Slow Living – February

This is my second month of joining in the monthly round-up at Slow Living Essentials and already I seem to be struggling with what to write.  A couple of things seems to have conspired against me – it is a short month – is it really the end of the month already? and the weather!  Since the dry spell broke on the Australia Day weekend (26th January) it has rained almost constantly which limits our activities somewhat

Here are the Slow Living categories:

{Nourish}  With the onset of some cooler weather with the rain it was an ideal time to pull out the slow cooker.

I made a batch of pumpkin soup and and beef casserole.

{Prepare}  We had an excellent crop of figs.

As well as eating lots of them fresh from the tree, I was able to dry some.  This was very successful so I am hoping to have enough to do again next year.

{Reduce}  This is always a hard one as we do this each and every day.  I turned a singlet of mine that was too short into one for Miss O.

{Green}  The weather has brought out the mould but I am keeping things clean and smelling fresh with the use of clove oil.  You can read a previous post here.

{Grow}  The warm, dry beginning to the summer meant that we had about 8 mangoes on our small tree.  We planted it about 4 years ago and this is the first time it has fruited.  I suspect that it is generally too cool for them here but this year’s crop has made it worthwhile.  They are some of the best mangoes I have tasted and the flesh is as smooth as anything with no sign of stringiness.

Last weekend we had a rare fine day so we bought and planted some vegetable seedlings.  They have more than doubled in size in a week.

{Create}  Since my sewing machine has returned from being serviced I have got quite a bit of sewing done.  I am working through my stash of fabric as well as some pieces I have been given.  Here are some of the results.

Winter and summer pyjama bottoms.

A new lining in my skirt.

{Discover}  I don’t think I have read anything this month but in a different vein I did discover some fabric to be used when I was sorting out my stash.

{Enhance}  We gave away the used fencing wire via Freecycle.  I also shared some of the many self-sown cucumber seedlings with neighbours, work colleagues, blogging friends and also on Freecycle.

It is a shame that I did not take some photos of them.  Not so much for the seedlings but the innovative packaging.  I used some excess egg cartons that I had been given and each seedling and its soil was packed in a space in the carton.

An internet friend sent me some fabric and I used some of it to make a dress suitable for an 18 month old.  I will send it to her for her granddaughter who was born last week.

{Enjoy}  We travelled to Melbourne and spent a weekend with our daughter who moved there recently.  We saw her new home, sampled food at some local establishments and shopped.

I bought this dress to wear to a wedding in a few weeks.  I just need to finalise accessories.

The slow living this month has been heavily weighted towards sewing and I guess that is not entirely unexpected with being stuck indoors due to the weather.

Now I am off to check out some of the slow living blogs.

Til next month………..

 

 

Prepared

The wild weather we experienced 3 weeks ago is back, although not quite so dramatic.  Parts of the Sunshine Coast and hinterland, where I live, have received well in excess of 200mm since the rain began on Thursday.  The majority of it fell overnight on Sunday and all day yesterday.

The rain has eased for the moment and the forecast is that we have seen the worst of it so any flooding should only be minor to moderate.  The lake in our backyard is nowhere near as extensive as it was last month or on many other occasions.

Gale force winds are being forecast for the next 2 to 3 days and of all the extreme weather conditions, it is wind that actually poses the greatest risk to us and therefore the need to be prepared.  While there is a small chance of structural damage, either directly or from falling trees, loss of power is our major potential problem.

Electricity is integral to almost everything we do in the 21^st century so we have done all that we can to make sure that we can function for up to 3 days without it.  Before I left for work today I made put containers of water in the portable fridge/freezer (set to ‘freeze’) so that we will have plenty of ice available to keep foodstuffs cool if we lose power for more than 24 hours.  We also have 20 litres of drinking water immediately available.  The cooktop is gas and we have solar hot water (if the sun happens to be shining!)

A less obvious piece of planning was my choice of clothes to wear to work.  I had previously decided to wear a skirt, blouse, stockings and heels but instead opted for lightweight jeans, fitted ¾ sleeve top and lace-up shoes and socks.  If we arrive home this evening (after dark) and there is no power I do not need to be stumbling around in my fancy work clothes.

I hope my preparation is not required, however, since it is only 3 weeks since we lost power for more than 3 days the inconvenience is very fresh in my memory.  I wonder if others have taken heed as a result of the previous storm or if they have quickly slipped back to the complacent attitude of expecting that there will always be power whenever they flick a switch?

