Cable Chaos – A Solution

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Posted on March 31, 2014

Some of you will remember my earlier post about the mess of some the cables here and the follow-up post.

I finally got around to testing out my design using some plywood and a jigsaw.

I also used a wooden presentation box from a premium bottle of wine that has been drunk and enjoyed some time ago. Once the plywood pieces were slotted together and inserted in the box it looked like this.

It is not fastened in any way but is totally self-supporting.

Here is the result with the cables separated into their own spaces. There are a couple of double-ups but they are the same or similar cables. It definitely makes locating the correct cable much easier.

I am thinking of making labels to go on the edges to identify exactly where each cable belongs.

The other good thing about this system is that it imposes limits. I will need to regularly review what cables we have and whether they are still required as I would not be keen on having a larger storage box.

What do you think?

Foodie Friday – Pantry Storage

8 Comments

Posted on March 28, 2014

Firstly, I apologise for the lack of posts this week. I have been busy with other things and have just not found the time to get my head together to write anything useful. I am also behind in responding to your comments but am about to rectify that once I finish this post. I will be busy this weekend but hopefully things will get back on track from Monday. I hope you have a great weekend.

I cook most of our food from scratch, so naturally I keep a store of the ingredients I use regularly. I do not store tonnes of food in case of an apocalyptic event, however, we do have enough so that I only shop for dry goods about every 3 – 4 months. I never run out of everything and I never feel the need to race off to the shops at the first hint of a severe weather event such as a cyclone or possible flooding. These are the 2 most likely scenarios where we live.

We eat a gluten-free diet so I have gradually eliminated all wheat-based products from the pantry.

Gluten-free muesli (homemade)

Rainsins
Sultanas
Currants
Dried apricots

Walnuts
Almonds
Cashews

Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds
Sesame seeds
Chia seeds

Almond meal
Flaxseed meal
Psyllium husk
Sago
Quinoa flakes

Gluten-free flour (homemade)

Brown rice flour
Potato flour
Chickpea (besan) flour
Quinoa flour
Arrowroot

Kidney beans
Haricot beans
Red lentils
Brown lentils
Chickpeas

Arborio rice
Brown rice

Apple cider vinegar
White vinegar
Red wine vinegar
Balsamic vinegar

Tomato sauce (home-made)
Worcestershire sauce (home-made)
Tamari
Caramelised balsamic vinegar

Avocado oil
Coconut oil
Olive oil

Allspice
Chilli
Cinnamon
Coriander
Cumin
Curry powder
Ginger
Mixed spice
Paprika
Smoked paprika
Taco mix
Tumeric
Yellow mustard seeds

Beef stock powder
Vegie stock powder

Black pepper (peppercorns)
Cooking salt
Herb salt
Sea salt

Raw sugar
Brown sugar
Honey
Golden syrup
Treacle

Cocoa
Coconut

Skim milk powder

Baking powder
Bicarb soda

Black tea
Earl Grey tea
Coffee

Rice cakes
Rice crackers

Canned tuna
Canned tomatoes

Most of the dry goods are bought from bulk containers so I store them in glass or plastic jars in the pantry. I have some 10 litre plastic buckets which I keep excess of some items in. These are in a separate store cupboard.

I may have missed a couple of things but that is basically what we keep. Some of the items are left from before we changed our diets so are unlikely to be replaced. How does my list compare to what you have? Any thoughts, suggestions or questions?

Plastic Bags – A Curse

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Posted on March 22, 2014

A couple of days ago I read this post from Joanna over at Every Week is Green where she discussed being ‘forced’ to accept a plastic carry bag from a retailer. I have had a similar experience, albeit, close to 20 years ago. Refusing plastic bags at the time was far less prevalent than it is today so I regularly was confronted by some very odd responses.
On the particular occasion in question, I was in a department store in Adelaide where I intended to buy a pair of socks for The Duke. I approached the counter and as I handed over the socks, I advised the assistant that I did not wish to have a bag. Then ensued one of the most bizarre ‘arguments’ I have ever had the misfortune to be involved in. She was adamant that I had to take a bag and I was equally determined that I would not accept one. Her reasons were quite ridiculous but she finally became exasperated and asked, “Well, how will people know that you bought the item at *******?” Seriously, I had to accept a bag so that the store could advertise that I shopped there? I was not about to back down and advised that I would not accept a bag or I would not buy the socks. I finally paid for the socks and left with them and the docket in my hand.

