Simply Baking

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Decluttering is not just about throwing out the piles of junk gathering dust in the basement.  Nor is minimalism about having a sparsely furnished apartment with almost no sign of human habitation.  They are words which are open to interpretation but the over-arching concept is to simplify our homes and lives so that we can make time and space for living.

It is important to keep baking and cooking simple.  Creating meals from scratch can easily lead you to acquire all manner of ingredients.  All too often these are used once and then end up relegated to the back of the cupboard.  I have a well-stocked pantry that has the basic ingredients that I use to create the meals we eat.

I also regularly make substitutions to new recipes so that they fit my ingredients.  It is easy to be conned into having many varieties of one ingredient, such as sugar.  There is caster, white, soft brown, raw, Demerara and numerous others.  I use raw sugar for most general use.  I also keep soft brown sugar and caster sugar.  If a recipe demands a specialty sugar that I feel cannot be satisfactorily substituted I discard the recipe.

Flour is another example of many options available – white, wholemeal, organic, stoneground, plain, self-raising.  I prefer to keep both white and wholemeal.  I use white flour for pastry, pasta and making roux for sauces but other than that I tend to use wholemeal or half and half if I want a lighter texture.  I only buy plain flour and add baking powder to make self-raising flour as required.

2012-03-28 01I buy my flour in 5kg bags from  Simply Good.  I also buy my baking powder in bulk from the same store.

2012-03-28 02The baking powder is sold from bulk bins so I fill a recycled paper bag with it and then decant into the large glass jar. which is in my stock cupboard.  I refill the small container in the pantry as required.  Please do not not confuse bicarbonate of soda (bicarb) with baking powder.  Baking powder is a combination of bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar.

2012-03-28 03With basic ingredients to hand it is easy to bake for your family where you know exactly what is in the food.  I made these muffins this morning with the last of some bottled cherries I had bought a couple of years ago – not sure why?  The recipe was the basic muffin recipe from the book, “Down to Earth” by Rhonda Hetzel.  You can find out more on her blog.

2012-03-28 04I made a zucchini quiche for dinner at the same time.  I always try to cook more than one dish when I have the oven turned on so that the power is used efficiently.

Have you tried to simplify the ingredients in your pantry?

Shuffling the Deckchairs

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When I was dusting and cleaning in the living room I realised that although we have six chairs in our dining suite only two of them are used regularly.  In fact there are four at the table.

The table extends to an oval and then seats six people when required.

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One of the extra chairs is used in my sewing room.

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The other is in the corner of the dining area.

I have decided that in order to keep them all in good condition I will rotate the chairs at intervals of six months.  This will ensure that there is not one in the corner which consistently exposed to the sun and also that the same two do not get constant wear and tear whereas the others are rarely used.

Do you have things that you rotate so that they all wear evenly?

I also rotate the bedsheets (3 sets), bath towels (4 sets) and teatowels.  I always take from the top of the pile and replace the freshly washed ones on the bottom.

What Shoes to Choose?

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As part of Project 333 I need to include footwear in my 33 items.  This is my real challenge as I have 19 pairs of footwear in my cupboard.  That does not include my slippers, gumboots, old sneakers for gardening and old Birkenstocks for around the yard.

There were 2 pairs of dressy black heels which were given to me – virtually brand-new.  After more than 12 months I have worn one pair once and never worn the other pair.  They were not even in my wardrobe but in the cupboard in the guest room.

Here they are.

2012-03-26 01And the other pair.

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They are both destined to go to someone who can wear them and benefit from them today rather than sitting in my cupboard with me worrying about them going mouldy in the humid weather.  These are the first ‘casualties’ of Project 333 – Autumn 2012.

The rest of the shoes do get worn, albeit some not particularly often as they are specialty items.  These include high-heeled knee-high boots, hiking boots and hiking sandals.

If I am not going to blow my 33 items on footwear I am going to have to choose carefully.  At the moment I think these will be the ones that make the cut.

