Category Archives: Philosophy

A Unique Gift

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I have been making a gift for Izz for her birthday.  She has a doll’s bed which has been passed down to her but no bedding.

I bought 2 u-shaped pillowcases recently from the op shop.  Here is one that I have unpicked ready to use.  Note the roll of fabric which is the dismantled and pressed frill.

2012-08-06 01The Duke bought a piece of foam cut to size for the mattress and I have covered that using some of the pillowcase fabric.

2012-08-06 02The next step was to make a patchwork quilt.  I worked out the size and number of pieces I would need.  The plain pink is more of the pillowcase, plain mauve from a piece in my stash of fabric, Dora pattern is a few leftover scraps from the doona cover and curtains that I made for Miss O last year and the pink patterned fabric is from a blouse I picked up at the op shop.  The frill is the one I unpicked from the pillowcase.  The hemmed edge remained intact so I simply regathered it and reapplied to the quilt edge.

2012-08-06 03I bought a large piece of cotton/bamboo batting for a bed quilt I am working on for Izz’s bed so I used a small piece for this quilt.  (I think this is a rather spoiled doll!)  The backing is more leftovers from some op shop fabric.  I quilted it by simply machine stitching along the seam lines which is nothing fancy but seems effective.

2012-08-06 04The finishing touch was to make a matching pillow.  A couple more fabric scraps and some salvaged filling from an old cushion and I had a complete set of bedding for the doll.  Here is the mattress with the pillow.

2012-08-06 05The total cost of things I bought specifically for this project was $6.60.  This is a gift which I know will be loved regardless of the cost.  I am looking forward to seeing Izz’s face when she opens the gift.

Now I need to work on the the bed quilt I am making as well since her birthday is in 2 weeks and I want to be able to give her the present before we go on holidays.

The Kitchen Bin

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Tonight’s post is in response to a question posed by Jean in the comments of my post a couple of days ago about Zero Waste.  She asked about alternatives to using plastic to line a kitchen bin.

I have read about using newspaper to make an origami-style bin liner and one day I might do that.  In the meantime, I find that despite my best efforts, I always seem to have plenty of plastic bags for the purpose.

I line my small kitchen bin with whatever plastic bag comes to hand.  I do not knowingly bring any extra plastic bags into the house but some is simply unavoidable at this stage.  Any bag that looks as though it would be useful for this purpose is saved. I keep them in a ziplock bag in the laundry cupboard.

For example, I buy frozen peas so I carefully slit the top of the bag and then use that in the bin.  Often, it does not tuck neatly over the edge but I am prepared to accept that.  I use a rubber band to tie it off before throwing in the bin.  If I get any plastic bags in packaging of items such as small appliances these are kept for the bin as well.  They usually have a few air holes to avoid accidental suffocation but that is not a problem as my waste is usually just confined a small number of non-recyclable items which need to be contained rather than necessarily sealed in plastic.

I do not put any meat scraps in my kitchen bin. I generally buy meat that has no waste eg: skinless, boneless chicken breast fillets, premium mince etc.  The exception is bacon as I trim the fat off it. I put the meat scraps in a bag in the freezer and occasionally add them to a kitchen rubbish bag immediately prior to putting the garbage out for collection.

Anything which can be composted is collected in the compost bucket  – this includes all fruit and vegetable scraps as well as eggshells and butter wrappers.

Finally, here are the bins in a pull-out drawer in my kitchen.  Each bucket lifts out for easy disposal and cleaning.  On the left is the small one I line with my rubbish bag and on the right is the recycling.

I will do another post soon and examine exactly what rubbish we have for a week.

Let me know how you manage your various waste streams.  Have you made a conscious effort to reduce the amount of rubbish you send to landfill?

Name & Shame

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I have been busy with work recently and so not much time for my creative pursuits – gardening, cooking and sewing.  However, I have been making an effort to finish off some jobs that have hanging around.

Many have been things that I keep meaning to do such as reviewing our phone and internet plans with the current providers.  I wrote about this project a couple of days ago and you can read it here.  I have decided that the exit fees for our mobile phone contract are too high so we will stick with what we have for the moment and be more vigilant about reviewing the SMS messages that we receive advising that we have used 60% and then 80% of our data quota.  I did discover that we can negotiate a new plan once we are within 3 months of the end of our current contract.  I have made a note in my diary for the end of December to do this.

