For a Cause

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There are many very worthwhile causes and charities and I expect many of us have our particular favourites which are close to our heart. There are equally as many ways to support them.

Frocktober is a month-long fundraising campaign for the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation. Ovarian cancer is a particularly lethal gynaecological cancer for which there is no screening test. It is often only diagnosed in the late stages and has an extremely poor survival rate.

So, when a friend invited me to a Frocktober High Tea, I did not hesitate.

As well as raising fund for much needed research we enjoyed a fabulous spread of beautiful home-made delights and a fun afternoon of conversation with a group of about 40 local women.

Thanks to everyone who made the afternoon a success.

For the past few days I have been debating about my choice of frock as the weather has been extremely variable – it is spring in Victoria, after all. I finally opted for this bias cut sleeveless cotton frock with a lightweight cardigan. It is difficult to go wrong with classic black and white spots. This was its first outing as I had bought it about 3 weeks ago in a local op shop for $8. The frock is super comfortable and easy to wear and I am sure I will have plenty more opportunities to wear it as the weather warms up.

If you would like to support the work of the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation, you can donate here.

Deconstructed and Reconstructed

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I knew that the collar of my rugby top was wearing out but when I was folding the washing I noticed that it was really in need of some repairs. The top is 24 years old but still in surprisingly good condition apart from the collar. It has faded but is excellent quality so I decided to replace the collar.

Past generations would have simply unpicked the collar from the collar stand before turning and reapplying it. Because it was so worn I chose to make a new collar using some remnants of a hotel-quality bed sheet which is a super strong cotton fabric.

As I was unpicking the collar it became obvious that the collar stand was also worn-out as it began to disintegrate. The job became a little more extensive. I had the collar made and decided I could go no further until I had bought some heavy cotton tape to replace that which had been used for the collar stand. Then I realised that it was just two narrow strips of strong cotton fabric so I could make my own by using strips of the same fabric as I was using for the collar.

I carefully pinned the collar stand to the neckline of the top and then attached the collar. I ended up with a functional garment sporting a brand new collar and I expect that I will get plenty more wear from it yet.

Meanwhile, I have been doing some other deconstruction. Apart from my stash of new fabric pieces, I also have numerous garments, which I have acquired from various sources, that I am planning to reuse the fabric. Here are 3 that I have unpicked, washed and ironed in preparation for making into new garments.

The blue piece was a wrap skirt which I rescued from an op shop discard destined for landfill. It is 100% rayon and I hope to make a pair of loose, lightweight trousers. The green is quite a heavy cotton brocade which was a skirt that belonged to my mother. I plan to make a top with it. Finally, the black and white spotted fabric is also a 100% rayon op shop discard. It was a fairly short shift dress which I am going to refashion into a top.

There are many ways to step away from fast fashion. Invest in quality items where possible, buy secondhand items, take care of the clothes you have to make them last longer, mend/repair existing clothes to extend their life and repurpose existing fabric to create new items. Not all of of us can do all of these things but everyone can do at least some of them. Together we can honour the time and resources required to create fabric and garments by making a stand against fast fashion and the disastrous contribution it makes to landfill and pollution.

Quinoa Tabouleh

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Today I am adding a new ‘recipe’ to the blog. It is tabouleh with a twist – made with quinoa rather than the traditional cracked wheat which makes it gluten free. The fresh, clean feel to this dish makes it perfect for summer meals. Unlike many salads, it can also be made a day ahead. In fact, I think making it beforehand allows the flavours to develop even more.

This is a rather loose interpretation of a recipe as the quantities are variable and can be adjusted according to taste.

The photo shows the tabouleh served with a piece a zucchini quiche for lunch.

QUINOA TABOULEH

Ingredients

1/2 cup tri-colour quinoa
2 cups water
1 teaspoon vegetable stock powder
I cup curly leaf parsley, finely chopped
3 spring onions, finely chopped
1/2 tomato, diced
1/2 small cucumber, diced
1/4 red capsicum, finely diced

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
Ground black pepper
Salt

Method

Cook the quinoa in boiling water with stock powder added. Watch carefully and stir as required. Aim to absorb all of the liquid and not overcook the quinoa. Spread cooked quinoa on a tray, fluff with a fork and allow to cool thoroughly before adding the remaining ingredients and dressing.

Spring Blooms

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Today is not exactly spring-like – cool, grey and trying to rain.

However, the past month or so has been a delight to see spring flowers that we did not see when living in Queensland. I was excited to see the daffodils which I planted after we came here in bloom barely 3 months later. It seemed like almost every garden in town had daffodils. Some were neat clumps beside a fence and others were drifts of them and other bulbs under mature trees. I am looking forward to having some more next year. I also plan to plant some tulips, probably in pots. The tulips in the public gardens in Bendigo were a stunning display and yesterday I noticed that the Iceland poppies were in full flower. They are an old favourite from my childhood as are sweet peas which I have noticed in a couple of local gardens.

