Apologies for the lack of posts but I am having computer issues at the moment. I will be back soon – I hope but in the meantime please browse through some of the older posts. I am sure you will find plenty of interesting posts from the last 5 years.
Please leave a comment if you enjoy a post some that it comes to my attention and I can either provide an update or simply revisit it so that others may also find it.
Some people work to a plan for cleaning. It could be vacuuming on Monday, dusting on Tuesday and so on or a room at a time. Perhaps a schedule of things to do on a weekly or monthly basis.
I do not follow any set routine but tend to do things as required or more importantly, when I have time.
Today was one of those completely unexpected cleaning moments. I was hanging out washing and noticed that there was some debris in the peg bag which hangs on my laundry trolley. So I tipped all of the pegs into a bucket of soapy water and washed them. Then I emptied all of the dirt and a mud wasp nest out of the bag and washed it, too.
Here are the pegs spread out to dry on an old towel.
You can see how much the fabric has faded even though the trolley and bag are always on the verandah out of the weather. The buttons were red originally as can be seen from the back of the button.
The bag replaced on the handle of the trolley and filled with pegs.
Some of the cane on the handle of the basket is broken and I am trying to decide how best to mend that. I will write a blog post about that when I get around to doing it.
Last weekend I was doing some general housework and I cleaned and polished this small table.
The furniture polish I use is a quantity of the cheapest vegetable oil I can find with a few drops of essential oil to create a pleasant odour. I use either lemon or lavender oil. I put a small amount of this mixture on a soft cloth (old t-shirts are good) and apply to the timber then rub it in and buff.
I washed and ironed the doilies and then replaced the ornaments.
I love this table which I have had for about 20 years and all of the ornaments are special to me.
I keep most things fairly simple but do not subscribe to the minimalist style of an almost bare room.
I prefer the mantra of, “Keep only those things which you use or love”. These are things that I love.
Tonight I want to share another dinner idea with you – risotto.
In no way could this be described as a recipe but more of a method.
Risotto is arborio rice cooked gently in a small amount of liquid. Keep adding liquid and stirring regularly unto the desired tenderness of the rice is reached.
I use my large flat-bottomed wok to make risotto.
Quantities for 2 adults (sometime there is enough left for 1 lunch).
1/2 onion, finely diced
1 teaspoon stock powder
3/4 cup arborio rice
Water
This will make the basic mixture to which you can add whatever you like. I used asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes.
Fry the onion in a little oil. Add the rice and toss to coat thoroughly. Add some water and the stock powder. Simmer and stir until the water is almost absorbed and add a little more water. Continue to do this until the rice is cooked and almost creamy.
I also added 2 teaspoons of powdered dried tomato with the water. Finally, I stirred through some sun-dried tomatoes and fresh asparagus cut into pieces and cooked for 1 minute in the microwave.
Serve immediately with a little grated cheese if desired.
Pumpkin and bacon, broccolini and capsicum (peppers) or sweet potato and caramelised onion are some other winning combinations. You can experiment with different flavours but I would advise only using 2 or at the very most 3 ingredients or otherwise the flavours become overwhelmed. The only thing I do not use in risotto is mushrooms – they turn the mix a fairly unappealing shade of grey!
No, I am not getting rid of my dishwasher but simply giving it a thorough clean. The dishwasher is a 2 drawer Fisher & Paykel which was installed about 7 years ago when we renovated the kitchen.
We regularly wipe over the inside and outside of the machine but had never taken the filter out of the base. Today I removed the racks, spray arm and the filters. I used a damp cloth to wipe off any scum and then dried the inside of the drawer with a dry cloth.
I cleaned the filters which had a small amount of scum build-up on the mesh using a kitchen brush and rinsed them in cold water.
Here are all of the pieces drying on the bench.
It was easy to reassemble the drawer and it is ready to use for another 7 years – or perhaps I will clean it sooner.
Whenever you dismantle something for any reason it is important to take careful notice of how it is put together to save any angst when you come to reassemble it.
It is interesting to note that despite the extended time of use the machine generally was quite clean. I think this is testament to the Kin Kin Naturals dishwasher powder that we use and that GMan is quite particular rinsing dishes before loading them in the dishwasher.
This is a timely reminder to maintain appliances to keep them in good working order.
Today marks the 5th anniversary of this blog – Organised Castle. WordPress sent me a message of congratulations this evening but I had remembered this morning when I checked back to the date of my first post.
It is interesting that I reach this milestone at a time when I have spent some time debating the future of Organised Castle. I am definitely planning to continue with the blog but am yet to decide on the direction.