Despite not getting quite the outcome I had hoped for, I am certainly not naming and shaming our telephone or internet providers.  I am saving that for our electricity company!!

I have written several posts about my battles with Origin Energy since I began this blog in March 2011.  I will not bore you with links to them all here but if you put ‘electricity’ or ‘Origin Energy’ into the search function on the right-hand side of the page you will find most of them.

2012-07-26 01Yesterday, I made yet another phone call to Origin regarding the non-appearance of our latest bill/statement.  The meter was read on 28th May which is almost 2 months ago.  This has happened every quarter since we had the solar panels installed in November 2010.  Despite numerous assurances about ‘the system’, ‘a block on your bill’ and other nonsense being sorted out it never happens and I am just about about breaking point.

As usual, the people who answer the phone copped my wrath, always prefaced with “I know it is not your fault directly”.  This time I have the name of the person who took my call initially as well as the contact in the Solar Billing Department.  I have advised that I will be sending a letter to the General Manager with a copy to both of the people with whom I spoke directly yesterday.

We have been receiving electricity bills for over 30 years and they have arrived in the mail, as regular as clockwork, within 3-5 working days of the meter being read.  This has been the case year in, year out without fail until we had the solar panels installed.

Suddenly, when we are in credit rather than having a bill to pay, we do not receive any notification until I ring up and beg/plead/argue/debate the issue every 3 months.  Initially, we were advised that credit would only be paid every 12 months or if we wanted it more often it was up to us to ring Origin and request the payment. Previously, I had an automatic direct debit set up to pay our electricity bill.  It is clearly far too difficult for Origin to set up a simple direct credit to my bank account every 3 months when my electricity account is in credit!

I have to battle to even find out how much credit is owing to us while Origin get interest-free use of money which is rightfully ours.  Shame on you, Origin!!

Things have improved marginally in the past 18 months.  I discovered yesterday that I can now make an online request for payment of any credit balance into my nominated bank account.  All I need now is to receive the statements for our electricity account in a timely manner so that we can use the money which we have accrued through the purchase of solar panels and judicious use of electricity.

Origin Energy – lift your game and get this sorted out – NOW!!

I suspect that I am not the only person with billing issues since installing solar panels and I am very keen to hear if anyone else has a similar story to tell.  Please leave a comment at the bottom of this page or on my Facebook page.  Alternatively, you can email me.  The email address is at the foot of this page.

I am particularly in the experiences of other Origin customers, but please feel free to comment, regardless of which provider you have.

To my overseas readers – do you have similar problems?

Review & Save

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I have most of our regular expenses set up so that receiving and paying them requires the minimum amount of input from me.  This means that we receive as much as possible via email and many of the payments are direct debit.

One downside of this ‘set and forget’ arrangement is that it is easy to lose track of exactly what you are paying for.  It is important to regularly review plans and contracts and make sure that they are still meeting your needs.  Telecommunications is one area where plans are constantly evolving and being upgraded, however, if you do not ask you will be left on your existing plan.  It will still be as good as when you originally chose it but may be lagging behind newer options.

Yesterday I looked at our home broadband, mobile broadband, home phone and 1 mobile phone.  Both our home and mobile broadband are with one provider while the telephones are with another.  Our telephone provider had contacted me several times about bundling our broadband as well, however, I did not capitulate to the sales pitch and decided to research it all on my own terms.

Firstly, I contacted our internet provider and although the plan I had was the best available for us I discovered that they could upgrade us to a faster speed (about 6 times faster) at no extra cost.  Naturally, I agreed to that suggestion.  I also confirmed that I could maintain the mobile broadband even if I happened to choose to change my home broadband.

Next, was some research about the bundled products from our telephone provider via their website.  I discovered what a good deal I had with my existing provider as I had more download and greater speed at the same price as their bundled offering.

My other concern was that our most recent telephone bill showed that we had exceeded the data allowance on our ‘smartphone’ so had incurred some additional costs.  I rang the company and discovered that the $29 capped plan advertised on their website is superior to the one we have had for about 15 months.  The call and data caps are $300 and 400Mb per month whereas we are paying the same price for an ‘old’ plan which includes $150 of calls and 200Mb of data – exactly half of the service for the same price!