2012-03-26 03Black heels which I wear with my skirts.

2012-03-26 04Ankle boots to wear with trousers in cooler weather.

2012-03-26 05Everyone needs a pair of red shoes, don’t they?  These are the most comfortable shoes in the world and I wear them with my jeans/travel pants.

2012-03-26 06Sandals which I wear with summer skirts, dresses, shorts and 3/4 pants.  I need these as the weather is still quite warm and could be for another month.

I still have a few more days before I have finalise the list so there will be plenty more soul-searching yet.

If you are joining the challenge please post a link to your own blog or feel free to post a list of your items in the comments section.

Project 333

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I have signed up for Project 333, a challenge to have a wardrobe of just 33 items for 3 months.  I will be starting on April 1st so now is the time to start tweaking my list.  You can read all about the project here.

I have started my list and here are some of the items I have selected.  I wonder if they will all make the final cut?

Black/white striped shirt
Pink cardigan

Shirt and pink cardigan

Black cord jacket
Pink and black striped top

007

Black striped top
Pink vest

004

Black/cream blouse
Pink suede jacket

006

Dusty pink top
Black jacket

005

Black top with squares

002 (3)

Grey trousers
Black 3/4 trousers

008

Black skirt

009

Floral skirt

010

That is 14 items so far which should just about cover work and going out wear.  I still need some casual wear and shoes.  I suspect the shoes could be my undoing!

I know that the 3 month period will include a couple of days at an outdoor music festival as well as a celebration dinner at a swish restaurant as well as all of my usual activities.

It is interesting to note that most of the items are between 3 and 8 years old so they have stood the test of time already.  In fact the top with the square pattern on it is over 10 years old.

I will definitely add jeans and travel pants as well as a rugby top and polo-neck knit top.  The definitive list will be posted in the next week or two.  There will also be regular updates on my success (or otherwise).

Will you be joining in?

Coming Unstuck

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This morning we went into town with a list of things to do.  It was election day so we had to cast our vote and we were also going to the produce store to get some feed for the chickens and the co-op to buy rice and olive oil.

I was about to get out of the car and the strap on my sandal broke.

2012-03-24 01These were given to me and whilst they look pretty, they were neither particularly practical or comfortable.  In short, I would never have bought them for myself.

So, there we were in town with numerous things to do and no shoes.  I did not want to drive 16km round trip to home to collect another pair of shoes.  I decided to pop into the local op shops (we have 2 in town ) and see whether there was anything suitable to buy.  In the second shop I found these, barely worn, my size and much more suited to my needs than the pair which had broken.

2012-03-24 02I did not really need another pair of sandals except for my predicament today.  However, these are perfect and will get lots of wear in the future.  I think I can justify spending $12.95 on these.

Have you bought something when you have been caught short for one reason or another?

Home Sweet Home

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There is nothing I enjoy more than a weekend at home without any major commitments.  After a busy week (and this week has been busier than most) I am ready to take my time doing simple tasks at home.

My plans were thwarted slightly this evening as the train is running late.  This was due to congestion from an earlier police incident at on of the central city railway stations.  I made a conscious decision not to let this stress me but I have used the extra time to catch up on some internet reading and now writing my blog.

I am tired after a full week of work and a late night last night, as we went to see Ross Noble, a very funny and irreverent comedian.  I have an easy dinner planned, we will be eating baked potatoes topped with bolognaise sauce and served with some salad.

Tomorrow I intend to get the house back into order now that the bathroom is finished.

Apologies for the lack of posts over the last couple of days along with the brevity of this one as well as no photos.  I promise I will make amends over the weekend.

Have a fun and fulfilling weekend.