Meanwhile, I noticed this specimen in the garden today. It is lurking between the espaliered fruit trees and the fish pond so not the best location to show off these stunning flowers. I am thinking of relocating and incorporating it in my planned spring flower garden for 2024.

From This……….To This

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It is just over 5 months since we moved into this house.

One of the first pictures was of our lounge. This was 6 days after the removalists placed the majority of things in this large front room.

It was the last room to be sorted out as we had no furniture for it apart from the already attached IKEA television cabinet and glass-fronted wall cabinets. We ordered furniture which had a lead time of nearly four months but it was worth the wait.

The room is very large – it was originally a double garage. Although we had some ideas about how to configure it, we were not prepared to make any firm decisions until we had the furniture for a little while to see how things worked.

After a month of using the room we decided to bite the bullet. Some of the contents of the glass-fronted cabinets has been relocated to the sideboard in the dining area. You can read about it in this post. The remaining items did not need 3 double-door cabinets so we kept two and sold the other one. We also decided to move the cabinets to another wall. This allowed the sofa to be positioned where the cabinets had been. This important as the wall where the blinds are is fully glass sliding doors and faces north. We want to keep the furniture away from that side of the room.

The single chairs are positioned facing the television which is the default position when there is just the two of us here. However, they can easily be moved so that they face the couch for a more cosy conversation space. Likewise, the cedar trunk can be repositioned between the seating as an occasional table.

Once the furniture was in place, we turned our attention to the artwork and hung them today. My final task is to source a floor lamp to go beside the glass-fronted cabinets. Back to Marketplace………… It may take time but I feel confident that I will find the statement piece that I have in mind.

The Mundane Stuff

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Apart from the one-off things like new-to-us furniture, there are lots of mundane tasks that are required to keep things ticking over smoothly.

When we moved in I unpacked the refrigerated items from our camp fridge into the existing refrigerator which we had purchased with the house. This was convenient as we had sold our refrigerator with our previous home. This one is a little different to what I was used to so the positioning of various items is somewhat different. Where everything belonged had just evolved without a great deal of thought.

Yesterday, I cleaned the interior of the fridge and rearranged things a bit more thoughtfully with respect to where, when and how often I use them.

There is plenty of space in the body of the refrigerator. The top shelf which is a bit high for me to easily reach is reserved for GMan stuff – sourdough starter, ground coffee, beer mugs and beer.

The right-hand door is my ‘go to’ space for milk, juice, assorted condiments and ingredients used regularly in meal preparation.

The left-hand side is mostly taken up by the reservoir for the chilled water/ice dispenser so a block of cheese and container of yeast are the only occupants.

I find that by keeping items in a logical and consistent location means that things are much less likely to be forgotten and end up being wasted.

As a result of tidying the refrigerator and refreshing my mind as to the contents, I was able to plan meals based on ingredients (particularly perishable ones) for several days.

While I gave up diligently menu-planning when I retired from paid employment, I still generally have a rough idea of meals for at least a few days. As well as using up ingredients it helps to ensure a balance of meat/vegetarian meals and also not having the same carbs for successive days.

The current plan looks like this:

Monday – Baked potatoes with refried beans, sauteed mushroom, onion and capsicum and coleslaw
Tuesday – Grilled sausages and vegetables with cheesy cauliflower sauce
Wednesday – Zucchini quiche and quinoa tabouli
Thursday – Stuffed capsicum with coleslaw
Friday – Chicken, mushroom and spinach pancakes

More Furniture

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Today I am able to unveil a piece of furniture which I first acquired several weeks ago. I had decided that I needed a piece of furniture to separate the dining area and casual sitting space. Of course, it also had to be functional. So, after a bit of searching I found an upcycled solid timber sideboard.

We collected the item and while the piece had been upcycled, it was not completely finished to my satisfaction. The top had been sanded back and was completely raw so I applied 3 coats of clear finish. I also needed some more matching paint to do a final coat on the rest of the sideboard.

Because I am using this as a room divider as well as for storage, the back of the sideboard needed to be finished as well as possible. As with the most furniture that is designed to go against a wall, the back of this piece is simply lightweight board which is stapled on. However, a couple of good coats of the dark paint is sufficient to make it satisfactory to face the casual sitting space.

The reason I chose this particular piece of furniture was that it would provide storage for the good crockery and glassware in close proximity to the dining area. The good cutlery as well as some platters and table mats are in the drawers.

A Wish List

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Numerous posts have mentioned some of my various op shop finds. In fact, in my last post GMan went with a specific goal in mind and found exactly what he was looking for. Sometimes you can be lucky. More often than not, you have to be patient if you have a specific item in mind.

