Category Archives: planning

Work is Underway

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After almost 18 months of debating, wondering, planning and trying to find a suitable tradesman, the changes to the butlers pantry and walk-in wardrobe are now underway.

After one day this was the view.

Looking from the existing pantry you can see where the wall has been removed exposing the end of the walk-in wardrobe. The pantry extension will go right through to the wall in the background.

Looking from the door of the walk-in wardrobe.

Day 2 and things have started to take shape. The framing for the new wall is in place and I can start to imagine how things will look.

We now have a clear idea of the wardrobe space. It will be plenty for our needs.

I managed to buy matching tiles for the splashback in the pantry and today I sourced some more vinyl planking for the floor covering in the pantry. The particular colour/pattern I needed has been discontinued but thankfully there was some in the warehouse. The builder has matched the cupboard fronts, handles and benchtops so I am confident that it will all match up seamlessly when it is complete.

Planned Changes

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We have now been living here for 17 months so have well and truly experienced the full range of seasons. Despite having some basic ideas of changes we wanted to make to the house and garden from the time we moved in, we feel that it is good to be informed by the experience of actually living in the house for a full year.

There will be a number of changes over the next 6 months or so but the first one begins next week. I think this is the one I am most excited about.

The butlers pantry and the walk-in wardrobe share a common wall and make an L-shape on the relevant section of the floor plan below.

The wall between the pantry and the walk-in wardrobe will be removed and the wall behind the sink in the pantry will be extended. This will effectively double the size of the pantry and halve the size of the walk-in wardrobe.

The extended pantry will have a long bench on one side with 2 sets of deep drawers below it and the other side will consist of open shelving.

These are a couple of views of the current pantry. It is good but more space will be wonderful.

Looking from the kitchen directly into the pantry. None of this will functionally change. The extension will be on the right-hand side of the sink.

This is the wall that will be removed. The bench and shelving above will continue as will the floor-to-ceiling shelving on the other side.

I cannot wait to have more space and I will be able to rehome the storage buckets of bulk flour, seeds, nuts and dried fruit that are currently in the wardrobe of the spare room.

Of course, there is a trade-off. A smaller walk-in wardrobe is not an issue. The existing space is huge and could almost be regarded as a dressing room although we do not use it as such.

We have managed to spread things out to almost fill the space but we know that we can utilise the smaller space much more effectively as we will install modular hanging rails and shelving to easily accommodate our clothes. Additionally, there are 2 other bedrooms with wardrobes if we find that we need to hang out-of-season coats and jackets. The mirror will go and the shelving/hanging rails will be fitted on the side (about half the length) where the existing rails are as well across the end where the mirror is currently positioned. We have a full-length mirror in the hall near the front entrance so do not really need the second one.

During the next week we will need to move everything out of the wardrobe so that it does not get covered in plaster dust. The wardrobe and bed in the guest bedroom will accommodate most of it.

The pantry is not as much of an issue as everything on the open shelves is in sealed packets or containers but some of the things at the end near the wall removal will need to be moved out of the way. The builder has estimated about 10 days for the work so I am prepared for a bit of disruption. I am confident that it will be worth it when the job is completed.

Life With a List

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Most of my posts seem to be fairly light on writing and tend to favour the accompanying photos. You know the saying, ‘A picture paints a thousand words………….’.

However, today is going to be somewhat the reverse of the normal pattern.

I want to share my thoughts about lists. Lists are part of who I am and I thrive on them. Shopping lists, to-do lists, packing lists, list of contents. The types of lists are almost endless. The ‘Notes’ function on my phone is my best friend. I have lists of groceries to buy, books to read, movies to watch, places to visit. Sadly, the topic does not really lend itself to lots of photos.

One of my most enduring lists is the sometimes maligned to-do list. I recently read that creating a to-do list puts you under unnecessary stress and/or sets you up for failure. This could be the case but I consider it simply as an ongoing reminder. In fact, it actually lightens my mental load since once a task is added to the list, I can easily remove it from my mind and the constant nagging feeling of remembering that I have to do something. Instead, I can simply refer to the list.

