No Repairs Today

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While I am prepared to have a go at repairing almost anything, there are some things that only have one destination at the end of their life and that includes small electrical appliances such as irons.

I was almost finished the ironing on Sunday when I realised that the iron did not seem to maintaining its heat. On closer inspection I discovered that it was not on and that we had lost power on one circuit.  A bit of judicious testing revealed that the iron was malfunctioning and tripping the circuit breaker.

So, the old iron has been discarded and I bought a new one on Monday.

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I expect that when I do not have business attire to launder for both of us that my ironing pile will decrease significantly but for the moment an iron is absolutely essential.

Now, I just need to find time to make a new cover for the ironing board as this one is now worn out.  It is actually close to 2 years since I wrote a blog post about the fact that it was about to wear out.

I really must do something about it this weekend.  The new iron deserves a new cover on the board!

 

Successfully Repaired

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I did some repairs to my cane laundry basket a couple of weeks ago.  I delayed showing you my handiwork until I was sure that it really was going to be successful.

Here is the well-used basket with some of the cane broken.

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The rear of the handle on the left has broken canes.  Here is a close up view.

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These pieces should be positioned the same as the other side of the handle but once they have broken and the tension is released they have sprung away from their position.  There is now nothing holding the handle in place and if I chose to, I could pull that side of the handle right away from the basket.

I had been considering how I could repair this for some time and I finally bit the bullet and bought some thin plastic rope.  I would have preferred cotton cord but that did not seem to be readily available.

My general idea was good but I had not really thought through the finer details so I did that on the run.

Here is the end result and so far it appears to be holding up to the rigors of being a washing basket.

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Another Weekend

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Well, Sunday evening has rolled around yet again in the blink of an eye.  The weekends are simply not long enough for me to achieve everything I hope to do.

Some weekends are more productive than others and I am pretty happy with what I managed to accomplish.

All of the washing and 95% of the ironing are done.  Why 95%?  The iron decided it was time to die when I only had a few items left.  So, one of my jobs for this week will be to buy a new one.

I have planned our menu for the week, bought fruit and vegetables, swept and vacuumed the floors as well as doing some painting on the verandah.

GMan and I went to the computer shop to buy a new tower for the desktop computer as the other one had been deemed as unrepairable.  The new one should be ready next weekend.

Apart from sanding and painting GMan managed to do all of the mowing so he has been busy, too.

However, the weekend was not all work as we went to the movies in Maleny on Saturday evening to see, ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’.  It was both funny and sad in places and I really enjoyed it.

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A Parcel

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Have you been waiting for another blog post?

I have been waiting for a parcel and today there was a card in the mailbox advising that it was ready to be collected from the Post Office.

Here is the box.

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And the contents.

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A new bag.  I am not a great fan of online shopping and I debated long and hard before ordering this bag.

I had a clear idea of what I was looking for but finding it proved to be a challenge.  I was not prepared to spend $300USD and then add freight on top of the purchase price.  I eventually found this online shop which is based in Adelaide.  I was able to ring the shop and speak directly to the staff who were able to answer my questions.

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I needed a wheeled bag to transport my laptop and assorted files for work along with my lunch and umbrella etc.  but wanted something a bit more stylish than a plain small suitcase.  This Florence Broadhurst bag fits the bill perfectly and also meets cabin baggage size requirements and so will be a great weekend bag or hand luggage when travelling.

What a Difference

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……a week makes!

These are the seedlings when I planted them a little over a week ago.

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And here they are a week later.

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The comparison is not entirely accurate as the photo is taken from the opposite end of the garden.

Everything has more than doubled in size but the zucchini have shown the most spectacular growth.

Unfortunately, something is having a munch on a couple of the bok choy – probably caterpillars from the white cabbage moth.  I could try covering them or I might try a tip I saw on ‘Gardening Australia’ last week.  Sophie has made fake white moths attached to small stakes in the garden because, apparently, the white moth is territorial and the fakes bluff the real moths into thinking they have to go somewhere else.  It would be wonderful if it really is that easy.

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Time to Plan

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Even though we have been home for 3 weeks since our holiday the legacy lives on.

We returned fresh and invigorated with lots of ideas and plans.

I don’t know about contempt from the phrase, “Familiarity breeds contempt” but I do know that being away from your normal environment allows you to consider things with fresh eyes.  We had time to really ponder and discuss all sorts of possibilities including what we want to do in the garden, future holiday plans and retirement activities as well as some of the smaller things we hope to achieve around the house before the end of the year.

There seemed to be so many times in conversation that GMan would comment, “We need to do/get/make……….” that I would simply respond with, “Add it to the list”.  Although we did not have a physical list, we certainly remembered plenty of things and have actioned several since we have been home.

