Patchwork – 5 Months Later

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Posted on November 2, 2014

I have finally made it back to my patchwork that I first showed you here and here. Well it is 5 months later and I have finally got back to doing some more. I now have 31 blocks completed and here they are laid out on the floor in a totally random order. None of the fabric was purchased specifically for the project. It is all offcuts from dressmaking projects or small unused pieces from my stash of fabric. That stash is a bit smaller now. 🙂

By my calculations these 30 blocks should cover the entire bed but I am not too sure how much overhang I want at the sides and the end or how much I will lose when I add the wadding and quilt it. I think I will sew all of these together and see what I think. Then I can add another row or two of blocks if I feel it needs it. I am also wondering whether to put a plain border of 6 – 8 cm all around the edge.

Please share your thoughts or experiences on patchwork/quilting in the comments.

I have also cut out another 80 squares for a smaller rug using the same technique but more about that another day.

A Gadget

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Posted on November 1, 2014

Tonight I want to share a small gadget that we have had for a couple of years. I don’t even know what you call it.

This small device plugs into a standard power point and then you can plug any appliance or powerboard into it. It comes with a remote control which you can use to turn the power on and off at the switch without actually having to manually reach the switch. We have two of these. One is in the lounge room and has a powerboard plugged into it. We have the television, DVD player and hard drive plugged in so that with a single press of the remote control everything is turned off at the power point. It is completely turned off – not on standby. Did you know that any appliance where there is an illuminated light glowing is only on standby and is continuing to draw power even when it is not in use?

The other device was in the office where we had the computer and associated peripherals plugged into a powerboard. Both devices are programmed to the one remote control.

We realised recently that we had not been utilising the remote control to turn these devices off as the computer has some serious issues when you turn it off and try to turn it back on again. The problem may be terminal but we have solved it for the time being by leaving it turned on at the power point. So we removed the remote control device so that we could continue to turn the television off when not in use. The question then arose as to where we could use the spare device. We routinely turn all of the appliances off when not in use so it seems superfluous.

Last weekend when we cleaned out the top of the cupboard in the office I found this powerboard but did not have a use for it so put it downstairs in the workshop.

This morning I worked out a way that I could put both of these items to good use. I have a long sewing table in the spare room, however, the power point is under the table which necessitates me clambering under the table every time I want to plug in the sewing machine or iron.

So, I plugged the gadget in and then the powerboard into it.

The powerboard sits on the tables where it is an easy matter to plug in the sewing machine, iron or anything else.

The individual power outlets on the board have their own switches so even if the main switch is turned on due to the remote control the individual outlets can remain turned off unless they are being used.

I am so glad that I came up with this solution as it is infinitely easier than crawling under the table to turn the power on and off.

Organising Finances

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Posted on October 28, 2014

I have been at work all day so nothing much to report on the home front.

However, we are currently working on a long-term financial plan as opposed to the day-to-day budget. There is so much to consider – transition to retirement, salary sacrifice, superannuation options and so on. We have sought professional guidance but the final decision is ours and we have to be comfortable that we have a workable and sustainable plan.

Do you have a retirement strategy? Or are you already retired from the workforce?

Shiny Shoes

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Posted on October 19, 2014

Just a short post tonight as I have been busy with the photo project which is progressing well. There are a lot more of the older blog posts which now have the photos reinstated.

Last week I was in the local shoe shop where I had bought these 2 pairs of shoes a couple of months before we travelled overseas.

I wore them practically every day for 6 weeks and have worn them quite a bit both before we left and since our return as they are simply some of the most comfortable shoes I have ever owned. I asked about cleaning them and as I had suspected I was told that they could be washed in a washing machine. I decided to handwash them using a little of the regular liquid detergent that I use in the washing machine.

After soaking them for a few hours, I rinsed them thoroughly, squeezed the excess water out and set them out on a towel on the bench to dry.

Once these are completely dry, I will repeat the process with the red ones.