My daily ‘to-do’ list is more of a memory prompt of things that I need or want to achieve the next day. I generally write/update it before I go to bed and I can then sleep with a clear head and safe in the knowledge that I have recorded my plans (very loose) for tomorrow.

As an example, these were some of the items on my list for today.

Tidy up more emails
Send email to ………….
Book restaurant
Sweep hallway
Finish making bags
Deliver pamphlets
Walk dog
Clean shower
Quote for screens/security door

GMan did the hallway before I got to it. I have finished 3 of the bags and have 4 more to sew the straps on. I am making them for the local Community Pantry for people to use (and reuse) if they do not have a bag with them. I bought the material for $5 from the Bendigo Share and Repair Shed a few weeks ago. I do like creating bags using a variety of offcuts but a large piece of fabric certainly makes it easy to create a number of bags fairly quickly.

Everything else has been done with the exception of the shower which will go on tomorrow’s list. Of course, I did numerous other things besides what was on the list and this is usually the case most days.

I do not feel any pressure from creating a list and this method works well for me. Do lists work for you?

Getting Ready

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There has been more doing than writing going on here in the past few days as the countdown is well and truly on. We are off on Sunday on our first overseas trip in nearly five years. It is a relatively short jaunt of two weeks to Honolulu and a couple of spots in California.

My posts while I am away will be on my travel blog, Somewhere, Anywhere so consider following my adventures there.

We have plenty to do in the next couple of days. The packing is well underway but a little tricky as it will be warm in Honolulu but San Francisco, in northern California, is still quite cool and showery. In fact, I am probably taking as much for 2 weeks as I would for 2 months. I have made a couple of tweaks since I took these photos. I am also taking a jacket, vest and scarves which are not shown.

For the warm days in Honolulu.

And the not so warm in San Francisco.

A selection of footwear.

Finally, I added this skirt after making it yesterday. It is navy and white which fits in nicely with several other pieces in my wardrobe. The fabric is a drapey 4-way stretch and not something I necessarily would have chosen myself. I was asked to make a skirt and the lady provided the fabric which had a border print along both edges and since the fabric was very wide I had an unused strip which she was happy for me to use so I decided on this skirt for myself. It is probably a bit shorter than I would normally wear but I have thrown caution to the wind and decided it would be a perfect addition for casual beachside wear.

I will add one more post here on Saturday and I will show you the other sewing project I have been working on today.

Scrolling Idly

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Many would say that idle scrolling through your social media feed is an appalling waste of time and a bad habit. Generally, I would agree with these sentiments but randomly checking Facebook has proved to be very worthwhile in the past week.

One evening I quickly checked and happened upon a small cupboard for sale on Marketplace. I showed GMan as he had been saying that he needed a stand for his BBQ (also sourced from Marketplace). He was also thinking that some storage underneath the stand would be useful. I checked the dimensions of the advertised cupboard and we decided that it would be perfect for this purpose.

A short drive and $20 later and we had a stand for the BBQ.

I could not believe my luck when I managed to follow up that win with another. Yesterday afternoon I spotted a sofa which looked perfect for our family room. We had a sofa bed there which we had brought from Queensland and although it is good for a spare bed it is not the most comfortable sofa in the world. This ‘new to us’ leather sofa is in excellent condition and is a welcome addition for $190. The sofa bed has been rehomed in the spare bedroom.

Of course, you can’t pick and choose exact colours when buying secondhand. This shows the colour of the sofa and that colour of the back of the sideboard which is quite close to it. 

I am planning to find some fabric which incorporates the taupe and indigo/navy colours to make a couple of cushions for the sofa which will tie it all together colourwise. Perhaps something like this.

With a bit of creativity I think I can make it all work really well together.

Another Week

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I was contemplating writing this post yesterday and the first step was to consider what I had actually done in the past week that was blogworthy. I have been neither particularly busy nor lazy but just meandering along.

