A Matter of Priorities

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Posted on January 9, 2019

At the end of my last blog post I said I would show you more of what I had been sewing the next day.

Well, that did not happen. Not only did I not write the post, I did not do the intended sewing. There were other things that rated as more important and demanded my attention. In fact, if I am honest, that is why there are often significant gaps between blog posts. The blog has a relatively low priority in my life as the full-time job and running a household definitely come first.

Anyway, in the absence of any sewing, I want to share some of the recent additions to my wardrobe.

I am not keen on buying clothes online but towards the end of last year I bought 3 tops from Covered Perfectly. This was on the recommendation of Susan from Susan After 60 blog. The tops are made in the USA and with a buy 2, get the 3rd one free deal they were very reasonably priced, even with the overseas shipping.

Here are the three that I bought.

Since it is the middle of summer here, these will not be worn in the near future. I am looking forward to wearing them in the cooler weather and also including them in the packing for our Europe trip later in the year.

Yesterday, I had some free time between appointments in Maleny so I took the opportunity to check out the recycle boutique. I do have a browse there from time to time and have bought a few things previously. I was definitely in luck as I found this cute pair of cropped Sportscraft jeans which appeared to have never been worn. They were my size and fitted like a glove.

I also found a pretty sleeveless top with a cowl neckline.

Here are a few styling possibilities that I have identified for my new pieces.

Cropped jeans with teal 3/4 sleeve top.

Cropped jeans with navy tshirt.

Cropped jeans with white collared shirt.

The sleeveless top will be paired with white cropped pants, black trousers or even these green jeans.

A few years ago my wardrobe consisted mostly of black, white and red items.

More recently I have included a bit more navy in lieu of some black pieces and the addition of some more blue and green is great, too. I am still sticking to my theory that every piece in my wardrobe must be able to be worn in at least 3 different ways or combinations.

Feeling Rich

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Posted on October 18, 2018

I can clearly remember when I was about 10 years old thinking about what I would have when I was rich. Did I really understand the meaning of ‘rich’? Possibly not.

My family were staying at the beach for our annual holiday and I was struggling to put on a pair of damp bathers in order to go to the beach after lunch. You see, we might have been on holidays at the beach but certain rules of etiquette still applied. One was that you did not come to the dining table to eat lunch dressed in your swimwear. So, after being at the beach in the morning you were changed for lunch. The swimwear was rinsed and hung on the line. However, they were not completely dry by the time I wanted to go back to the beach in the afternoon – no lycra swimwear then, so it took ages to dry. I dreamed of the day when I was rich and could have two pairs of bathers.

When I was in my late teens and working, I did have a couple of pairs of bikinis but this was a fashion statement rather than any sort of practical application of my childhood fantasy.

Swimming is not a major pastime for me so one pair of bathers is generally sufficient and the challenge of buying decent swimwear that I am happy with is usually enough to stop me even considering buying more. However, I did buy a second pair last year when I was away at a conference and unexpectedly had an opportunity to go swimming. I was fortunate to find what I regarded as the perfect pair of bathers – style, colour and price.

We have 2 beach holidays coming up in the next 6 months so my 2 pairs of bathers will definitely come in handy. Perhaps I will feel rich, too.

I recently decided to buy a sarong to co-ordinate with the second pair of bathers. Whilst I am not a huge fan of online shopping for clothes, it was a godsend in this instance. Size is not an issue for a sarong and the internet allowed me to search literally hundreds of sarongs to find one in a colour and pattern I wanted.

The parcel arrived yesterday and I am happy with my purchase.

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This is the other sarong and bathers so I am all prepared for the beach.

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How rich am I with 2 sets of co-ordinating beachwear?

What makes you feel rich?

A Bulk Buy

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Posted on March 10, 2018

As you know, I am not a great fan of shopping. However, there are still things that need to be purchased.

I needed more eucalyptus oil which is an ingredient of the homemade cleaner and wool wash that I make. It is also a useful disinfectant and aid for removing labels from jars and the resultant glue residue. Needless to say, I use a bit of it and was keen to buy a larger quantity than the 200ml bottle that I had recently emptied.

After some online searching we managed to source a 4 litre bottle in Australia. It is the same brand as the previous bottle and was significantly cheaper. In fact, I calculated that it cost about 60% of the cost of buying an equivalent volume in 200ml bottles from one of the major supermarkets.

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Although it is in a plastic container, this quantity will last me a lifetime and I will not be buying any more 200ml plastic bottles of eucalyptus oil.

I understand that many people would not be interested in buying this sort of quantity as there is a significant financial investment as well as storage issues. Neither of these are a particular problem for me so I am happy to have been able to buy a large quantity of eucalyptus oil.

If you live in my vicinity and would like a smaller portion of this eucalyptus oil, please let me know and I will let you know all of the details including pricing which will be the same as I paid. I am not doing this to make a profit but simply to give others the opportunity to access eucalyptus oil with minimal packaging in quantities that are appropriate to your needs.

**Please note that this is labelled ‘Commercial Grade’ and the directions are for use in cleaning applications.

There are a couple of hyperlinks in the second paragraph to the ‘recipes’ for cleaning products that I make using eucalyptus oil.

Waste Not

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Posted on September 5, 2017

I will never fit a year’s worth of rubbish in a small jar but I manage reasonably well at this ‘zero waste’ gig, mainly because we don’t actually buy a lot of stuff. However, some things are unavoidable. After much discussion and debate we recently purchased a new suitcase for our upcoming overseas trip. You can see it here.

