Christmas Countdown

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It is exactly 7 weeks until Christmas Day.  We are planning a relatively simple Christmas .  Belle and her family will be arriving in time for lunch and staying for a night or 2.  We will have 4 children under 7 with us so I am looking forward to sharing the true spirit with them.  We will also spend some time with my mother, sister and brother on either Christmas Day or Boxing Day.

Gifts – I have a couple of small items for the children and will be adding some handmade gifts as well.  None of us need more ‘stuff’.

Meals will be special but definitely not excessive.  It will also be a gluten-free menu and as much as possible,grain-free as well.

We generally do not get involved in the many Christmas parties as our focus is a small, family celebration.  The one exception is Christmas drinks with the neighbours.  We live on a long rural road and this is the only time during the year that we see some of the neighbours.  This year we are hosting the event which simply means that I will sweep the verandah and set out some extra chairs and glasses.  Everyone contributes a plate of finger food and brings their own drinks.

In the meantime, life goes on as usual.  Miss O has a birthday coming up, I have a conference to attend interstate, Missy is relocating to another city and I have deadlines to meet at work.  This is all aside from the day to day routines.

Do you have any special plans for the coming weeks?  Do you celebrate Christmas?

Back Again

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Blogging has taken a back seat this last week as my ‘real’ life has been rather busy.

We have been away for the weekend to catch up with friends and celebrate a ‘milestone’ birthday for my girlfriend.  We had a fabulous time and I have returned refreshed and with renewed enthusiasm after our short break.

I am working through a pile of mending/alterations of clothes for Missy which I have promised I will finish before she moves interstate in a couple of weeks.  I have spent some time helping her declutter and sort some things prior to her move as it is an ideal time to rationalise exactly what you have and what you need.  There is no point in paying to move things that you really do not want to keep.

2012-11-05 01Speaking of things you do not want to keep, this is a pile of fabric that a friend offered to me last week as she did not see the possibility of using it any time soon.  I have accepted it and have space to store it until I start creating.  I think that may be next year as the next 7 weeks are looking pretty busy in the lead-up to Christmas.  However, I already have some plans for some of the fabric and am looking forward to using it.  Thanks, Sandra.

I mentioned that it is 7 weeks until Christmas but my busyness is not really related to a crazy shopping frenzy or significant over-indulgence in food.  It is more about a self-imposed deadline for projects that I want to complete both at home and at work before the end of the year.  More about that in tomorrow’s post.

In The Dark

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Here is a test to see how organised your bedroom and wardrobe are.

Try getting ready for bed – remove clothes/jewellery, put away shoes, put on night attire and get into bed without turning on the light.

Can you confidently move around the room and place things in their right position because there is no clutter and everything has a home?

Think about how visually impaired people manage.

I regularly do this and realised that it is because there is the bare minimum in our bedroom and it is always in the same place.

Dressing tableThis is my dressing table and I can easily locate the box for my earrings when I remove them.  For years I had heaps of clutter on my dressing table and I yearned to have it clear and tidy and once I achieved that goal I have never let it go.

If you are overwhelmed by your stuff, try setting small goals and then achieve and maintain one thing before moving onto something bigger.

House Extensions & Other Projects

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Not our house……the hen house is being extended with an outdoor run for the 5 chickens.  They have previously free-ranged over about 3/4 acre of our land but the current chickens are an adventurous bunch and constantly feel the need to find gaps in the fencing (or dig under it) and free-range in the neighbour’s yard where they are not welcome.  I have patched up the various spots where I thought they were escaping but 2 in particular do an excellent imitation of Houdini.

Yesterday we went to Bunnings Hardware to get some materials and we have made a start on an enclosed run for them.  It is not as good as letting them free-range but in the interests of maintaining a reasonable relationship with the neighbours we have decided this is the way to go.

2012-10-21 01Here are the posts all positioned and ready.  We have designed it so that the existing gates can be latched in the ‘open’ position to completely enclose the run.  We will let the posts settle before attaching the wire next weekend.  I will post some more photos when it is complete.

This is only a temporary measure as we will eventually be building a new chicken house and large run (including the orchard) when we re-do the front fencing and permanently fence the entire vegetable garden area.  Like many things around here, it is a work in progress.

The other work in progress is building more raised garden beds.  Unlike the chicken run we have not bought any new materials.  Here is some of the leftover iron from the wall cladding of the house.

2012-10-21 02The Duke is using rivets to join some of the smaller pieces together.

2012-10-21 03The supports are some steel posts we inherited and even the rivets and screws are leftovers from other people’s projects.  We built one bed last year and used a hardwood post (from Freecycle) as the supports.  Because these beds will be used for growing vegetables we do not use treated timber as the chemicals leach into the soil.

2011-05-28 04This is the first bed we built.  This picture was taken when it was first done.  We put cardboard down, then filled it with mulch, leaves, shredded paper and grass clippings.  This eventually decomposes and we now have a productive bed full of rich soil at no cost.

We have a productive weekend and there will be more coming up.

Mysteries of the Universe

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One of the great mysteries is how the utensil drawers get so grubby when the utensils are clean when they are put away.  If anyone can throw some light on this I would appreciate it, but in the meantime two of my kitchen drawers are clean again after a blitz yesterday.