On Thursday we went to Melbourne to see Tim Minchin. It was a terrific show and we made the most of the trip by going shopping during the day. It was mostly stocking up on some food as well as buying descaler for the coffee machine and getting a key cut. Saturday evening was more socialising as we went to see a local band at a small bar in our town.

In other shopping news, I stocked up on some bulk items. I have managed to arrange to collect bulk olive oil from the farm gate about 30km from where we live. We picked up 2 x 20 litre drums of new season organic olive oil which we share with several friends. It is an economical and efficient way of purchasing a premium local product.

My other purchases were online. I have previously bought all of my dishwashing and laundry cleaning products from Kin Kin Naturals, a family business located in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. As it was relatively close to where we lived previously, I was able to buy directly from the manufacturer. I decided it was time to research my options for these products and found that I could buy bulk quantities online from Australian Organics so I stocked up. This was an easy decision as they offered $9.50 flat rate shipping. I found that the shipping costs often make online shopping an uneconomic proposition so this was a great find.

I have also ordered a 15 litre drum of hair and body wash from Envirocare which should arrive in the next day or two. This is another product I am familiar with using and it makes sense to buy a substantial quantity in one go.

Why do I buy in bulk? There are several reasons that make sense to me. It saves time, money and packaging as well as protecting against supply chain issues. I know it is not for everyone as you need to have space to store the larger quantities as well as money available for the upfront costs associated with buying bulk amounts. These are a couple of the reasons that I am happy to share the olive oil with some like-minded local friends. Perhaps I will extend to co-operative buying approach to some of the other products as well.

Creating Space

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You could be excused for assuming that this post is about more of my decluttering efforts. However, it is not.

We arrived home a couple of days ago after a brief road trip to Sydney to attend a family wedding. The outfit I had made worked well and we had a delightful day. It was very special to be able to spend time with all of my siblings, children, niece and nephews as our family are ‘scattered to the four winds’. In fact, it was the first time that we had ever all been together.

The wedding was a significant event and the latter half of this year has been neatly divided, at least in my mind, to ‘before the wedding’ and ‘after the wedding’. This leads back to the title of the post.

Rehoming physical stuff is not the only type of decluttering. There is also digital decluttering which I have mentioned in the past. This link will take you to several posts on the topic. Then there is mental clutter.

I have found that ‘to do’ lists seem to get a bit of a bad rap recently. They are deemed to be everything from non-productive, inhibiting mindfulness and inducing guilt and sleeplessness. I guess it depends on personal use and expectation of any list, however, I have actually found the exact opposite. By writing things down/creating a list it releases the necessity for me to remember things.

As a retired person, I do not have the time-frames, constraints and expectations of being in a paid job and answerable to an employer. Everything I do is my own decision and choice, however, I do not choose to drift aimlessly through my retirement years. I am not driven by deadlines and certainly do not beat myself up if everything on the list is not finished by a certain time.

I enjoy the knowledge that I have recorded tasks/projects and I am not wasting mental energy on recalling or prioritising them. I add items as I think of them or they come up in conversation with GMan. It is nothing fancy – just a simple list in the notes section of my phone. I add and delete items almost every day. Some are extensive and long-term, others will be completed within the next 24 hours. But most importantly, I do not stress about tasks achieved (or not) nor let the list dictate my life.

Here is a sample of some of the items currently on my list.

Tidy sewing room
Clean fridge
Make marmalade
Make new cover for dog bed
Mend socks
Update Google calendar

Some of these have been on the list for well over a week and I am not losing any sleep over them not being completed. They will happen one day. Meanwhile, we are heading out this evening to listen to some live music at a small local bar.

Countdown – Cooking

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Removalist day (17th March) is fast approaching and it is time I gave some serious consideration to the kitchen and food.

It will be almost 8 weeks between the date that everything is moved and when we actually move into our new home in Victoria. In that time we will be housesitting near our existing home, spending a few days with family and then house-sitting for a week in Brisbane before spending 5 days driving to Victoria and another 10 days in an Air BnB before our final relocation. All of this means that although I will have the capacity to cook meals, my access to a full range of ingredients and implements will be somewhat limited.

