Wardrobe Wins

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Yesterday we headed out and about with a bit of a plan which included visiting a specific op shop in a small town some distance from us. It had been specifically recommended so I was keen to see for myself.

The pricing was very modest and I bought 3 summer tops. It is the middle of winter here but I regard this as forward planning because it will definitely be hot in 6 months time.

This sheer floaty top will need a camisole underneath it.

A girl can’t have too many navy/white striped tops. (In my opinion). These tshirt tops appear to be unworn or only very lightly worn. I will shorten the navy one a little bit.

I could not believe my luck as these tops were $2 each! It is almost impossible to get anything for $2 these days in an op shop.

Later in the day I spotted another op shop near the supermarket. Once again, I was in luck.

I had been on the lookout for another vest and spotted this one for $4. The zip does not work but I am not too worried as I generally wear a vest like this unzipped. However, I do plan to buy a new zip and replace it to restore this lovely vest to full functionality.

My final find was this knit ‘dress’. It is a synthetic mix and quite fine but will be perfect with a layer of thermals underneath and teamed with tights, boots and a scarf.

I scored all of these additions for the amazing total of $15.

However, it is not all about the money. My prime reason for op shopping is to minimise my use of new resources. It is scary to see the amount of clothes and other textiles which end up in landfill and this was what drove my decision to limit, and preferably eliminate, my reliance on new clothes. My exceptions are underwear, socks and shoes.

I set myself a challenge in November 2018 that I would not buy any new clothes from retail outlets for 5 years. It seemed outrageous and probably unachievable but I was determined to give it a go.

I only have 4 months to go. So, how I am I going? I have bought 1 dress and a scarf (in February 2021) brand new to wear to a wedding. The scarf went to an op shop after a couple of wears as I realised it had been an impulse buy and was not really going to have a long-term place in my wardrobe. The dress was a bargain – reduced from $179 to $21!! I have worn in many times since the wedding, including to my mother’s funeral, as it is very versatile.

My wardrobe has altered significantly in nearly 5 years and I have achieved that through buying pre-loved items in op shops as well as higher-end recycle boutiques. Some have appeared to be brand-new and it is even more important than ever to save these items from ending up in landfill. It has been a continual evolution as I moved from full-time work to retirement and again as we moved from Queensland to Victoria.

Powered by the Sun

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After 12 days, I am finally starting to feel as though I am recovering from the nasty respiratory infection which has laid me low. However, there has been a bit of action on the home front.

When we first contemplating selling our previous home we realised that we we be giving up a degree of self-reliance which we had developed over a number of years. We depended entirely on rainwater collected on our property as well as having solar hot water, solar panels and a battery system, although we were not completely off-grid.

As we began our search for a new home, we initially were looking for a property with existing solar panels. However, we soon realised that a home with a suitable orientation would provide us with the opportunity to take advantage of the most up-to-date technology in solar panels and batteries.

Once we had signed the contract of purchase we set about making enquiries regarding the most suitable system for our circumstances.

This week our 8.3 kW system with battery was installed.

This is the very compact modular battery and inverter located near the meter box.

The panels are evenly divided between the east and west facing portions of the roof. They are barely visible from ground level but I managed this glimpse from the corner of the backyard.

Even though it is only 3 weeks from the winter solstice there has been enough weak sunshine each day to fully charge the battery each day. We are still connected to the grid but we are reasonably confident that we will be able to cover our electricity usage for a fair percentage of the year.

There was an existing solar hot water system when we bought the house so our next step is to work out what rainwater storage we may be able to install. The average rainfall is much less here than we have been used to but there is definitely an opportunity to harvest at least some of the rain for use in the garden over the hot, dry summer months.

A Rainbow of Scarves

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I like to wear a scarf and find that it often adds the final element which completes an outfit. However, in a cooler climate they have become a necessity rather than purely for their value as an accessory. That is not to say that looking good is not important.

My scarf collection is mostly a mix of finely woven scarves in plains and prints. In the past week I have picked up two more plain ones in my op shop adventures. A beautiful blue scarf as well as another red one. My original red scarf is very lightweight and starting to show signs of wear.

I love the colours and brightness that they add to my mostly black, grey and navy winter wardrobe.

More Bargains

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We have been rather occupied with our guests for the past five days so no time for blog posts.

Yesterday I took my granddaughters to Bendigo. I bought more fruit and vegetables, we enjoyed the Australian Women’s Weekly exhibition at the art gallery and we found time to check out a couple of op shops.

I found a summer dress for Liv – no mean feat as she is 15 and liable to change her mind at a moment’s notice. Also, a warm fleecy black top for Izz as well as a skirt, long sleeve knit top and scarf for myself.

However, the standout purchases were a pair of shoes and a chair.

These shoes caught my eye but did not appear to have any size, brand or country of origin markings. In fact, I think they may be handmade. I tried them on and they fitted perfectly. They have barely been worn and were priced at $8. Lucky me!

I actually saw the chair outside the shop as we approached the door. You may remember that I bought a dining setting with 4 chairs from Marketplace some weeks ago. You can read about it here. I was prepared to have one or two extra chairs and was not too worried about whether they were an exact match. I figured that this one would be suitable so I handed over $5 and it was mine.

I brought it home and here is the recent purchase (on the left) beside one of the existing set. Can you pick the difference? The whole chair is marginally (about 1cm) lower, the curve at the top is not quite as pronounced and the top of the sides are rounded rather than flat.

I am absolutely chuffed with my finds.

Ready For Guests

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You have probably seen photos of the guest room and it has been used once when friends stayed overnight last month. However, the other room has been a bit of a dumping ground for empty boxes and other items yet to be sorted.

