Category Archives: Self-reliance

Salvage or Not?

Leave a comment

I discovered recently that some clothes can be salvaged and others can really only be destined as waste or recycling if you have access to textile recycling facilities.

First, a pair of GMan’s shorts which he managed to splash with a substance containing bleach and you can see the results near both side seams below the pockets.

The fabric is sound and they in otherwise fairly reasonable condition so I decided I had nothing to lose and coloured in the affected spots with a black permanent marker. The result is far from perfect, however, the marks are considerably less noticeable than before.

GMan will continue to wear them for everyday wear.

A top of mine had a different fate. I bought a very fine knitted top for $5 secondhand almost exactly 2 years ago. According to the label it was linen. Anyway, it had been gradually getting thinner in the underarm area and I suspect that was was why it had been donated in the first place. It has finally become unwearable so I have added it to the pile for textile recycling. The photo shows a close-up of the multiple small holes under one arm and the other side was in a similar state.

This is my last post here for about a month as we are now on holidays and I will be posting here.

Tinned Tomatoes

Leave a comment

You may remember this post from about a month ago. I bought 3 rather large tins of crushed tomatoes. I made sure that I had a plan for how to use/store nearly 3kg of crushed tomatoes once the can was opened. This is important to make sure that nothing goes to waste.

I opened one a couple of days ago and used 2 cups of it in a dish I was making. The remainder are now frozen in quantities which are a similar size to a regular 400g can of tomatoes.

Vertical Elements

2 Comments

We have ongoing plans for the garden but the wheels turn fairly slowly here as everything carefully considered.

A couple of weeks ago we decided to reposition a couple of the small raised garden beds which we bought early last year. This is all part of the grand plan to have defined pathways and sections of the garden rather than a wide open space.

They now run north/south rather than east/west. You can see the old positions by the patches of dirt in the foreground of the photo.

I had also seen somewhere online that people had used reinforcing mesh to create an archway between 2 raised garden beds. So, yesterday we purchased one large piece of mesh from the hardware which was delivered in the afternoon and we set to work on our plan.

This is the second one we built and I am hoping to use it to grow climbing beans. There is a tomato in the bed on the left and spinach on the right-hand side.

The first one we did is a bit more difficult to see because of the background. It is high enough to allow clearance for the shed door (not regulation height) to open. I have planted a couple of cucumber seedlings close to the arch in the garden bed on the right. There are also capsicums in that bed. The box in the foreground is onions and the lettuce is thriving on the other side with coriander in pots nearby.

We also have cauliflower, strawberries, raspberries and rhubarb in other spots not shown in the photos.

It is great to have some permanent vertical structures in the garden which are both decorative and functional.

A Day Out – Part 2

Leave a comment

As promised, here is the second instalment of our day out in Shepparton.

We went to the SPC Factory shop and I had no real idea of what to expect apart from hoping to buy some tinned tomatoes.

Well it was an absolute eye-opener as they had all sorts of packaged food, drinks and some household goods.

I did buy 3 large tins (2.95kg each) of chopped tomatoes. You can see them on the top shelf as I had put some of our haul away before I thought to photograph it.

I also bought the 12 bottles of passata, 2 packs of gluten free gnocchi as well as a couple of other packs of gluten free pasta shown here.

Other items were 6 pairs of socks, 2 rolls of baking paper, a travel coffee plunger/mug, several tubes of toothpaste and facial scrub.

Everything that I bought was needed and well-priced. It would be easy to go overboard and be sucked into buying things that you do not need. You also need to know that you can successfully use and/or store various items as well as being aware of the pricing in regular supermarkets or other sources.

I am confident that the $114 that we spent was good value. I certainly would not need to shop here regularly nor would I make the 2 hour drive just to shop here. However, it is good to know what is available should we happen to be in the area in the future.

Do It Once

Leave a comment

Almost all of what I, and probably most of you, do is repetitive. Some things are repeated daily, weekly or less frequently. Things like meal preparation and washing up can even be multiple times each day.

However, there are some jobs which can be done once and once only. Many fall under the broader category of decluttering which in itself can seem like an endless task.

I recently cleaned up the desk in our small office which is a built-in desk in the walkway through to the laundry. Keeping this space free from clutter is an ongoing project and I completely understand that.

There were 6 small plastic boxes sitting one one corner of the desk. These had previously held photographic slides that belonged to my father. The slides have all been scanned and saved so I had disposed of the originals. The boxes were covered with adhesive labels and notations in permanent marker and I had been undecided as to whether I could repurpose the boxes. I possibly could but the question really is, ‘do I need them?’

After several months of seeing these boxes multiple times each day I decided that they could be used by someone else. So, the first step was to remove the labels and clean them up.

No before photo but here they are, ready to go. I plan to take them to the Bendigo Share and Repair Shed as I feel that someone will be able to use them.

I am sure that they will be perfect storage for someone’s small treasures.

Just because you don’t want to send something to landfill does not mean that you are obliged to keep it or even to find a way of using a particular item.

Garden Notes – Signs of Spring

Leave a comment

It is almost a month since my last proper blog post. I took some time away from writing as there did not seem to much of note that was worth writing about. Additionally, I find a certain level of inertia sets in at the end of winter. Autumn and the early part of winter have a certain excitement as we relish the change of season after a long, hot summer and we look forward to bracing walks, some cosy indoor time with our latest craft projects and the opportunity to indulge in pots of warm soups and comfort food. However, by the time late August rolls around I am itching to toss aside the multiple layers and once again be out and about in the sunshine.

We are finally beginning to see some real signs of spring.