So, this morning a made a list of some of the major ingredients I have. The next step is to create as many meals as possible that can be frozen and fairly easily reheated or finished off with the minimum of ingredients.

The first cab off the rank was a batch of chilli con carne using up diced onion, mince, kidney beans and refried beans from the freezer. It made 5 serves.

Ingredients

1 large onion, diced
250g mince
500g kidney beans
1 cup refried beans
1 can crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup water
2 teaspoons beef stock powder
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons smoky paprika
1 teaspoon powdered chilli
Tabasco sauce – to taste

Method

Gently saute the onion in a little olive oil, add the mince and stir until fully browned. Add the remining ingredients, combine and simmer gently for about 30 minutes. This will allow the flavours to combine and thicken slightly to a spicy, rich sauce.

NOTE: Adjust seasonings to suit your taste.

Kicking Goals

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For several weeks I have felt as though we have been juggling various aspects of our house sale and relocation without making much progress on anything.

That is not entirely true but now everything is beginning to fall into place. I mentioned last week that we have an unconditional contract for the sale of our current home.

We have also made an offer, which has been accepted, to purchase a property in Maldon, Victoria. The contract should be signed within the next couple of days. This will give us a firm date for when we can move into our new home.

Meanwhile, we have done lots of jobs – large and small.

  • Packed more boxes
  • Held a garage sale
  • Bought a tarpaulin to cover the items we will be transporting in the ute
  • Booked a pre-travel service for the ute
  • Bought a lock mechanism for the toolbox
  • Researched a hands-free phone holder for the ute (no bluetooth)
  • Finalised our accommodation arrangements for the remainder of our time in Queensland
  • Planned our road trip from here to Victoria.

Even though the majority of our focus is on the house sale, purchase and relocation, we have still found time to enjoy some recreation. Tomorrow evening we are going to enjoy some live theatre as we attend a production of David Williamson’s play, Family Values. I am really looking forward to that.

Use It Up

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Food is one of the less obvious things you need to consider when planning to move house. This is not a major issue if you are moving down the road or even across town but it is definitely a consideration when moving further afield.

We are moving to a different state and while jars of dry goods can be packed in boxes as with other household items the contents of the refrigerator and freezer are a different story.

It is still about 7 weeks until we depart but it is never too soon to consider how best to use the contents of the refrigerator and freezer. I am fairly aware of what I have available and will be working towards using this up. Of course, I will still be buying fresh fruit and vegetables.

Yesterday I made a big batch of Eggplant & Bean Curry. This vegan and gluten-free dish is definitely one of our favourites.

EGGPLANT & BEAN CURRY

Ingredients

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 large onion, cut into wedges
1 tablespoon Massaman curry paste
1 teaspoon vegetable stock powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
500ml water
1 can light coconut cream
2 large potatoes, diced into 1cm pieces and cooked until tender
600g eggplant, diced into 1cm pieces
300g green beans, prepared and cut into 2cm lengths

METHOD

Prepare the vegetables as per the ingredient list. Heat the oil, add onion wedges, curry paste and spices, toss until well combined and the onion is softened. Add the diced eggplant, combine and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the water and stock powder. Simmer until volume is reduced slightly. Add the potatoes, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add more water if required. Stir in the coconut cream and simmer to reduce slightly if required. Finally, add the beans and cook for about 5 minutes.

I serve this with a small quantity of brown rice. You do not need to add too many carbs as there is already potato in the curry.

NOTE: The quantities are based on what I had available and the desired level of spiciness. You can adjust according to your own tastes. I use this basic curry sauce for of curry dishes. It is particularly good with a dish based on cauliflower, too.

This made a total of 8 serves (4 meals) for GMan and I. We had one for dinner and the remainder was portioned up and went into the freezer. That is 3 more meals I will not have to prepare in the next 7 weeks.