I am in the process of finding out how much time we have left on our contract and what the penalty would be for breaking it because I think it is likely that the penalty will be less than the risk of exceeding our data cap again for a month.  If that is the case I will accept the penalty and upgrade the the newer plan.

It definitely pays to spend some time reviewing your regular expenses and seeing whether you have the best arrangement for your circumstances or simply if the current plan offers value for money.

Do you check what you are paying for from time to time?

Edible & Spreadable

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What do you spread on your sandwiches?  Butter, margarine, something else or nothing at all?

I used to buy margarine without giving it a great deal of thought, however, about 18 years ago I changed to spreadable butter that I make myself.  My reasons are several:

  • Eliminate non-recyclable waste (margarine containers)
  • Health benefits (margarine is simply a chemical cocktail)
  • Easier to spread than pure butter
  • Know exactly what the ingredients are

2012-07-15 01This is the recipe.

SPREADABLE BUTTER

500g butter
250ml oil
150ml water
3 tablespoons skim milk powder

2012-07-15 02Allow the butter to soften but not melt.  Beat butter using a mixer or food processor.  Combine the other ingredients in a jug and stir well to dissolve the milk powder.  Gradually add the mixture to the butter while continuing to beat.  Beat for another 1 – 2 minutes until white and creamy.  Spoon into containers and refrigerate.  This made almost 1500ml so it is really quite economical.  Actual costings would depend on the type of oil that you use.

2012-07-15 03I generally keep one container in the refrigerator and freeze the rest because we do not use a lot of butter and it will go mouldy/rancid if stored for long periods in the refrigerator.  I use Pyrex glass containers as they can be put in the freezer and I am constantly trying to minimise the amount of plastic that I use for storing food.

2012-07-15 04This mixture can be used instead of butter in cooking and baking.  The only exception I make is pastry as I prefer to use ‘real’ butter for that.

The type of oil you use is entirely up to you.  I choose to use locally grown and produced organic olive oil which I buy in bulk at the Co-op in Maleny.  Olive oil does have a distinctive flavour so you may prefer something more bland such as rice-bran oil.  I do not consider canola oil as an option as most of the commercial crop is genetically-modified and I prefer not to use foods that contain GM products.

This is not a totally zero-waste exercise but it is certainly better than all of the margarine containers that you would otherwise use.  I take my glass bottle to be refilled with oil.  The butter wrapper is used to grease baking trays or line cake tins and then goes into the compost.  I buy skim milk powder from Aldi in a 1 kg non-recyclable bag, however, I have recently discovered that I can buy this in bulk from Simply Good so will be doing that in the future.

Creative Play

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Today I want to share a tried and true toy with you.

Construction set
This is a construction set which my parents bought when Belle and Missy were young.  They enjoyed creating things with it and the set was used by other children as well.

When my mother was downsizing a couple of years ago, I brought it home.  Last year I brought it out for Miss O and Izz.  It has been really interesting to see how their use of the pieces has developed and increased in complexity over that time.  They love this set and it is almost the first thing they ask for when they come to visit.

Packed in a box
It packs away easily into a masonite box and I keep it in the wardrobe in my sewing room.

This set is about 25 years old and was made not far from where we live.  I suspect that it is no longer produced, however, it is a very simple principle and one that you could do yourself.

Instruction sheet
This is the instruction/ideas sheet which is very fragile and unfortunately was ripped by a bit of juvenile enthusiasm.

There are many simple, self-directed play ideas which are valuable for pre-school children.

Making Progress

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It is amazing the difference that a couple of days and a written list can make.

I feel as though I am making some progress now.

Buy travel pants – hopefully The Duke can do this tomorrow
Book appointment to have our tax done – DONE
Arrange remote access to the business network
Buy enough cat and dog food for when we are away – Dog food is DONE – will buy the cat food tomorrow
Check and stock up on my medication – DONE
Complete first draft of information for the house-sitter and email it to her – DONE
Attend specialist appointment re my injured knee – have x-rays, referral and Workcover info ready for appointment on Monday
Cancel another specialist appointment
Pack for trip to Melbourne next week – 3 days of work then 3 days of holiday
Stocktake of food in the freezer and plan meals to use up as much as possible before we leave
Finish quilt for Izz’s birthday
Write list of birthday/Christmas gift ideas for Miss O and Izz
Measure Miss O and Izz with a view to buying clothes while we are away

Here are a few more things that I have thought of and added to the original list.