It was then and there that I realised just what hard work it was to stick to my principles. I have continued to do so and it has become easier, however,you need to be constantly on your guard to avoid plastic bags sneaking into your life.

Don’t give up, Joanna.

Finally, here is my hessian bag that I finished relining.

You can read about the beginning of the project here. It is towards the bottom of the post. I did try handsewing the lining in but it was too difficult so this morning I used some heavy linen thread and sewed it on the machine using the heaviest needle I had. The stitching is clearly visible but I am not concerned as I now have a functional bag again. Thanks, Carol for the lining fabric. 🙂

Two Heads Are Better Than One

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Posted on March 18, 2014

So the saying goes………….. This is definitely true when it comes to decluttering. Trying to justify why you want to keep something to another person is more of a challenge than just doing it yourself.

When we had the kitchen renovated about 4 years ago we chose to have mostly drawers rather than cupboards and I am really pleased with that decision.

On Sunday I cleaned out 5 drawers plus 1 small cupboard in the kitchen. I actually removed the drawers from their runners, emptied the contents and completely cleaned the surrounding area as well as the drawer.

The large drawer below the microwave holds baking tins and trays. The Duke and I went through each item and have rehomed several trays and tins that are no longer used for one reason or another. Mostly it was because we simply no longer (or never did) bake those items. It meant that I was able to consolidate the extra tins that were in the top cupboard into the same drawer as the rest of the baking trays.

Here is the end result.

One of the other drawers that got the treatment was what some people would call a junk drawer but I refuse to give it that name as it is not junk. Everything in here has a use and is used regularly. I have decluttered it severa times over the past few years and each time I manage to reduce a bit more and I am pretty happy with it now. This time I have finally let go of the remnants of rolls of clingwrap and plastic for separating items in the freezer. I have not used either for many years so it was time to move them along.

What have you decluttered lately?

Obsolete? No Way!

8 Comments

Posted on March 16, 2014

We were working on building the fence for the vegetable gardens yesterday when The Duke needed some more of the long screws that he was using. This necessitated a trip to Bunnings which is about a 50km round trip. It is not a trip we make every week so we try to combine more than one reason to make it worthwhile. As well as buying the screws, we needed fuel for the ute, bought more salmon at the fish shop and took the 2 empty CO2 canisters from the Soda Stream to be replaced.

We do not use the Soda Stream every week so the canisters last quite a while. I took them to KMart and the attendant at the service desk stated that my canisters were 40 litre ones (enough to carbonate 40 litres of drink) but that they were no longer available and they had 60 litre replacements. She also assured me that they fitted all models except the first one. I accepted this and handed over my $38 in exchange for 2 new 60 litre canisters of CO2.

I arrived home and checked them, and of course, I discovered that they did not fit. I rang KMart and said I would be returning them since the 40 litre ones were not available. I then rang Coles and Harvey Norman to check the validity of the the story and it seemed that I was definitely out of luck. The girl at Harvey Norman flippantly said, “Well its obviously over 10 years old, you’ll just have to buy a new one”. I did not want to buy a new Soda Stream as the one I have is in perfect condition and works well.

So, I was up for the challenge to modify the device to accept the larger canister. The connections are identical as the staff in KMart had advised that the 2 sizes were interchangeable. The problem was the size of the opening that the base of the canister fits through. The Duke and I decided that we had nothing to lose by attempting the modification as we could no longer use our Soda Stream as it was.

The equipment: A jigsaw, wire cutters, Stanley knife and sandpaper.

The jigsaw was perfect to enlarge the opening, however, on one side there was not enough room to manouvre the saw. We use the wire cutters to cut small notches to weaken the edge of the plastic then expanded the diameter of the opening using the Stanley knife and finally smoothed the rough edges with the sandpaper.

We were too busy being creative to take any photos of the actual process but here is the end result with the canister in place.

It is impossible to see our handiwork with the back cover replaced. I even made a bottle of soda water to test it out and celebrate our success.

What have you refashioned or modified lately? Does the expectation that you will buy a new item irritate you?

Foodie Friday – Keeping it Local

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Posted on March 15, 2014

I am sure it is still Friday somewhere – my apologies for the lateness of this post – it is Saturday morning here.