  • 3 new chickens bought
  • Clear at least one vegetable garden and plant seedlings
  • Empty compost from compost tumbler
  • Ordered and installed a new modem for the computer
  • Taken the computer to be repaired/replaced
  • Painted the outdoor table (a work in progress)
  • Repaired the washing basket
  • Taken a bag of bits and pieces to the op shop

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I know there have been others but this gives you an idea.

Then there are others which are earmarked to be done this week.

  • Gather tax info to send to tax agent
  • Buy a new DVD player – DONE today
  • Buy a new batter charger – DONE today
  • Remove dead shrub from front garden – DONE today
  • Advertise some furniture which is no longer required
  • Follow up on a rejected refund claim
  • Contact electricity provider re solar refund

By planning very specific small projects/goals it is very satisfying to work through the list.

I wrote this post last night and today we managed to cross 3 more items off the list.  I am sure there will be more to add by tomorrow.

 

 

 

Keeping it Clean

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While I do not have huge areas to declutter or sort out there are always ongoing jobs to do.  Some are so small that they are barely noticeable but 5 minutes can literally make the difference.

My clothesline is 5 parallel lines under the verandah.  Every few months I wipe down 4 of the lines with a damp cloth to remove any dust and grime.  The last line does not get done because I have 12 hanger holders positioned along the line.

Yesterday I took the hooks off because I was washing a couple of sets of sheets and needed the extra hanging space.  I realised the hooks were very grubby and the line was filthy.  I wiped the line thoroughly before I hung the white sheet on it and then washed the hooks.  A quick soak in some warm, soapy water then scrubbed with an old nail brush before I spread them out to dry.

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Once the sheet was dry I replaced them on the line and hung out the next load which included plenty of items to dry on hangers.

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A few minutes well spent to keep everything in working order.

My Own Advice

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Today I am swallowing some of my own advice.

In my last blog post I talked about not trying to meet prescriptive minimalist goals.  I eschewed the extreme attitude of Bea Johnson at Zero Waste Home as being not for me quite early in my minimalism journey.  There are numerous other extreme ideas such as wearing the same dress every day for a year.  I applaud the people that choose to push the boundaries and carry out these ideas but it is not for me.

However, I have been somewhat seduced by things such as Project 333 and Plastic-Free July.  I have discovered that the life I live does not necessarily meet the lofty ideals of these and similar sites.

I think that part of my ‘problem’ which is not really a problem at all is the fact that I am a well-rounded person (not necessarily in the physical sense).  I dabble in range of strategies to live simply, reduce consumption as well as saving money and resources and have done for quite some time.

It is those ideas and strategies that I try to share with you here on the blog.  The little day to day things that may not look like much but add up over time.

There are many others out there who are doing the same stuff every single day and I want to encourage you to do the same.

There are no numbers that you have to achieve, it is not a race but simply an invitation to live the best life you can.

That is enough talk from me – from tomorrow I will be back to sharing some of the practical things that are part of my routine.

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Enough for Me

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In amongst all of the rubbish floating around on the internet there are some absolute gems.

I found this one the other day.

“It was relaxing and reassuring to know what I had was okay. What you are is already good enough.”

Stop and really think about it.

Here is the article.  It is a guest post by Sarah Peck on the Becoming Minimalist blog.

It really all comes down to the fact that life is not a competition.  I think that trying to meet prescriptive minimalist goals is as bad for you as ‘keeping up with the Jones’.  Be yourself, know that what you are and what you have is enough and live an authentic life.  This is the best recipe for happiness as far as I am concerned.

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What do you think?

A Working Weekend

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I really felt as though I was back into the swing of things at home this weekend.  We achieved a great deal and by yesterday evening I was too tired to contemplate writing a blog post.  So here it is, better late than never.

We bought 3 new chickens who seem to be settling in well.  This brings the number back up to 6.

GMan managed to do the first coat of paint on the outdoor table as well as mowing and lots of work around the yard.

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This is our old outdoor table but instead of re-oiling we decided on a facelift and I think it will look great on the newly renovated verandah.  We bought some new black chairs from IKEA earlier in the year to go with it.

In between washing, ironing and preparing some meals for the coming week I managed to spend some time in the garden.

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The cherry tomato plants had just gone wild while we were away but it has been too cool for them to develop and ripen the fruit so it was time to pull some of them out and rediscover the garden beds.

Once I had cleared one bed, I emptied the compost from the tumbler and added some of it to the bed.

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We use whatever receptacles we can find for compost and the latest addition is the small rubbish bin in the background of the photo.  GMan removed the rusted base and it is now full of weeds and some tomato plants.  Eventually it will break down and then we can simply lift the whole bin off and we will have a pile of compost.

I bought and planted 3 punnets of seedlings – bok choy, zucchini and lettuce.

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There is much more that I want to do in the vegie patch but it will have to wait for another day.