Holiday Fun

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No organising happening here today as we are too busy having fun.  Miss O and Izz are staying for a couple of nights as it is school holidays here.

It has been a full day which included picking strawberries at a local farm as well as buying some fruit and vegetables and getting hair cut.  That was just this morning!

Then it was time for lunch.

Lunch
A platter which included freshly picked carrots and avocadoes plus some cracker biscuits.  A cup of water and some strawberries rounded off a healthy lunch.

The weather has been really quite hot the past few days but even though it was much cooler today it was still warm enough to play in the pool.

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Climbing ‘mountains’, hide and seek and racing around the yard used up some excess energy.

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And taking a moment to smell the roses AKA cannas.

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Going, Going………Not Quite Gone

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Last weekend we did some more demolition work on the old chicken coop.  We have been fairly careful in how we went about it because it was our goal to salvage most of the materials for use in future projects.  There is now only one piece of chain wire to remove and then the posts.

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The Colorbond sheeting from the roof and walls will come in handy for some of the remaining raised garden beds that we are planning to construct.  The posts have been earmarked for use in building the perimeter fence of the vegetable garden.  That was the reason that we fenced the new chicken run before the vegetable garden as the posts for the run were taller so had to be purchased.

The woodshed which is in the foreground of the photo will be retained and some minor modifications made to it.

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I will also be making some changes to how the wood is stored.  Although it cannot be seen in this photo, I had wood stacked quite high against the side wall.  I use the past tense of ‘had’ as recently there was a tremendous crash during the night and we have now discovered that my carefully stacked wood has collapsed and is now a disorganised jumble on the ground.  I suspect that some of the local wildlife was instrumental in this event.

As always, there is always another project lurking in the background, even if it is only in our minds at this stage.  Once the structure is completely removed this will open up the possibility of having at least one large limb lopped from one of the jacaranda trees.  There is also a very large boulder which has dislodged from higher up the mountain and is resting against part of the old fence at the top of the block.  We may remove the fencing to allow the rock to roll to the bottom of the garden (another ‘meteorite feature?) before repairing the fence.

Then there are the possibilities of what to do with the area where the chicken run was but I will save that discussion for another day.

Not So Perfect

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More on the organising theme today.  After reading a couple of the comments on my previous post, I wanted dispel any misconceptions about me being perfectly organised.  That is definitely not the case.  My dressing table is a case in point.

This is what it looked like last night.

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The state of this area has been bugging me for months but there always seems to be something else which was more in need of my attention.  The other thing holding me back was perfectionism.  Why start it if I could not complete the task properly?  I have come to realise that perfectionism is one of my personal hurdles and it has taken many years and false starts to identify the problem and then try to work on it.

I had moved some of the larger items in the last week or so but it was still messy and cluttered.  Some of the things that I moved and put away in their correct places were:

Bone density xrays
Prescription tablets
Repeat prescriptions
Warranty for new phone
Packet of Christmas bell decorations
Plastic container

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What is not evident in the photos is that I have not washed all of the china, changed the doyley nor dusted and polished the timber.  The knowledge that I did not have time to do all of this would be reason enough not to tackle the job, however, last night I decided to just put away/discard the extraneous ‘stuff’ and leave the actual cleaning until another day.

The job did not take long and I felt better once it was done. So what was so difficult?  For me it is overcoming the feeling that I have to do the whole job in one go or why bother.

What are your hurdles and what strategies do you use?

Keeping It Simple

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It is a challenge to just keep my head above water during the week as we are commuting/working  for long periods each day.  It is very easy to just flop in a chair and do nothing, and some nights I do just that.  However, I find that if I do a little bit each day it is less onerous when the weekend comes around.

Here are some of the things I try to do to keep it simple:

Plan meals – on a good week I have the whole week planned out but otherwise I at least know what we will be eating for dinner the following night.

Pantry

Plan what I will wear – as above.  It saves wasting time on thinking in the morning.

Lunches planned and at least partly prepared.

Rinse/wipe the basin and vanity to keep it looking clean.

Washing/folding/ironing – make sure it is up to date.  This morning I hung out the sheets, tonight I took them off the line and they are now folded and put away.  I also handwashed some jumpers and hung them out.

Ironing basket

What do you do to keep the wheels running smoothly?

Simply Sewing

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One of my favourite activities is sewing.  More specifically, sewing clothes.  In years gone by I have made everything from business shirts to swimwear but in recent years I have not done as much as I used to.

I have never had a huge stash of fabric, although The Duke may think otherwise.  Nevertheless, over the last couple of years I have been working on gradually whittling down what I do have.  I decided that a cupboard of excess fabric is of no benefit to anyone so I should use it up to make things, whether they be for the family, to sell or simply to donate.