2012-10-20 01I decluttered this drawer a few months ago so everything in it stayed, even though there are a couple of things that only rarely get used.  The contents include:

Electric knife
Rolling pin
BBQ tool
Tongs
Cleaning brush (for the juicer)
Avocado slicer
Chip cutter
Garlic press
Cherry stoner
Apple corer
Pineapple peeler/corer
Scone cutter
Cheese slicer
Jar opener
Ice-cream scoop
Vegetable peeler
Grapefruit knife
Fine bladed knife
Citrus zester
Tea strainer
Tea infuser
Knife sharpener
Spaghetti measure
Egg rings
Measuring spoons
Corn cob holders
Wine aerator
Wine vacuum seal
Corkscrews x 2
Can openers x 2 different styles

This is in addition to the knives in the knife block and 2 jars of utensils which are on the bench.  Everything in the utensil jars gets used at least once per week.

2012-10-20 02This is what could probably be described as a ‘junk’ drawer, although nothing in here is junk – it is all useful.

Matches
Notepaper (an old desk calendar)
String tin
Jar of rubber bands
Black felt-tipped pens x 2
Wind-up torches x 2
Set of small screwdrivers
Compass
Calculator
Scissors x 2
Sticky labels
Brown paper
Zip-lock bags (rewashed)
Muslin
Worn-out tea towels (for covering defrosting food etc)
Bag of twist ties
Bread bags (rewashed)
Cling wrap                   }
Alfoil                            } – these have been sitting here for at least 10 years
Freezer go-between  }    will not be replaced whenever I use them up
Baking paper – I bought this last week as it is apparently essential when
baking grain-free
Cut milk container of bits – homemade plant labels, spare O-ring for the breadmaker, labels for homemade cordial etc.

I regularly clean a drawer/cupboard or two each week, so although it seems like a never-ending merry-go-round it is never a huge job.

Challenges – An Update

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We are now more than halfway through the month of October so I thought it was time I posted an update of my progress with my twin challenges of ‘Frocktober’ and ‘Stoptober’.

Frocktober is going well.  I have worn a dress or skirt and top every time I have left the house, apart from a couple of weeks ago when it was quite cool and I wore jeans for our casual Friday.  I have managed the additional challenge of not wearing an identical outfit twice in the month so far.  Hopefully, I can get to through the next 13 days as well.

Stoptober has been less of a stellar success, possibly because I started it on a whim and did not have any great plans.  Mind you, I think it is a bit of a fruitless exercise if you buy up big the month before in order not to spend during a particular time.  We have continued to buy modest amounts of groceries as well as fruit and vegetables.  I have thought carefully about what I needed and bought only the basics.  Our ‘essential’ spending has included a doctor’s appointment for me as well as a trip to the dentist for The Duke.  He has a follow-up appointment for more treatment next week.  On the weekend we bought some wire to fence the vegetable garden, seedlings and more grain for the chickens.  I see these purchases as an investment because the returns will always outweigh the outlay.

Our one real ‘failure’ was a decision to eat out last Friday.  We went to the local pizza restaurant and I tried the gluten-free bases which were very acceptable.  We have taken our packed lunches to work each day and I managed to dodge a couple of lunches at work which has meant that I have saved the money but also have not had to confront the issue of what to eat while maintaining my grain-free, sugar-free eating plan as much as possible.

The mortgage will look a bit healthier with the additional money saved!

Project 333 – Plains & Prints

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Today I had a blinding flash regarding the items in my wardrobe.

2012-05-14 02I have plain shorts (black, white and khaki) and plain trousers (black, white and jeans).  I can wear patterned tops with these (striped, floral prints etc).

2012-07-02 09My skirts are patterned (striped, floral, spotted) and I have plain coloured tops to wear with them.

2012-06-11 05But………..never the twain shall meet, so I am limited in the selection of mix and match outfits that I can create.

2012-07-02 03I can, and do wear a plain coloured top with plain shorts or trousers but there is no way I would ever mix 2 different patterns.  So I have come to the conclusion, that although at least some of the patterned tops will remain to be worn with the trousers or shorts, I will work towards having more plain coloured tops that can be used in a greater number of ways.

How have you identified ways to streamline the clothes in your wardrobe?

Wool Wash

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I use relatively simple, non-toxic cleaners for everything, whether it be dishes, clothes, our bodies or general cleaning.  Here is a recipe I found on the internet for washing woollens.  I have adapted it slightly but you can also read the original here.

Rather than using soap flakes, I grated Sunlight soap.

I used my food processor with the grater attachment.

Here are the utensils I used.

The ingredients

and

Wool Wash Mixture

2 cups grated soap
2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup methylated spirits
10ml eucalyptus oil
1 cup water, extra

Grate the soap into a large bowl and add boiling water.  Blend thoroughly.

Add methylated spirits and eucalyptus oil and blend a bit more.

Add 1 cup of cool water and mix again.

Allow to cool a little before pouring the mixture into a suitable wide-necked container.  I used an old Napisan container.  It does need a wide neck as the mixture is quite firm when it sets so you need an old spoon to scoop it out.

To use the mixture I put about a tablespoon of mixture in a bucket with some hot water and mix until it is dissolved then add add more water until it is tepid and use this for washing woolen knitwear and other handwashing.

**EXTRA FRUGAL TIP**

Make sure you have some items ready to wash before you make up the mixture.

Rinse all of the utensils used in a bucket of warm water and the residue will be sufficient to make a solution of wool wash for your waiting clothes.