Some blogs have a very narrow focus with quite specific content whereas mine tends to be a more rambling approach to whatever is foremost in my mind. Over the last 5 years I have covered topics as diverse as decluttering, my small wardrobe, gardening, menu planning, sewing, general organisation, cooking, green cleaning, preserving food and even some political commentary.
When I started the blog I made a commitment to myself to post every day in order to make it a habit. Sometimes I stick to this and other times there can be substantial gaps when life gets in the way. I have considered a less onerous schedule of perhaps 2 posts per week, however, I have decided to maintain the current random posting of whenever I have the time and something worthwhile to say.
While the frequency of posts is entirely my decision, I would love some feedback from you, dear reader, regarding the content. I have recently posted a number of posts with recipes and preparation of our dinners. These seem to have been popular and I am wondering if I should do more of this. What would you like to see in future posts? Anything I should leave out? I would love your feedback because although this is part diary it is also about sharing knowledge and skills and I want to keep it relevant for you.
I am looking forward to the next 5 years and what will unfold and time goes by.
When I mentioned in a Facebook group that I was preparing some meals for later in the week this one caught some attention and I have been asked for the recipe. Well, like many of my meals, recipe is a bit of a joke but I will do my best to explain my method.
2 large pieces of gravy beef in the slow cooker
1 onion, sliced spread on top of the meat
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons tomato sauce (ketchup)
200ml water
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Add all of the ingredients, cook on high for about 6 hours or until beef is tender and can be broken with a spoon.
I then divided the meat and gravy into 2 containers as this will make 4 serves – 2 meals for GMan and I. It is now in the freezer and will be added to the menu plan at a later date.
I usually add a little more water when I am reheating to make the gravy a bit thinner.
Now I will share what I really did.
The onion was frozen onion rings that I had done from a large bag of onions I bought some time ago. I used a handful which was roughly equivalent to one onion. Worcestershire sauce was not measured – just a splash of homemade worcestershire sauce and the tomato sauce and 200ml of water was achieved by rinsing out various almost empty bottles of homemade tomato sauce.
Finally, I tossed in a tablespoon of powdered dried tomato which I made from some of our glut of cherry tomatoes but tomato paste would be equally as good.
I am sure this ‘recipe’ would horrify the purists but it tastes great and when served with mashed potatoes and some other vegetables of your choice makes a hearty meal.
Well, it has been a little more than just the weekend, but I took a few days off from my blog.
Life has continued much the same as usual. During the week I go to work. On the weekend I go shopping to make sure that we have the food that we need. I plan and prepare meals for the week ahead. The washing and ironing and done and so the cycle begins again.
I made another quiche using the rice base that I wrote about last week. This also used up some more of the cream.
The meat supplies were low so I stocked up. One of the things I bought was gravy beef. I use this to make casseroles in the slow-cooker and one of my favourites is Braised Steak and Onions. I will do a separate post about this easy meal.
While I was catching up on general housework, GMan was busy outdoors. He set himself the task of digging up all of the lawn in the area were we are trying to establish a number of blueberry bushes. They seem to be struggling and I think it is because they are competing with the lawn for nutrients. So all of the lawn around them will go and we will mulch the entire area. As usual, nothing went to waste and the lawn has been re-homed in other areas of the garden.
The chickens really enjoyed the opportunity to scratch around in the freshly exposed earth and found lots of tasty morsels. Digging is their favourite activity and they never miss an opportunity.
Another month has rolled by and the summer weather is still with us. There has been very very little variation in what I wear so the figures have not altered substantially.
The total remains at 92 as I have neither acquired nor discarded anything in the past month. The number of items worn since I started this project stands at 68 – 3 more in the last month. 2 more scarves/pashminas got an airing (mainly to wrap around my shoulders when out in the evening) and an old polo shirt which I wore when gardening.
Firm favourites
When I look at the figures, these pieces are clearly some of the most versatile and popular ones.
By the time I do my next update at the end of March I hope it may have begun to cool down a little so there may be some different pieces being worn.
It is now less than 5 months until we head to the USA and Canada for 6 weeks so I have started thinking about what I will be packing for the trip.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote this post in which I mentioned getting an adjustable desk.
Well, it arrived last week, was set up on Friday morning and I have been happily using it ever since.
Apologies for the photo quality. I was in a rush late this afternoon and quickly took this one on my phone.
I have been standing most of the time and am finding it really good.
The mechanism makes it very easy to lift or lower in a couple of seconds.
I re-arranged several aspects of my workspace to improve the flow of work and access to various items.
I would love to hear from anyone else who uses a sitting/standing workstation and what you think of it.
organised castle 