The lady in the shoe shop also advised that you can buy replacement inner soles for $5. It is nice to know that some things are actually made to last rather than designed to be tossed in the bin at the first sign of wear and tear.

Weekend Work

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Posted on October 12, 2014

After spending my weekdays in the office there is nothing I enjoy more than spending time in the garden on the weekend. I will start with what we actually did last weekend.

We finally finished building this raised garden bed. There are now 4 beds complete and we eventually plan to have 9 of them. The cardboard is a large carton that was the packaging from the refrigerator we bought last year. We always keep any large pieces of cardboard as it makes a great base for the beds and is very effective at smothering the underlying grass before eventually breaking down. I will cover the remainder of the base with some more cardboard before gradually filling the bed with a combination of fallen leaves, mulch, compost and grass clippings which will, over time, become rich soil. It will all be sourced from our block.

We also created a bed for the asparagus. Since asparagus grows very vigorously and spreads, we wanted to make sure that we are able to contain it. The Duke dug a trench and buried some offcuts of Colorbond steel to a depth of 320mm to form the border of the asparagus bed. Here is the work in progress.

This is what it looked like once we had finished and planted the asparagus.

The lettuce seeds I planted a couple of weeks ago have not put in an appearance so yesterday I bought some seedlings and planted them in between the corn which is growing nicely.

The other thing we did today was to start to tidy up around the citrus trees. Here is the lime tree with a new border of rocks and some mulch. You can the orange tree behind it and grapefruit to the far right which have been bordered with rocks and now I just need to finish weeding them and put the mulch down.

We decided to border the other orange tree and the lemon tree in one large area. The Duke collected up the rocks from down the back near the water tanks. We have an abundance of volcanic rocks on the property so it is good to be able to use them.

I have planted more seeds – most expired by several years – so will see how they go. Lettuce, radish, chilli, tomato and bok choy all went in today. I am determined to grow more of our own food and am hopeful of greater success now that the vegetable patch is completely fenced.

Mini Moments

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Posted on October 8, 2014

My focus has been on the real world rather than blogging over the past week.

We have had a long weekend here and a house-guest which was lovely.

Much of the time was spent chatting and being social so not too much housework was done. However it is interesting to look around and see that there was not too much that needed doing. I think that the trick is to do a little bit frequently.

It only takes a moment to get a few small jobs done. As you know, we do not arrive home from work until after 7pm. Last night I made salad while The Duke cooked the salmon on the BBQ. After dinner I hung out a load of washing that I had done before I went to work and brought in the dry clothes from the line and folded them. I also cleaned the vanity and mirror in the bathroom and re-made the guest bed.

This morning I unloaded the dishwasher and tonight will bring in the washing plus finish the ironing. There are only about 5 items as I did most of it on the weekend.

I simply do not have the time or inclination to spend huge chunks of time on housework so this method works best for me. It also means that my weekends are kept reasonably clear for spending time in the garden or more time-consuming jobs like preparing several meals.

The Garden Grows

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Posted on October 1, 2014

After being away for six weeks, the vegetable garden was in need of some attention.

I cleared out the remains of the broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower which had been harvested while we were away. There are now corn, lettuce, radish and cucumber seeds planted in the spaces available.

The area inside the fence that I had earmarked for a herb garden is now sporting a couple of very healthy parsley plants as well as several basil seedlings. I planted these on the weekend as they were kindly left for us by the house sitters. They commented that it was cheaper to buy a pot of seedlings than a bunch of parsley or basil.

I have previously shown you here the netting that we bought at the Garden Show and we intended to ask the house sitters to put it on the peach tree as I felt it would need to be done while we were away. That did not happen so now all of our small, green peaches are enclosed. If this is successful, in a few months we will be harvesting luscious peaches that have not been stung by fruit fly. I can only hope!

Before we went away we planted the asparagus and rhubarb in styrofoam boxes until I could prepare the areas where we wanted to plant them. On the weekend we dug a trench and set the concrete blocks into the ground to form a border for the rhubarb. I hope to plant some flowers in the small soil-filled pockets of the blocks.