How do we feed ourselves? Food prices keep increasing, labelling laws are ambiguous, processed foods contain unfamiliar additives and food allergies appear to be on the rise. Add to this, a desire to eat organically-grown food which I believe is better for my health and the health of the planet and it starts to feel a bit overwhelming. While we are at it, the wasteful packaging needs to be minimised as well as transport costs, both monetary and environmental. Don’t forget ‘food security’ – the latest catch-cry. This is the ability for us, as a nation, to feed ourselves in the event of natural disasters or major changes to the world order.

Have you thrown up your hands in despair? Fear not. You can begin to solve all of these issues with a single action – grow some of your own food.

The Duke and I have a somewhat neglected but productive garden which sometimes surprises us with its bounty. We both work full-time and have minimal time to spend on tending a garden. We try to grow some annual vegetables but the real secret is in growing trees and perennials. We have an avocado, peach, fig and several citrus trees. There are blueberry bushes as well as self sown cherry tomatoes and pumpkins. The clump of parsley has been in one spot for so long that it has a stalk that looks like the trunk of a tree.

It may seem obvious but it is also important to eat (or preserve) what you grow. Do not let the harvest go to waste.

Keep your eyes open for food producing plants in your neighbourhood that are not being harvested. Don’t be afraid to ask if you may have some. There are many reasons that people do not harvest – lack of time, knowledge or health are but a few.

The last few weeks we have had access to the following (either fresh or frozen) from our own property or nearby – corn, blueberries, avocadoes, mangoes, figs, lemons, beans, pumpkins, and pineapples. At times I have felt overwhelmed by the excess on the kitchen bench but I have endeavoured to make sure it was used or stored for later use.

Last weekend I kept track of what we ate.

SATURDAY

Breakfast – buckwheat blueberry pancakes

Lunch – platter of cheese, cherry tomatoes, avocado, dried figs and mango chutney

Dinner – Salmon with mango salsa and vegetables – everything came from the garden except the salmon and onion which I used in the salsa.

SUNDAY

Breakfast – mango and pineapple smoothie

Lunch – Pumpkin soup

Dinner – grilled chicken with cherry tomatoes and mango/avocado salad

We certainly will never be completely self-sufficient but being able to produce at least some of the food that we eat goes a long way to addressing the myriad of issues that I identified in the first paragraph. Eating local food also gives you an appreciation for what is in season in your area. I really look forward to the new crop of things such as figs which have a short season. We eat them constantly while in season then it is but a distant memory until next year.

You do not need a huge amount of space and even though you could not grow some of the thing that we do in your climate, the reverse is also true. What do you grow?

Living Life & Thank You

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Posted on March 14, 2014

I had dreamed of getting a blog post written last night but life got in the way. As you all know, I try to make sure that meal preparation is done ahead of time because of the late hour that we arrive home. I did quite a bit on the weekend so it has been a very simple matter of heating and eating the past couple of nights. Last night I cooked a pot of rice and made Mexican Bean Pie ready for our dinner tonight. I will just need to cook the vegetables when I get in this evening. The pie is my own invention and has 2 ingredients – refried beans and rice. Mix quantities of each together, spread into a pie plate or shallow casserole dish, top with breadcrumbs and grated cheese. I heat it in the microwave then finish the topping under the griller. I use a gluten-free version of topping using almond meal, flaxseed meal, and spices. The choice is yours.

Tonight will be a new ‘Foodie Friday’ post in which I will focus on growing at least some of your own food and the benefits it provides.

Finally, I would like to say thank you to those of you who commented on my previous post about reaching a milestone of 3 years of blogging. Your thoughtful and positive feedback is so valuable. Although I said that this blog is essentially my diary, it gives me great joy to realise that you are out there reading and see value in what I write. I hope that will continue and I will not let you down

Thanks, once again and I look forward to many more posts and comments.

The Final Step

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Posted on March 11, 2014

I read somewhere that doing the washing should not be about putting a load of washing in the machine. It should be about closing the loop, that is, washing should include the full process of getting worn and grubby clothes back to a state where they are ready to be worn again. Therefore, hanging them on the line to dry, bringing the dry washing in, sorting, folding, ironing and putting away the clean clothes should all be included in the process.