Organise to borrow a travel clothesline
Book car hire for trip to Melbourne – DONE
Arrange accommodation for trip to Melbourne – partly done
Collate all of our paperwork for tax appointment
Change the linen on the spare beds – DONE
Organise to borrow an electrical adaptor – DONE

Being able to cross things off the list adds to the sense of achievement and produces a sort of calm.  I know I can do it.  I will be completely organised and ready to leave in a little over 5 weeks.

A New Adventure

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Today marked a totally new experience for me and one I am not sure I wish to repeat in a hurry.  I took my 2 grand-daughters to a birthday party at an indoor play centre. There were numerous birthday events running concurrently as well as casual users of the centre.  It was impossible for the birthday girl to even greet the guests and it seemed to be a matter of quickly opening the gift and then all running off to play on the equipment.

These facilities did not exist when Belle and Missy were children and I am quite thankful.  I can see the appeal because they offer ‘playground’ facilities in an indoor environment but the noise and action is just overwhelming.  I found it daunting so I cannot begin to imagine how young children must feel.  Miss O who is 4 & 1/2 seemed absolutely shell-shocked.

The birthday party is a fixed price per child and that covers their admission (normally $9) plus party food, cake and a bag of goodies.  Each child received a hot dog (frankfurt in a bread roll), french fries and a small packaged juice drink.  The cake was a doughnut stack and the bag of goodies contained some lollies (packaged), balloons, whistle, a pair of socks, pencils, and a mirror/comb compact.  Each item was individually packed in plastic.

I remember my daughters going to a couple of birthday parties at McDonald’s and was amazed to hear parents singing the praises of not having to arrange and prepare a birthday party at home.

Belle has organised birthday parties for Miss O and Izz at home or a local park and I am sure they were not deprived by this.  There was a range of party food which included healthy options and a cake decorated specifically for the occasion.  I do not think they have been deprived because of this.

What are your experiences and thoughts of children’s birthday parties?

March to a Different Drum

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I was reading the Down to Earth blog  last week and Rhonda actually re-visited an earlier post from 2009 about how to start out living simply.  You can read it here.   In it she speaks about making your own choices rather than following a specific prescription for living simply.

The idea of being an individual and not slavishly following others really resonated with me.

It constantly astounds me how people are influenced by fashion and trends. It is not necessarily just about clothes but encompasses style of houses, interior decorating, colours and so much more.

Magazines are not generally part of my reading material, but occasionally I will flick through one when I am waiting for an appointment at the doctor or dentist.  The constant, subtle pressure to conform and consume jumps out from every page.  It is not only the advertisements but the articles with titles such as, “Gray is the New Black” which insinuates that you can’t possibly wear the black trousers you bought last year.

Everywhere you turn there is evidence of what is ‘in’ and heaven help you, if you actually consider breaking the mould.  Several years ago we were re-building our kitchen and we decided to have a look at some display homes to get some current ideas as it was many years since we had looked at what was available in kitchen design.  We headed to a display village of new homes – I think there were about 40 homes and we looked at the kitchens in at least half of these.  I was totally disillusioned as they all featured the same basic layout with the kitchen as part of an open-plan living area divided by a long work bench which often contained the sink.  The drawers all had over-sized rectangular handles with minimal variation and the decor was universally a bland grey/mocha palette.

People make fun of the 1970’s lime green benchtops which were ‘in’.  In fact, if you want lime green laminate or any other colour of the rainbow, you can get it in 2012.  However, you need to be prepared to do your own research and choosing by going to the suppliers rather than going to a ‘one-stop shop’ where you will be presented with a range which is really just a selection of variations of the current trend.

Whatever the product, idea, attitude or philosophy, do not feel obliged to follow the crowd.  Be an individual, buck the trend and make your own decisions about you and how you want to live your life.  It does not have to be based on the latest colours, mobile phone or gadget.

Do you swim against the consumerist tide and make decisions about how you live your life in an independent manner?