It has been rainy here today so was a good excuse to do some inside jobs.
The curtains in the family room are now properly hung. It took a bit of tweaking of both the rod and the curtains as well as pressing with a steam iron.
It is an improvement on when I first put them up.
Every small step makes it feel more like home.
Yesterday we picked up a couple more secondhand finds. A pair of bedside tables to complete the guest room from one seller and lamps from another.
I am convinced that there is plenty of suitable pre-loved furniture and home decor available if you are prepared to look around.
In fact, the other success actually came from within our own home. When we moved here there was cube shelving along one side of the walk-in wardrobe which was not terribly useful in my opinion. So, yesterday we moved it out of that location and into what is going to be my sewing room. Now I just need to unpack all of the boxes of fabric.
It is a very good replacement for the storage we left behind in Queensland.
I finally have the kitchen pretty much the way I want it so now I can show you a few more photos.
It is a fairly simple layout with the stove and refrigerator along the back wall and plenty of bench space on either side of the stove. There are good-sized drawers for storage.
The island bench includes a large sink. There are also cupboards and drawers below the bench.
The bench has an overhang suitable for a breakfast bar, however, I am yet to decide whether to utilise this feature as the dining table is a mere couple of steps away. At the moment I have some of the bulk buckets stored under here whilst I work out the best spot for them.
The butlers pantry is adjacent to the kitchen and includes a sink and dishwasher as well as the microwave, open shelving, bench space and cupboards.
We have future plans to extend the size of the pantry but that is a story for another day.
Since my last post we have continued to make progress in setting up our new home. A huge achievement has been to pass all of the unpacked boxes and packing materials to other people for reuse.
Meanwhile, I have continued to successfully trawl Facebook Marketplace to source items I need.
Today we picked up this dining table and chairs. We plan to sand, paint and update them at some stage but at the moment we don’t have any workspace in the shed – and it is too cold to consider working out there. I think that will be a project for the warmer weather.
Hanging the artwork above the table was another achievement for today.
The curtains were a new buy as I decided that the semi-sheer ones that were already hung were not really suitable as we approach winter. The creases have not really dropped out yet but once they do we will adjust the position of the curtain rail to suit the length of the curtains.
A couple of days ago we picked up this desk to use in my sewing room.
I am working on finding homes for everything in the kitchen and the office and will share a bit more about those spaces in upcoming posts.
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.
I cannot believe that despite writing this blog for over 12 years, growing pumpkins and there being several references to making pumpkin soup that I have never actually written an entire post about making it. Nor have I added a recipe to the index.
Well, I am about to remedy that oversight.
We are still living in temporary accommodation but that has not stopped me preparing meals. The weather is cold and a bowl of piping hot soup is a welcome addition to the menu. I made cauliflower soup a few days ago and now it is time for some pumpkin soup. I bought a whole pumpkin from a nearby roadside stall for $7.
Whilst this may sound expensive it works out to less than 50c for a generous serve and is one of the best flavoured pumpkins I have had in a long time.
There is only one saucepan in our current accommodation so I only used half of the pumpkin.
The following recipe and method are my preference, however, you can adjust and modify according to your own tastes and circumstances.
The quantities are what I used but they are quite variable according to taste.
PUMPKIN SOUP
Ingredients
Half a large pumpkin
2 teaspoons oil
2 teaspoons balsamic syrup
2 medium onions, finely diced
Salt
Pepper
3 teaspoons vegetable stock powder
1/2 teaspoon smoky paprika
750ml water
Peel pumpkin, remove seeds and cut into large wedges. Place pumpkin in a large bowl. Combine a couple of teaspoons of oil and balsamic syrup and pour over the pumpkin. Toss until it is all coated with the mixture. There shouldn’t really be any excess – just enough to coat the pumpkin.
Place the pumpkin wedges in a single layer in the air-fryer and cook for 30 minutes at 190C. You may need to do several batches depending on the size of the air-fryer.
Finely dice 2 medium onions. Add a small amount of oil to a large saucepan or stockpot and saute the onions until soft. Add the pre-cooked pumpkin, water and seasoning. Simmer for 10 minutes then puree and adjust seasoning/liquid as required.
I use a stick blender to puree the soup, however, you could use a blender or food processor.
**WARNING** Whatever method you use to blend the soup you need to be very careful to avoids burns or scalding.
NOTE: The recipe for balsamic syrup is here.
This time next week we should have the keys to our new home.
In preparation for the much cooler nights I bought some new bedding the other day. The most important item was a new feather doona which is predominantly goose down but very lightweight. I added a new doona cover which is a heavy textured cotton on one side and regular poly cotton on the other. It is navy which will co-ordinate nicely with the patchwork quilt. There are also 2 new pillows which I knew I needed but it seemed silly to buy them earlier and then have to pack them.
This close-up shows the textured pattern on the doona cover although the previous photo is a more accurate reflection of the colour.
I was looking back over my posts from the past few weeks and it seems to be all about sewing. This is primarily because we have been house-sitting and any kind of organisation is really not happening.
Apart from sewing, we have been quite social with a variety of lunches and catch-ups with numerous people before we depart for Victoria.
Meanwhile, my final sewing project for a while was this dress for a friend. I created the pattern from an existing dress. The fabric was some offcuts which were in a box of scraps given to us. When J first spied it she immediately wanted a garment from it. There was not enough for trousers but we realised that a simple dress was possible with a bit of creativity.
I am really pleased with how it turned out.
I am continuing making potholders and these are for my own kitchen. Once again, the fabric is all salvaged from other people’s offcuts and discarded garments.
This is the first of 2 matching double-handed potholders. I still need to add the plain black binding around the outside edge.
I think these will look great in my new kitchen.
Today I set about assembling a piece of patchwork for a small quilt. This one came about after I had saved the embroidered panels from the landfill pile at a thrift shop. They were clearly part of an unfinished project and I simply could not see someone’s handiwork discarded without a second glance.
Initially, I was unsure of how I could use them but I gradually developed a plan. Some of the plain fabric came from offcuts in my own stash and the remainder from a couple of friends.
In due course I will add batting and the backing and outsource the actual quilting as I do not have a long-arm machine.
The other project was much more modest. This is the second of a pair of potholders that I have made for a friend. They were both made from a discarded cushion cover and with 2 layers of flannel fabric for heat resistance.
I am really pleased to have achieved these and the patchwork will be packed away until we are settled in our new home.
organised castle 