From my observations, ironing and cleaning the oven seem to be in a class of their own when it comes to the universal dislike of jobs. I actually do not mind ironing but sometimes find it difficult to find the time as I prefer to do the whole lot in one go. Due to our streamlined wardrobes I cannot leave it for too long as then we would have nothing to wear so on the weekend I did a spot of procrastinating which masqueraded as organising.

I have a hanging rack where I hang the clothes once they are ironed but I decided to hang them before ironing so that I could see exactly how much I had to do and could easily fetch the next item as I was ready. I also sorted the things that do not go on hangers into a pile of mine and a pile of clothes belonging to The Duke as well as linens and handkerchiefs in a separate pile.

I did the ironing early this morning and found that my procrastination strategy actually paid dividends. I find it easier and quicker to get into a rhythm of ironing the same type of item – I do all of the shirts or all t-shirts in one go. By having things sorted I saved time. I also decided that I would place all of the t-shirts together once they were ironed and then fold them up at the end of the session. This saves time by not disturbing the rhythm as well as saving money. I am not wasting time folding while the iron is sitting idle and using electricity to maintain the heat.

This method does not work for items such as The Duke’s shorts which are folded as part of the process of ironing them.

Sorting the ironing and hanging the items on hangers started as a bit of a joke but it is a process that I will continue in an effort to further streamline what I do.

I know that some people always hang shirts and dresses on hangers rather than pegging them on the line to dry. I do not generally do this, although I have 3 plastic clips that peg onto the line and you can feed the hanger through the hole. The hangers stay in place in even the windiest weather. I inherited these from my mother-in-law and have considered looking for more. I checked online but cannot see the same style, however, I found this website which has an equivalent product. It is UK-based so guess what I will be bringing home in my suitcase in September!

Project 333 – A Gent’s Perspective

4 Comments

Posted on March 9, 2014

When I first met The Duke, he owned 6 shirts – one for each day of the week plus one for going out. His weekend tasks included washing and ironing the shirts ready for the coming week. Since then the shirt collection has grown substantially and I wash and iron the shirts. In fact, I managed to score the task of ironing from quite early in our relationship.

Last weekend the ironing did not get done so by the end of the second week his business shirt collection was pretty well exhausted. Seeing the shirts that The Duke chose not to wear, even when there was almost no choice, helped to confirm that they were shirts that he was not happy with. In the end these 3 have been earmarked for the op shop.

These 2 that were in the wash are also going because, to quote The Duke, “they have seen better days”.

We are now back to just 5 business shirts plus perhaps 2 others that could do double-duty as casual /business attire. I think 2 or 3 more business shirts might be in order, if for no other reason than to take the pressure off me having to get the ironing done every weekend.

That is one aspect of retirement that is quite appealing – not ironing business shirts.

A minimalist wardrobe certainly helps to see exactly what you wear and what stays on the hanger from season to season without being worn.

Foodie Friday – A Shopping List

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Posted on March 7, 2014

Shopping lists are an essential ingredient if you are to have an organised approach to planning and preparing nutritious meals for your family. They were around long before the days of personal organisers, smartphones and endless ‘to do’ lists. My mother has always written her list on the back of a used envelope and I tend to use some sort of scrap or excess paper.

I imagine that the process of writing a list goes back to when shopping day was a major expedition, perhaps by horse and buggy, and it was vital to buy everything that was required for a month or longer. No popping into the supermarket after work to pick up something for dinner and ending up with $50 worth of impulse buys.

Each week I buy fresh fruit and vegetables for the week plus a few basic items that I need from the supermarket. Although I write a list every week, it really comes into its own when I shop for pantry staples at Simply Good. I try to do this about every 3 – 5 months as it is a 90km round trip. I am not using a horse and buggy but I do have a regard for both the environmental impact of driving that distance as well as my time and energy.

Last Saturday was a big shopping day so we set out early. Our first stop was Simply Good, followed by Aldi, fruit and vegetable stall, the local butcher and finally the Co-op. I checked the pantry and refrigerator before writing a comprehensive list to ensure that nothing was forgotten. The list does vary from time to time but this will give you a broad idea of the sorts of ingredients I buy.

As you can see, most of what we eat is whole foods cooked from scratch so I am buying ingredients – not meals. We eat a gluten-free diet and some of the items reflect this choice.