The daffodils are in full bloom. You can’t help but feel happy when surrounded by their bright yellow blooms.

Other flowers include borage and the first blooms on the espaliered nectarine.

Lettuce are ready to begin picking for salad as the weather starts to warm up.

There was much excitement today as we had 2 rainwater tanks delivered. They are only relatively small but fit neatly between the shed and the back fence. The water collected will be a useful addition for the garden during the hot, dry summer. They will be connected and ready to go early next week.

I think a final word on the coming of spring here in Victoria needs to go to a Facebook friend who posted this. It just about sums up where we live perfectly.

Wishing you a pleasant weekend wherever you are and whatever the season may be.

Outsourced

Leave a comment

The past week since my last post has been somewhat devoid of blog material. In fact, it has been generally fairly quiet with us spending most of the time at home. There were a couple of fine sunny days which were perfect for some more fence painting. We have now completed 2 coats on all of the outside of the pickets and both sides of the gates. Once we finish the inside of the pickets then I will just need to do some touching up of baseboards and posts which are dark grey.

We did go out yesterday afternoon to pick up the quilt which I had taken to a friend to quilt on her longarm machine. It is always a delight to see the transformation from a piece of patchwork to a completed quilt. I think this one looks particularly spectacular.

A close-up of the stitching pattern.

The backing fabric from a thrifted doona cover really highlights the quilting.

Meanwhile, in a change of pace we have a weekend full of activity but more about that next time.

This and That

Leave a comment

While it is only the beginning of the second week of August there is a definite hint of spring in the air. At least the bitter chill has gone, at least for the moment. Today was a glorious sunny day.

The daffodils are almost ready to burst forth.

GMan picked all of the remaining lemons from the tree. It is only quite a small tree and one of the branches that was laden with fruit really needed to be pruned.

I have juiced about half of these and will do the rest tomorrow.

One thing led to another and I sorted out the freezers which were a bit of a shambles and I was not 100% certain of what was in there. I found a single serve of soup and a zucchini quiche which GMan and I had for our lunches. I also pulled out a bag of whole ripe tomatoes from last summer. I will thaw and chop them to use in cooking.

A jar of prepared chickpeas was thawed out for a vegetable curry for dinner – it is chickpea, pumpkin and eggplant.

We also made the most of the better weather to do a bit more fence painting. I think it is going to be our version of the Sydney Harbour Bridge!

It is still cold at night so firewood is a must.

Opportunity Knocks

Leave a comment

Browsing in op shops can be a bit overwhelming if you don’t have some sort of strategy. When it comes to clothes I am always on the lookout for certain colours and types of fabrics as well as generally restricting myself to spots, stripes or plains. This way I can eliminate about 90% of the stock fairly quickly.

I have a bit of a mental wishlist but you also need to be alert to unexpected possibilities. This is particularly important to keep in mind as you can sometimes score some bargains by buying summer clothes in winter and vice versa.

When we were in Sale last week I spotted (pardon the pun) these trousers for $4. They are Fella Hamilton brand and made in Australia. I think they will be perfect for most of the year in our climate apart from the depths of winter or very hot summer days.

On our way home from Sale we stopped in Kyneton with the specific purpose of going to the Salvos op shop which I have previously found to be very good. We didn’t find anything on this occasion, however, we parked the car directly outside a secondhand shop which happened to have a rack of clothing on the footpath and I spied this jacket on the end of the rack. It has a fully detachable hood and lining as well as inside and outside pockets and a drawstring option at the waist. It will be a great addition to GMan’s selection of jackets and perfect for our overseas trip in December.

Meanwhile, 2 things that I have been actively searching for were a pair of tongs as GMan needed a pair for extracting lumps of charcoal from a jar jar of kerosene (his homemade firelighters) and a king-size sheet or doona cover in shades of pink. This is for the backing of the patchwork quilt I am currently making.

I was in Bendigo today and after my appointments I made a concerted effort and went to 6 op shops. At the final one I found both items that were on my list. One side of the doona cover will be perfect for the quilt backing. The tongs I found are brand new so I have earmarked them for the kitchen and the old ones can be used for the firelighters.

In another shop I picked up a dress for $5. It is a good quality knit fabric and will pair well with tights, boots and a coat and scarf. I did not bother trying it on but I suspect I may need to shorten the sleeves a bit.

The final buy was a set of 4 x double point knitting needles. All in all I have had a very successful week of op shopping.

A Closer Look

Leave a comment

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about our new oven and induction cooktop. You can read about that in this post.

We have now had several opportunities to use the cooktop as well as the oven on a couple of occasions. I have used induction cooktops in accommodations that we have stayed in while travelling and I have to say that this particular one is as easy to use as any I have come across. I am still getting used to the instantaneous heat but I am very proud that I managed to cook brown rice without it boiling over at any point during the process.

The oven is another story. We do not use the oven a great deal apart from GMan’s sourdough bread baking adventures. Nevertheless, it has been refreshing to discover how simple the operation of the oven seems to be.

This shows the screen display which greets you when the oven is turned on initially.

The display is clear and easy to understand. In fact, I was able to navigate it for the first time without even referring to the instruction manual. The temperature selection is digital and can be selected in 5°C increments. Once the temperature is selected the digital display shows the exact temperature as it increases. The bread requires a starting temperature of 230°C and GMan was thrilled to find that the temperature was reached in barely 8 minutes from turning the oven on. This is a refreshing change from the 30 minutes required with the previous oven in addition to the accuracy being somewhat debatable.

The verdict on the first loaves made in the new oven was that they are probably the best ones he has made in about 8 years of baking sourdough bread.