Most of my op shopping for clothes is generally just good luck. Having a relatively streamlined wardrobe means that I know exactly what I have and can quickly identify something that will work with existing pieces. This method has generally stood me in good stead and I have very rarely made an unwise choice.

Excessive shopping can happen when op shopping just as it can if you are choosing brand-new items from retail outlets.

It is almost 5 years since I made a rather brave declaration that I was not going to buy any brand-new clothing for 5 years. Have I succeeded? Almost. I bought this navy dress to wear to my niece’s wedding in early 2021. It was massively reduced in price to $21 and I have worn it many times, including today. It was cold and we were headed to Ballarat so I added this warm scarf which I picked up when op shopping last week. I had really thought that it may not get an airing until next autumn but the weather today dictated otherwise.

During the afore-mentioned 5 years, my circumstances have altered considerably. I have retired from full-time work and relocated from south-east Queensland to regional Victoria. While most of my existing clothes will continue to be worn there will be some rebalancing of seasonal items required.

So, I have decided to take a leaf out of the book of my dear late friend, Mimi, who was a dedicated and successful op shopper with what appeared to be a knack for finding the perfect item. However, it was quite clear that she shopped intentionally and with purpose. I have begun creating a list of gaps I have identified in my wardrobe so that I do not wander aimlessly or feel overwhelmed when entering an op shop.

Some of the things I am searching for are:

Slim fitted trousers in both black and navy
Hip/thigh length winter coat
Navy cardigan
Dark blue slim fit jeans
Small backpack style handbag

My other criteria is to search by colour, fabric and pattern.

Colour – red, navy, blue, white, black, grey, emerald green
Fabric – natural fibres – cotton, linen, wool
Pattern – plain, spots, stripes

I will let you know how I go with this new strategy.

Shopping for Summer

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We went into an op shop when we were out and about on Thursday as GMan was looking for a Pyrex casserole dish. He found this one which was marked as $5 but as a bonus there was 50% off all glass and kitchenware so $2.50 was an absolute bargain.

Meanwhile I thought I would cast a quick look over the clothes to see if anything caught my eye. I was in luck as I found three pieces – a top, a dress and a scarf.

The top is perfect in every respect. It fits perfectly, a pretty colour and 100% linen fabric. Additionally, I love the scoop neckline and interesting bias-cut rolled collar.

The dress is crinkle cotton and will be perfect for hot summer days. The bias-cut and frill on the lining add interest to an otherwise very simple dress. I lifted it at the shoulders as I almost always have to do with dresses and it now is ready to wear.

The final item is not for summer but I could not resist this pretty ombre blue scarf. I am sure it will get plenty of wear but I think it will go perfectly with my navy winter dress.

Creating Space

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You could be excused for assuming that this post is about more of my decluttering efforts. However, it is not.

We arrived home a couple of days ago after a brief road trip to Sydney to attend a family wedding. The outfit I had made worked well and we had a delightful day. It was very special to be able to spend time with all of my siblings, children, niece and nephews as our family are ‘scattered to the four winds’. In fact, it was the first time that we had ever all been together.

The wedding was a significant event and the latter half of this year has been neatly divided, at least in my mind, to ‘before the wedding’ and ‘after the wedding’. This leads back to the title of the post.

Rehoming physical stuff is not the only type of decluttering. There is also digital decluttering which I have mentioned in the past. This link will take you to several posts on the topic. Then there is mental clutter.

I have found that ‘to do’ lists seem to get a bit of a bad rap recently. They are deemed to be everything from non-productive, inhibiting mindfulness and inducing guilt and sleeplessness. I guess it depends on personal use and expectation of any list, however, I have actually found the exact opposite. By writing things down/creating a list it releases the necessity for me to remember things.

As a retired person, I do not have the time-frames, constraints and expectations of being in a paid job and answerable to an employer. Everything I do is my own decision and choice, however, I do not choose to drift aimlessly through my retirement years. I am not driven by deadlines and certainly do not beat myself up if everything on the list is not finished by a certain time.

I enjoy the knowledge that I have recorded tasks/projects and I am not wasting mental energy on recalling or prioritising them. I add items as I think of them or they come up in conversation with GMan. It is nothing fancy – just a simple list in the notes section of my phone. I add and delete items almost every day. Some are extensive and long-term, others will be completed within the next 24 hours. But most importantly, I do not stress about tasks achieved (or not) nor let the list dictate my life.

Here is a sample of some of the items currently on my list.

Tidy sewing room
Clean fridge
Make marmalade
Make new cover for dog bed
Mend socks
Update Google calendar

Some of these have been on the list for well over a week and I am not losing any sleep over them not being completed. They will happen one day. Meanwhile, we are heading out this evening to listen to some live music at a small local bar.