Sometimes it seems that as fast as I use up fabric I am given some more so I have set myself the challenge to use up everything I have.  This weekend I made a pair of satin boxer shorts from some gifted material which I think I will give to my daughter.  I will make a camisole from some white interlock fabric to make a set of summer pyjamas.  Here are the shorts.

Boxer shorts

In the same bundle was some crinkle cotton fabric which was a fairly unappealing yellow check but I managed to brighten it up with the addition of some plain red for the contrasting pockets on this dress I made for Izz.  It will be perfect for summer days at childcare.

Dress

I also started sewing a toddler dress which I will show you when it is finished.  Then there was the mending/alteration pile.  I hemmed 2 pairs of trousers for The Duke and have adjusted the hemline on a new skirt of mine.  It is now pinned and ready to handstitch.

My goal is to do some sewing each day and gradually work through the ‘to do’ pile before starting on some new projects.  I have 2 skirts which I am altering that are waiting as well as a cot quilt which needs the binding sewn on and some hand-quilting to be done.  I have several pieces of gifted fabric which I contemplating what I will make.  Not all of it is suitable for our family so I am busily planning what to sew that will be of use to someone.

The Production Line

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Having a productive garden entails more work than just planting, watering and harvesting the crops.

The next step is to make sure that the produce is used wisely.  It is difficult not to have some wastage, especially when there is a glut.

At the moment we have an over-abundance of lemons and grapefruit and are doing the best we can to deal with them.

Lemons

On Saturday evening, The Duke and I juiced and froze about 3 litres of lemon juice and a litre of grapefruit juice.  Most of the lemon juice is in 1 litre quantities so that I can thaw it and make cordial when required.  However, I did put some into ice-cube trays for those moments when I just need a tablespoon or so of juice.  We have 2 lemon trees and it is only a rare time when there are no fresh lemons available but it is best to be safe and have some on hand.

Juice to freezeYou can also see more beans and carrots that we picked on Saturday.

What are you harvesting at the moment?

Nachos Night

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As per my menu plan for the week , we had nachos for dinner last night.  Like everything I prepare on weekdays, it is quick and easy.

Nachos ingredients

Corn chips
Tinned tomatoes
Refried beans
Cheese

I make my own refried beans from the recipe here using dried kidney beans.  I freeze the mixture in 500g tubs for future use.

Last night I used tinned crushed tomatoes but you can use chopped fresh tomatoes or even a bit of diluted tomato paste.

Making nachos

Here is the first layer – corn chips, refried beans, tomato and then grated cheese.

Add layers until desired quantity is reached.

Nachos - ready for oven

This is 3 layers ready to go into the oven.  I use 2 small Pyrex casserole lids as I find the Pyrex easier to clean than a metal tray.  This used half a packet of corn chips and is a substantial meal for 2 adults.  I serve this with home-made guacamole and yoghurt on the side.

Total preparation and cooking time is about 20 minutes.

Project 333 – Red Replaced by Pink

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Remember my post from Sunday where I showed that I could wear my red cardigan all week with different outfits?  Well that plan came to a shuddering halt yesterday because I was wearing it when I had my hair cut.  Now, I know that I had the towel around my neck and a plastic cape on but nevertheless, those tiny bits of hair just end up everywhere.  So, the cardigan was consigned to the washing basket – and I had not even worn it on Monday at all as my 3/4 sleeve shirt was warm enough!

All is not lost as I have kept my basic outfits the same and swapped to a pink cardigan for the rest of the week.

Wednesday outfit

Luckily, my choices for today and Friday are fairly neutral and tomorrow’s outfit combines red and pink in the one dress.

It would not have been the end of the world if I did have to re-think what I was planning to wear but I still maintain that it is better to have a plan than not.

Sustainable House Day – A Review

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As you would be aware from my previous posts, Sunday 8th September was Sustainable House Day here in Australia.

We decided to register our house as open for the event and were happy to show people the features of both the house and garden.  We had 4 groups of people come to visit and while the number may seem disappointing, there are some very positive ways of looking at this.

  • We were able to spend time in direct one to one conversation with the visitors
  • Security issues were not a concern
  • The people who came were really interested and committed to making a difference in their own homes

I was pleased that 3 of the groups were young couples who appeared to have clear visions of what they wanted to achieve and we hope that seeing what we have achieved with our property went at least some way to inspiring them.

I do not anticipate registering next year as we are likely to be on holidays.  If I decided to participate in the future, I would definitely do more to promote the day, particularly with the local council.  I was surprised by the lack of organised promotion of the overall day, especially since it has been an annual event for more than 10 years.  A lot of the advertising seemed to be left up to the individual homeowner and unfortunately I was interstate for the week immediately prior to the event.  This was due to circumstances beyond my control.