Category Archives: Self-reliance

Organising Assistance

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I regularly speak out about the fact that you can be organised without spending ridiculous amounts of money.  I often read or hear about people buying dozens of matching containers to organise a linen cupboard or re-arranging their pantry with an entirely new selection of containers that happen to be the trend of the moment.

Apart from the cost, this behaviour bothers me from an environmental perspective because many of the containers are plastic and/or are manufactured in jurisdictions where workers are not paid a living wage, work in sub-standard conditions and the factories do not meet any type of environmental guidelines.  Next time you are tempted to buy new items that seem very cheap – stop and think about why they are so cheap.

Back to the main topic.  I did buy something which will be useful in organising numerous areas in my home and I expect that it will last me for a long time to come.  It is a labeller.

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I had previously borrowed one from work to label some jars in the pantry but finally decided that it would be useful to have one of my own.  It is battery-operated and the labels come in a cartridge which is inserted into the back of the machine.  I purchased 2 cartridges of the clear self-adhesive labels.  I also noticed that you can buy cartridges of iron-on tape so you can make your own labels for clothing.  This is not something that I would use but could be beneficial for my daughter with children going on school camps and similar.

My first attempt was to label this set of mini-drawers which fit perfectly on the shelf in my sewing room.  The drawers came from my mother and I have found them really useful for keeping track of some of the smaller sewing items.  I have memorised what are in the top row but other than that, I have to open the drawer to check.  That will be a thing of the past with these new labels.

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Now, what else needs a label?  I think I am going to have fun with this gadget.

 

A Matching Set

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Since I buy all of my dry goods from bulk bins, I need to have storage containers for my pantry.  Some are glass and others are plastic but most are screw-top jars that I have either inherited from my mother or collected from various sources over a period of time.

This photo gives you an idea of what my pantry looks like on a good day.

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This is an old photo and some things have been moved around but you get the general idea.

However, it has been quite some time since I last cleaned and tidied it properly and it definitely starting to show.

I really need to keep larger quantities of some of the ingredients in the small plastic jars so I have been considering my options.  A couple of weeks ago I was in one of the local charity shops (there are 4 in our small town) when I spied some large glass jars.  They are Moccona coffee jars and have a tight-sealing lid.  I bought all 5 of the largest size for $4 each.

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Today I optimistically checked to see if there were any more and was surprised to find another 4 matching ones.  I now have 9 large glass canisters which are airtight and cost me the princely sum of $36.

I will do another blog post with photos once the pantry is sorted out and the new containers are in place.

A Spot of Re-Arranging

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While I am pretty happy with the level of organisation in our home, there are always little things that can be done to improve to make things work a little better.

We have a dehumidifier which is almost an essential in our climate.  In fact, as I write this the clouds are floating past the window.  The dehumidifier is generally stored in the wardrobe in the guest bedroom when not in use.  This is not a major problem although I do need to remember to get it out if we have guests coming to stay.  Moving it would also provide a bit better access to the hanging space in the guest room.

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I feel that the ideal spot to store the dehumidifier would be in the laundry, however, that is a small room with limited storage space.

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The project to re-arrange things has evolved over a few months and the first step was to tidy and adjust the shelving in the linen cupboard.  This was relatively easy as I knew the space was not being utilised in the best way.

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The ultimate goal was to allow enough space to store the vacuum cleaner at the bottom of the cupboard.

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Then it was a simple matter of relocating the dehumidifier to the laundry cupboard.

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When the electrician was doing some work earlier in the week I asked him to change the single power point in the cupboard to a double one.  Now, the stick vacuum charger can remain plugged in while I am running the dehumidifier.

The dehumidifier is portable so does get moved from room to room but it is great for drying off damp towels or freshly ironed clothes in the laundry.  Since it is a small room, the drying effect is magnified and quite efficient.

I am currently researching the next stage of the project which is to purchase a ceiling mounted airing rack for the laundry and then I will be able to eliminate the mobile hanging rack which I move back and forth between my sewing room and the laundry at present.  This is the sort of thing I am looking at.  I also need to check with GMan about the practical implications of installing it.

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Sometimes I wonder why I didn’t think of this long ago but on the other hand it can be better to allow ideas and processes to develop over time because you will generally get a better outcome in the end.

The Production Line

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On Sunday, GMan and I decided we needed to pick the cherry tomatoes which are growing wild in the front garden.  I have been picking and using plenty of them for the past couple of months but there were so many that we really needed to do something with them

We picked 2 large buckets of cherry tomatoes and discarded almost as many again that were rotten or otherwise unsuitable.

Here is one bucket of our haul.

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The next job was to remove the stalks, sort and rinse them.  The ones that were fully ripe were bagged and frozen.  This is 6kg ready for the freezer.

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The remainder were spread on trays to allow them to ripen a bit more.  Here they are on the kitchen bench.

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Today we both had a rare day off during the week and this afternoon the rain eased off enough for GMan to head down to the vegie garden where there are more cherry tomatoes.  He brought another bucketful upstairs which I prepared.

There are now 10kg of tomatoes in the freezer, 3 trays of tomatoes ripening on the bench and 3 trays of tomato puree in the dehydrator.

Tomatoes are not the only produce we have in abundance at the moment but more about that in the next post.

 

Another Quilt

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No, this is not turning into a quilting and patchwork blog, however, I am making another quilt using the same techniques as the one I have just finished.  This is for another work colleague – a retirement gift this time.

It is very different colours – generally autumn tones.

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Here are some of the squares cut out.  I had some of the fabric in my stash but nowhere near enough as it is not the colours I tend to use.  The remainder is made up of some new fabric specifically for the project as well as some that I found on an op shop crawl this morning.  We are fortunate to have no fewer than 4 op shops in the small town near where we live.