I hope to prepare the bed for the asparagus in the coming weeks.

We have a long weekend coming up and I am hoping to get some more done in the garden.

Maintenance and Mr Bunnings

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Posted on September 30, 2014

Home maintenance is an ongoing issue and one with which we have varying degrees of success.

On Saturday evening The Duke announced that he would need to go to Bunnings the next day. Bunnings is a chain of large, supermarket-style hardware stores and the nearest one is about a 60km round trip so it is not a matter of jumping in the car and going around the corner. Therefore, we tend to make sure that we get everything we need in one go. We also took the opportunity to go to the fish shop and buy some more salmon.

Anyway, off we went to Bunnings and bought a new garden sprayer (the initial reason for the trip), new blades for the Stanley knife, a new garden tap, plumber’s tape and new rollers for the sliding door.

The outdoor tap had been leaking for some time and changing the washer made no difference so The Duke decided it was time for a new tap which proved to be successful.

The next project was to install the new roller on the sliding door in the bathroom. We had to remove the timber pelmet which covers the track mechanism.

I did not take a photo of the actual tracks but we had to replace one of the rollers as it had broken. The door could still be used but it did not run smoothly and it was evident that there was a problem. We took the broken piece with us to ensure that we bought the correct sized replacement. They did come as a single item but we decided to buy 2 so that we would have a spare. At $4.00 each it is not a huge investment and we have another in case it is required in the future.

Two out of two jobs successfully completed! The Duke and Mr Bunnings worked well together.

I think the trick is to know wat jobs are within your capability and what are not. Do you reglarly undertake home maintenance jobs to keep things in working order?

Going Shopping & Gluten-Free Muesli

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Posted on July 20, 2014

As many of you would be aware, I buy most of my dry goods from the bulk bins at Simply Good. This means I can buy as much or as little of an item as want with no packaging and no waste. This is a topic dear to my heart and one which is being encouraged during ‘Plastic-Free July’. I use re-usable mesh bags for things like dried fruit, seeds and nuts and reuse paper bags for flours and almond meal. Once I get home they are decanted into storage jars.

These are the ingredients I use to make my gluten-free muesli. You can adjust the quantities to suit yourself.

2 cups coconut
3 cups pumpkin seeds
3 cups sunflower seeds
4 cups almonds (roughly chopped) – I use the food processor
2 cups sultanas
2 cups flaxseed meal
1/4 cup cinnamon
1/4 cup ground ginger (optional)

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

I store my mix in a large airtight container.

To serve – I use 1/4 cup of muesli and add 1 dessertspoon each of chia seeds and psyllium husk. I usually add 1 apple (grated) and 1 kiwifruit (chopped) plus a spoonful of plain yoghurt. It makes a delicious and satisfying breakfast.

Garden Progress

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Posted on July 14, 2014

After our visit to the Garden Expo on Saturday, we spent Sunday afternoon out in the garden.

Our first project was to remove the old bird netting from the peach tree and to prune it. This is what it looked like before we started.

This is one of the nets which we bought at the Expo.

The nets will protect fruit trees or garden beds from birds and pests, including fruit fly. I had been looking at them online but when I saw them at the Expo I decided to go ahead and buy 2 of them. Here is the website. We bought the 2m ones.

It is recommended that you do not put the netting on until after the fruit has set otherwise it impedes pollination. Since it is likely that the time to install the netting will be while we are away, we decided to have a trial run after pruning the tree.

While this would be sufficient to keep the birds away, you need to gather the fabric up and secure it around the base of the trunk to be sure of eliminating any fruit fly infestation. We will ask the housesitters to put the netting on at the relevant time and hopefully look forward to a crop of unblemished peaches.

We also pruned the fig tree, grapefruit tree and one of the lemon trees.

Next weekend I will be planting as I have ordered some rhubarb crowns and asparagus. I had a phone call today to say that they are ready so I will pick them up on Thursday.