat out unpacking boxes, too exhausted to think straight or actually out and about shopping or a brief stint of frivolous entertainment.

All of this brings me to the point where we are now. Most of the boxes are unpacked. The exceptions are boxes of books, wine and sewing supplies. None of these are critical for the immediate functioning of the household.

I listed the packing materials on Marketplace and most of them were collected yesterday. We will drop off the remainder tomorrow.

We have bought and had our new washing machine delivered. Our other purchases were 2 side tables and lamps for our bedroom. These were sourced from Marketplace – different sellers. The side tables will be restored and refinished eventually.

Our bedroom is now essentially complete.

The guest bedroom is also ready for use.

The flip side is the completely disorganised large lounge room. This room won’t really be in use for about 3 months – until the new lounge suite arrives.

I have yet to start on the room which is earmarked to be the sewing room.

The butlers pantry is a work in progress. The main part of the kitchen is not fit to be photographed yet.

Now that you have a bit of an overview, I will get back to regular posts with updates on the progress. Stick with me and follow the story as it unfolds.

On The Road

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Well, I have finally made it back and such a lot has changed since my last post 9 days ago.

We said our goodbyes to family and friends and on the morning of Anzac Day (25th April) we left Brisbane with 2 fully laden vehicles and our small dog.

Since we are both driving a vehicle and we have no relief driver we planned the trip so that we are only driving about 350km each day. Goondiwindi was our first overnight stop. After four days of travel and overnight stops, we have made it to Jerilderie in southern New South Wales were we are staying for 2 nights. I finally have time and internet access to write this update.

The travel has been relatively easy and pleasant as the weather has been a comfortable 23 – 28C during the day. This is in stark contrast to the last 2 times we have driven this route. In December 2022 much of the area was reeling from the worst flooding in history with roads that were more potholes than road. There is still evidence of road damage in places but credit must go to the authorities for the monumental repair tasks that have been undertaken. Conversely, in December 2019 we drove this way in the grip of drought with not a drop of water seen in any of the smaller creeks and paddocks everywhere were completely destocked. The worst bushfires ever were about to destroy much of south-eastern Australia. Climate change?

It is a perfect time to catch some of the autumn foliage along the way. This was at Coonabarabran.

Tomorrow we will continue southwards and cross the mighty Murray River which is the border between New South Wales and our new home state of Victoria. It will be another 10 days before the settlement of our new home so we will be staying in an Air BnB accommodation in the meantime.

We will not be idle during that time as we have several appointments and activities planned but more about that in coming days.

My Life in Boxes

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I think the title says it all.

I started packing boxes about 6 weeks ago – a little bit at a time but the effort has really ramped up in the last week as the removalist deadline approaches – Friday is the big day.

Today we loaded the final few things onto the ute and took it to a friend’s place to store it until we are ready to leave Queensland in about 6 weeks.

Meanwhile, back to the boxes. We had packed boxes stacked up in no fewer than 4 different rooms so this afternoon GMan decided that it would be a good idea to put them all together downstairs in the garage.

This is the result!

And another view.

In other news, I received a notification from WordPress overnight to let me know that this is the 12th anniversary of Organised Castle. I must admit that I never imagined I would still be writing this 12 years later. My sincere thanks to all of my readers over the years. I have made some really special friends through the blog, too. Don’t forget to join the Facebook group of the same name if you would like to interact more and meet other like-minded readers.

My blog has been with me through some interesting times and probably none more so than our impending relocation. So, strap yourself in and come along for the ride.

Progress

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I am excited to share that we are making some progress in the quest to sell our current home and relocate interstate.

We now have an unconditional contract for the sale of our home. This will be finalised in a little less than 6 weeks so the pace of sorting and packing will step up a notch or two in the coming weeks.

On the flip side, we are working on negotiations to purchase a property in our preferred location. There is still more to be worked out before I can discuss that any further.

Tomorrow will be a complete departure from packing issues as we sort out some medical matters. Fear not, GMan and I are both in good health.

I will be back in a couple of days with some updates on our adventures.

Packing Priorities

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We now have a contract for the sale of our home. While the contract is still conditional for a couple more weeks, it is time to really start moving forward with preparations for our move.

I have been sourcing previously used packing boxes and today I packed up 9 boxes of books from the bookshelves in our office/library area.

With a little over 7 weeks until moving day most of my focus is going to be on preparing for the big day and blog posts will mostly reflect that over the coming weeks. I will cover various aspects of how we handle the preparation.

It is 17 years since our last move. We have spent much longer in our current home than anywhere we had lived previously. However, we have decluttered and simplified during that time and it will be interesting to see how that impacts the moving process.

When we came here both of our daughters had left the family home but only relatively recently so we still had quite a lot of possessions that related to them but that is no longer the case.

More information on our future plans will unfold over the next few weeks.

A Cover-Up

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In my last post I mentioned sorting photos on my computer. The added bonus is locating photos which I had taken with plans to use them in blog posts which were not written. These are still relevant and will appear intermittently.

Today I want to share a sewing project from April last year.

Although we both use laptops for our computing requirements, we do still have a large monitor on our desk. As its use is occasional at best I decided to make a dust cover for it.

In order to make a discreet cover for black screen on a black desk I naturally chose black fabric. A remnant of strong black cotton in my stash was perfect. I found a piece of soft white wadding from the backing of an old bed valance which had seen been better days and been unpicked for use in future projects. I used the wadding to line one side of the cover. This provides additional protection for the screen.

I mitred the corners using the same method as the bottom of the Boomerang bags that I make.

It is a simple and useful item made entirely from from salvaged materials.

The covered monitor is barely noticeable when sitting on the desk and not in use.

Last Post (for 2022)

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I feel as though this blog has limped to the end of the year. Only 44 posts with a mere 12 in the second half of the year. The reasons are multiple and complex.

After 11 years of writing this blog it sometimes seems that there is nothing new to write about. Do I want or need to cover the same topics over and over again? Despite some misgivings I have decided that there is plenty I have to share with readers old and new. If you have any ideas, suggestions or requests please let me know and I will try to cover them.

I did not think that things could be much more challenging than 2021 when I faced my mother’s terminal illness and subsequent death. However, 2022 was equally difficult in many respects. I lost 2 friends, both of whom were younger than me, to cancer, this year. Others are dealing with health challenges, too.

While Covid has severely limited our ability and desire to travel overseas in the past few years, we have once again managed several trips within Australia. I have not documented most of the short trips on my travel blog in most instances for the simple reason of security. As well as our holiday to North Queensland we made several short trips interstate to visit family and friends.

The end of a year is always a good time to review what has gone before, albeit, without dwelling too much on the past. It also presents us with a clean slate and an opportunity for fresh beginnings. That is certainly likely to be the case here as we hope to complete the sale of our house and subsequent relocation in the early part of 2023. There will be plenty of adventures ahead for us.

Thank you for sticking with me in 2022 and I will be back in a bright and shiny 2023.

Happy New Year!!