I spent the afternoon and evening cutting out and piecing fabric. It is coming together nicely and these are the first 5 completed blocks.  There are another 11to do before I arrange them to get the best balance of colours.

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While I was hunting out suitable fabric at an op shop, this piece caught my eye.

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A 1 metre length of brand new cotton fabric which is 112cm wide.  It cost me 50c and will be used to make a sleeveless shirt for me.

The other thing I bought was not fabric so I will save the story of that for another blog post.

 

Finished

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The last 10 days have been pretty busy due to some self-imposed deadlines.  One of these was to complete the baby quilt for one of my work colleagues.

After completing the patchwork, I added the batting and backing before doing some simple rows of straight stitching to quilt it and the final step was to add the binding which I finished by hand.

Here is the end result.

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And a very happy mum-to-be (holding the quilt doubled over).

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A Deadline

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A bit quiet on the blogging front as I have been busy sewing.  As always, once I get started on a sewing project I just want to keep going.  However, this is more than just my own interest which is driving me – it is a deadline.

Sunday 28th January will see the official launch of Maleny Boomerang Bags.  In order to make this a successful event, we want to have has many completed bags as possible available on the day.

I have been doing my bit and have finished 10 so far.  Here are some of them.

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I have more straps made and bags cut out so hope to be able to add to that number before Sunday.

You would think that would be relatively easy since tomorrow is Australia Day and we have a 3 day weekend but there is the small matter of the Australian Film Festival.  This festival is an annual event hosted by the Maleny Film Society and we will be attending 4 films over 2 days as well as a couple of additional sessions so I am not sure how much sewing will get done.

To my Australian readers – what are your long weekend plans?

Boomerang Bags – Getting Started

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Some years ago I was introduced to a person whose first comment to me was, “What is your passion?”  I was absolutely floored and had no idea what to say.  I consider myself to be a well-rounded person with a range of interests but as for a particular passion – I think I just stammered something unintelligible.

However, I think I have just discovered something that satisfies my twin passions of sewing and environmental activism combined with a healthy dose of community action.  I did not realise when I first went to a meeting in December about this initiative, how satisfying it would be to be involved in this project.

When I was in Maleny this morning I picked up some pieces of fabric screen-printed with the Maleny Boomerang Bags logo.  This was the last hurdle to making a start on making the bags.

I had previously located and washed several pieces of suitable fabric, sourced the pattern and instructions and even had my sewing machine serviced.  It really needed to be done before I embarked on the numerous sewing projects I have planned for 2018.

Whilst I will use some production line techniques in the future, I made the first bag as a complete process from beginning to end.  This allowed me to understand the sequence and how I could streamline the construction of subsequent bags.

Here is the result.  The logo doubles as a pocket.

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There are 8 bags cut out and straps made so now I will be able to do a few at a time.

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This is barely a dent in the fabric I have earmarked for this project.

I am really excited about the launch of Boomerang Bags – Maleny next Sunday and am looking forward to contributing many more bags.

Creating for my Camera

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A couple of weeks ago GMan bought a new harness for his whipper snipper.  The old one had broken some months ago and he had repaired it temporarily but it was obviously not going to be a long-term solution.He was ready to discard the old harness but I decided to salvage some of the components for possible future projects.

I cut the webbing straps off as well as some of the plastic buckles and slides.  The straps had years of ingrained dirt on them but soaking them overnight followed by a good scrub was all that was needed to restore them to ‘as new’ condition.

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When we were away last year I came up with the bright idea of creating a strap so that I could attach my camera bag to the handle of my suitcase.  This would minimise the amount of things I needed to carry when moving through airports and railway stations.

The camera bag already had 2 flat loops on the back of it which I suspect are designed to allow it to be slipped onto a belt.  I am never likely to do this as it would be too bulky and heavy for my liking.  I used one of the shorter lengths of strap, threaded it through the two loops and stitched the ends together securely.  This is the result.

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It can now be slipped over the handle of any of our suitcases so that I do not have to sling it over my shoulder or carry it.  I still have the detachable shoulder strap which I can use if I wish.

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The remaining straps and buckles have been put away in case I need them for another project.

Falling Nuts

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Unless you live in or have visited a couple of fairly specific areas in Queensland, Australia it is unlikely that you have seen or even heard of a bunya pine.

It is the middle of January which means it is bunya nut season.  It is certainly not the time to have a picnic under one of these trees as the cones can weigh several kilograms.

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The bunya pines are indigenous to where we live on the Blackall Range, however, there are very few original specimens due to land clearing for the dairy industry in the late 1800s.  We have one on the steep slope at the rear of our property so the falling cones roll down the hill to where they are easily accessible.

I had heard several cracks and thumps over the past week so I went looking for them and collected 4 cones today.  The photo above shows the intact cone.

Once they are ripe and fall, the cones quickly split open and the segments containing the nuts separate.

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These 3 cones in the wheelbarrow are in various stages of splitting.  You can see the central core around which the segments are spiralled.  Each segment contains a nut.

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At this stage they still need to be boiled or roasted and then the hard protective shell removed to reveal the edible nut.  There is a fair bit of work involved in getting from the fallen cone to edible nut stage.  I have a bag of nuts for to be roasted or boiled which I will take for one of my work colleagues who is a real fan.  I am not desperate to eat them but feel that I should utilise this free bounty of local produce.  I am planning to prepare the nuts and then grind them and use to make pesto.  In the meantime the crushed nuts can be stored in the freezer.

The bunya festival was and remains an important gathering for the local indigenous people.