We bought the case online and of course there was the inevitable packaging. All things considered, it was not unreasonable to ensure that the case arrived in perfect condition. A large cardboard box which will be flattened and added to the pile which we use as weed mat under mulched areas of the garden and a large, lightweight plastic bag which I have carefully folded and put away. This is sure to be used at some time in the future.

Finally, there was this piece of thin foam sheeting.

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This is not recyclable in any shape or form so it can only be destined for the rubbish bin. Although it will still end up in landfill, I decided that it could have one more use before ending up there.

I cut it into two pieces and stitched them up to create these bags.

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They will be used as rubbish bags for the relatively small amount of household rubbish which we produce before tossing the bag and its contents into the large rubbish collection bin. Based on past experience I expect that each of these will hold about 4 – 6 week’s worth of rubbish.

It is not an ideal solution but one in which I feel that I have made the best of the situation with which I was presented.

But back to the online shopping and packaging. I regularly hear people complaining about the packaging they receive when shopping online and their attempts to change they way things are shipped. We do not shop extensively online but it does have advantages. We live in a semi-rural area and saved an enormous amount of time and fuel driving long distances to locate an appropriate suitcase. Secondly, the packaging I received is probably the same packaging which any retail outlet would receive when ordering from the supplier. I am sure that the shop would not have made any effort to re-purpose the various pieces of packaging materials as I have and best I could hope for is that the cardboard may have been recycled. Therefore, even though I have added to my personal landfill tally I feel that I have done the best that I could. What do you think?

Bed in a Box

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Posted on March 22, 2017

I am not a huge fan of online shopping but it does have some advantages. For example, we buy premium dog food in 15kg bags and order 2 at a time. There is a financial saving and the added bonus that it is delivered to our front door. Additionally, there are more and more items that are only available online.

We recently decided that it was time to consider replacing the mattress on our bed and I started searching online to see what types of mattresses were available. I stumbled upon the Sommuto website which produces Australian made mattresses by an Australian owned company. The catch? There is no shop and your order online. I have spent a couple of months reading and researching before biting the bullet and ordering it on the weekend. T

The mattress was delivered today.

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It was quite weighty so took GMan and I to carry the box upstairs. It was a simple matter of cutting the plastic tape and sliding the roll out of the box.

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A special cutter was provided to cut the plastic wrap. We then lifted the roll onto the existing ensemble base and unrolled the mattress.

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It feels quite different to what we have had previously but I am very confident that we will be happy with our new purchase. Anyway, it has a 100 day trial period with a money-back guarantee.

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For something as large as a mattress there was minimal packaging. The cardboard box will be opened out and used as weed mat under mulch in the garden. The plastic tape will go into the rubbish and the heavy-duty plastic has been folded up and will be sure to be used at some time in the future.

I have made the bed and now am looking forward to a relaxing sleep.

Goodnight.

Another Parcel

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Posted on January 26, 2017

About 10 days ago I placed an online order with OzFarmers for some glass jars. They arrived by courier a few days later.

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Time to open it up. I was impressed that the box had clearly been reused and was excited to find that the packing was not bubbled plastic or styrofoam beads, but good old newspaper.

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The newspaper was shredded quite uniquely but it is a little difficult to see in this photo.

These are 2 Weck glass jars with glass lids. I am quite glad that they were wrapped in bubble wrap to ensure that they arrived safely. We ordered these as GMan needed one for making a sourdough starter. He has been making bread in the breadmaker for many years using bread mix and yeast but has decided to branch out and try sourdough.

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Since we were only able to buy these online, it made sense to purchase an additional one so that we would have a spare. I have used reused glass jars for preserving jam, chutney and sauce but recently made the decision to invest in proper canning jars with a two-piece lid.

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I bought 12 of each of two sizes – Half pint and Pint jars – for those of us who deal in metric the actual capacity is 250ml and 500ml respectively.

Here is a closer look at the newspaper packaging. There are about 6 layers of newspaper which have clearly been put through some sort of mechanical shredder to make a series of incomplete cuts and then it is spread to make a grille pattern. The newspaper is now in the compost bin and the cardboard box is flattened and will be used as a weed suppressant when we next spread some mulch in the garden.

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Sadly, the entire trays were shrink-wrapped in plastic but rather than just ripping it off, I split the corners at one end until I was able to slide the whole wrapper off in one piece.

This is what it looked like.

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I sealed the untouched end with an elastic band and this will now be a future rubbish bag for my kitchen bin.

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No matter how hard you try, it is impossible to completely eliminate single-use plastic but it is possible to be conscious of your consumption and to think outside the box when it comes to disposing of it.

I am comfortable with accepting what is a relatively low level of plastic packaging to enable me to acquire products which should last a lifetime. By using the jars we bought to prepare more of our own food we will reduce reliance on other food packaging.

A Parcel

An Introduction & Dog Food Delivery

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Posted on March 19, 2015

Introducing……..GMan.

I know it is nothing like any of your suggestions, nor is it remotely linked to any of the ideas that I put forward but my husband is satisfied with the title so that is what matters.

So, The Duke is no more and GMan has joined the cast at Organised Castle.

We are not huge fans of online shopping but there are some instances where it is definitely worthwhile and pet food and supplies are one of them. This tends to be GMan’s domain and he orders tick and flea medication for the dog online. A few months ago he discovered that we could buy the dog food we usually purchase and it was cheaper to buy online and have it delivered than we where we had previously bought it. We buy 2 x 15kg sacks at a time and they are delivered to the door within a couple of days of placing the order. We no longer have a 70km round trip to buy it and don’t have to hoist 30kg of dog food into and out of the boot of the car. This is definitely quicker, easier and less expensive so we will definitely continue to buy it online.