Press Play

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I feel as though I have had the ‘Pause’ button on as everything has been on hold while the bathroom was being done.  Now I can see the things that I want to do.  These include:

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  • Dust and polish the furniture in the front entry
  • Replace the ornaments and china from the sideboard (these have been residing on my sewing table)
  • Sort out the other clutter that has also accumulated on the table
  • Get back to doing some sewing (including more gift bags which I have cut out)
  • Sweep and wash the verandah – this has some sawdust remnants from the building work

2012-03-20 02Mention of the gift bags reminds me that I did not do an update post for Lazy Brownie Day in February (25th).  I hope to have lots to post for March and get back on track to have a planned, organised Christmas.

Yesterday I picked up some crochet cotton that a friend bought for me in a sale.  I am going to use this to knit some dishcloths.  There are lots of patterns available but I think I will start with the one that Rhonda has in her book, ‘Down to Earth’.

2012-03-20 03I am also pleased to report that almost everything that I listed on Freecycle under the generic heading of ‘Handyman Materials’ has been collected.  I love the fact that someone is going to be able to use these things and it has freed up some space in the workshop.

I am busy at work this week (working off-site for the next 3 days) so it will be the weekend before I make much progress.  Tonight I have finished folding the washing that dried on the indoor airer over the past few days and now it is time to catch up on some ironing.

Finished

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3 weeks after the builders started the bathroom renovation, it is complete apart from a couple of minor things.  We need to do the final coat of paint on the window and door frames and once that is done the builder will do the final bead of silicone around those edges and the mirror surround.

Here is the finished product.

Shower

It is difficult to get decent photos in a small room so here is another bit.  This time the door is open.

Shower - door open

And finally, here is the mirror.

Mirror

I am really happy with how it has turned out – exactly as I anticipated.  The dream and the reality matched up!

 

Going, Going, Gone….

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Today we have spent the day at home catching up on several jobs.

The Duke painted the ceiling of the bathroom and I did the edges of the cornices and also the new architraves on the window and doors.  The ceiling is finished but the architraves need another coat.  We have had the dehumidifier running in the bathroom for most of the day to get the paint thoroughly dry.

Here is a photo which shows the new lights and also the painted ceiling and window frame.

2012-03-18 01I also sorted out various things in the workshop and space under the stairs.  Then it was time to list some things on Freecycle.  Sometimes I do not have much success and other days everything is wanted.  Today was a good day as I have found new homes for 3 small tins of paint, 2 spraycans of paint, a bathroom stool, the old showerscreen, some excess tiles from the laundry, tiling materials (adhesive, grout etc) and some timber slats.  It is great that other people will be able to use them and we have freed up a bit of space.

We moved the cupboard that had previously been at the foot of the stairs and it is now ensconced in the workshop.  All of the paint and painting equipment is now sorted and stored in the cupboard.

As is often the case, the re-arranging is a work in progress so is actually looking worse than when we started but that will soon change.

The showerscreen and mirror should be installed tomorrow so I am looking forward to that.  It will mean that I can then replace all of my china and ornaments back on the sideboard.  These were removed before the bathroom renovation so they would not be damaged when equipment was being brought in and out of the house.  Things will soon be back to normal.

As Poppet would say, ‘what is normal?’

Holiday Planning

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We have started looking at possible holiday destinations.  The first question was Australia or overseas.

I wanted to go to Central Australia  (Uluru and Alice Springs), Darwin and Kakadu National Park.  Due to the wet season, timing is crucial and accommodation is outrageously expensive and limited availability.

Due to the strength of the Australian dollar an overseas trip looked feasible.  Apart from New Zealand, our only other overseas trip was to British Columbia in 2007.  The East Coast of USA has always appealed so we are now looking at possibly going to Washington, Philadelphia, New York and Boston in September/October.

I have downloaded a couple of different Lonely Planet guides to my Kindle and am quickly learning some US geography.  We have friends who know this area quite well as tourists so caught up with them today and have come away with loads of ideas.  Now I need to distill the information and find what we want to see and do.

How do you decide where to take a holiday?  How much do you plan and book in advance or do you leave it to chance?

Any ideas or suggestions gratefully received.