This morning I spent getting both spare rooms ready as we have family coming to visit from interstate and they will be here for a week. I have even hung some artwork in the empty room.

The designated guest room is fully furnished.

The spare room is slightly more sparse but comfortable. The QS air mattress is made up with plenty of warm bedding.

We will be picking up our daughter and 2 granddaughters tomorrow morning when they arrive from Queensland. I am really looking forward to their visit.

Monday – Mending and Making

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Today I tackled the growing pile of mending.

This pair of GMan’s work jeans already had one patch – I added another two.

I had managed to put a rip in the knee of a pair of my lightweight travel pants so they got the same treatment.

I us double-sided iron-on interfacing to fuse the patch to the inside of the garment before reinforcing it with a zigzag stitch.

I darned a hole in the cuff of a woollen jumper. Once again, this is some of GMan’s workwear as evidenced by the touches of paint.

I also mended holes in the toes of two pairs of socks but no photos.

Finally, I moved on to actually making something. This is not terribly exciting but I used part of an old sheet to make a cover for GMan’s Drizabone coat.

It has hung in the shed for many years with minimal wear but I imagine it will get much more use in the colder climate. Since it is oilskin, it is not ideal to have it hanging against other clothes so I made a slipcover for it.

Now that I feel I have pretty well cleared the decks, I can make a start on some ‘real’ sewing. The first project I have planned is to make some trackpants for GMan.

Plastic-Free Challenge

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This is a rather timely post as we approach Plastic-Free July. I choose not to participate directly in this initiative but simply to make every day a challenge to reduce, preferably eliminate, single-use plastics.

Moving to a new town throws up a few challenges when it comes to refusing single-use plastics.

Naturally, I take my own bags when grocery shopping and tulle produce bags when buying loose fruit and vegetables. I have managed to locate a couple of shops in Melbourne where I can buy bulk dry goods such nuts, flours, seeds and dried fruit.

However, one of the trickier items to purchase without single-use plastic is meat. Some butchers are prepared to place meat directly into the customers container but plastic bags remain the default position and some outlets specifically refuse to use containers provided by the customer. Unfortunately, Covid19 has become an ‘excuse’ for not accepting containers.

A few days ago I set about searching for a butcher in our general vicinity who would be amenable to placing my purchases directly into my own containers. I found ‘Meats on Mitchell’ in central Bendigo so yesterday I tested them out. Aside from the single-use plastic issue, the meat needs to be good quality which appeared to be the case.

It was a simple matter of asking for what I wanted and handing over my containers. There was no hesitation or problem with checking the weight of the container before adding the meat. I was happy with the entire transaction and let the staff know that I had chosen their shop primarily because I was able to bring my own containers.

The chicken we ate last night was excellent quality and I intend to make this my regular butcher for meat purchases. Although we do not eat a lot of meat it is good to be able to source it without any single-use plastic.

Hung Up

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One of the things we have spent time doing is hanging things up. Whether it is pictures, other ornaments or various storage solutions, I am a fan of using vertical spaces.

Here are a few of the things we have hung in the past few days.

Hooks in the broom cupboard helps to keep various items tidy and organised.

There was nowhere to hang a handtowel in the bathroom but we have remedied that now.

We hung this terracotta ornament on the fence above the pond. It is about the only sun I saw today as today is the winter solstice here in Australia and it was very cold and overcast.

GMan is keen to get some more hooks to help in his quest to organise the stuff in the shed. We spent most of the day working on that project yesterday and there is still more to do. I think ‘a work in progress’ is the best description.

Somewhat Sociable

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I know that my posts for the past 5 weeks have mostly about getting things organised in our new home but recently we have managed our share of being out and about, too. So much so, that 5 days have managed to slip by since my last post.

A couple of weeks ago we joined the Theatre Royal in Castlemaine. Apparently this makes us ‘loyal royal’ supporters and as such we are eligible for discounted movie tickets. We took advantage of this on Tuesday evening when we went to see Allelujah starring Jennifer Saunders and Judi Dench. There are a good mix of new releases and arthouse films and we are looking forward to seeing more.

When we were given our membership tickets we also received a teatowel each. Whilst it might seem strange, I actually appreciated the fact that it was a practical freebie that was not just plastic junk.

It was a bit of a movie week as we also joined the local film society with the rather clever moniker of ‘Maldon Golden Movies’. There is a screening once a month which is a selection of recent and classic films. On Thursday we saw ‘Black Narcissus’, a 1947 film starring Deborah Kerr.

Movies were not the only outings. On Sunday afternoon we went to a small bar which hosts live music from some of the very talented locals. We met some other residents and ended up going to dinner with a group of them afterwards.

We are heading out this evening to the same venue for some more musical adventures.

Next week sees the beginning of a 2 week festival ‘Maldon in Winter‘ which has a wide variety of events with something for everyone. We are busily deciding which events we would like to attend.

For a relatively small town, Maldon has plenty to offer for locals and visitors alike.

Sewing Stuff Sorted

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It is over 2 weeks since I posted this photo of some shelving I repurposed from our walk-in wardrobe to my sewing room.

I knew that there some new IKEA flat packs which had been left by the previous owners but I had not investigated exactly what they were until yesterday. In what I would describe as a massive win, I discovered that there were 4 cupboards, a set of 2 drawers and 2 glass shelves – all designed for the above-mentioned shelving units.

So, I set to work and this is the result.

While there is still some fine-tuning to be done, I am pretty happy with the set-up and mostly know where everything is.

Now to get on with some sewing before too long……………