Safety First

A short message for all of my friends who are in the path of Hurricane Sandy.

Prepare as best you can.  Take care and stay safe.

My thoughts are with you all.

Split & Stacked

Today The Duke split some more firewood and I stacked it.  This is the perfect time of the year for this kind of job as the weather is pleasant during the day and we have had no rain for about a month so the wood is really dry.

Here it is all stacked along the side of the woodshed.  This is in addition to the stack that we have under the house.  We do not use a lot of wood so this will be a good start on our supply for next winter.  It is a great feeling to know that what we are doing know will keep us warm next year.

Do you do any seasonal preparation ahead of time?

Shopping At Home

In years gone by the phrase ‘shop at home’ usually referred to mail-order catalogues.  This meant that you could peruse the pages for your choice of everything from underwear to saucepans.  It was a service provided to people who lived in remote areas.  Imagine the excitement when the carefully-chosen and long-awaited parcel arrived from the city stores (Myer and David Jones) to families on outback properties.

Shopping in the comfort of your own home was also a driver of many ‘party plan’ and catalogue businesses.  These included Tupperware, Avon and Nutrimetics, to name but a few.

More recently, much of this shopping activity has been surpassed by buying online.  I have bought things online, but usually only after considerable research.  It makes shopping easy, so easy in fact, that I think some people have accumulated much more debt due to the ease with which they can part with their money or more likely, credit.

My shopping at home, today, was none of these.  I merely walked downstairs to my store-cupboard and replenished supplies which would otherwise have necessitated going to the shop.

This morning there was no cereal nor much psyllium husk which I have on my cereal.  So I headed to my cupboard and picked these two buckets.Here are my pantry containers refilled.

This afternoon I ‘shopped’ again – this time for raisins and sultanas as I wanted to make a boiled fruit cake.

Having a store of staples means less trips to the shops which in turn saves time, petrol and opportunities to spend money on other items.  It makes sense to me to have a supply of goods on hand in case of a range of possible emergencies or disasters.  As well as food I keep a supply of other items such as toilet paper, toothpaste and soap.

Do you keep a stock of foodstuffs or other items?

Organising the Woodshed – Part 2

Another cold, grey weekend has meant that the fire has been going most of the time.  This is a timely reminder to prepare some more firewood.

This is a pile of large logs near the woodshed.  They are pieces which The Duke had cut from large limbs that had dropped from the eucaplypt tree at the bottom of the garden.  We moved several loads in the wheelbarrow to a spot which is closer to the house.

The Duke split them into pieces of a more manageable size.

I loaded them into the wheelbarrow and then stacked them under the house.

This is the result of less than 2 hours work spread over both days of the weekend.  We now have a substantial pile of split wood which will dry out completely since it is out of the weather.  We have achieved this through collecting wood from our own property, allowing it to weather for a couple of years and finally, splitting and stacking it.

Like many other activities of self-reliance we have a real sense of achievement and satisfaction in knowing that we have done what is required to maintain a warm, comfortable home through the winter.

We plan to continue splitting and stockpiling firewood until all of the current piles of logs are prepared for use.

Finally, a big thank to everyone who has commented this week.  I have responded to them all (I think).  Come back tomorrow for the next instalment of Project Streamline.

Outdoor Organising – Woodshed

The cold, wet weather of the past couple of weeks forced me to do some outdoor organising.  Our only form of heating is the wood-burning heater and this is fueled entirely by wood collected from our own land.

We have an area next to the chicken coop which we use as a woodshed, however, this was mostly small branches suitable for kindling.

There are several piles of large pieces of wood that are out in the weather to season before being split into pieces that are suitable for the fireplace.  They have been there for at least a couple of years so are well and truly ready for use.

One of the problems with our wood storage system – if you can call it a system – is that it is stored directly on the ground and over a period of time this will degrade into soil.

After much thought over the years I was finally galvanised into action.

Most of the medium-sized pieces had been used last week to keep us warm and to dry the clothes so there was space cleared on the right-hand side of the shed.  I raked up the remnants of kindling and then used a couple of offcuts of corrugated iron to make a ‘floor’ and stacked some pieces from the outdoor pile against the side wall of the woodshed.  Now that the wood is undercover they will be able to dry out and be split ready for use.

We have a spare half-size wheelie rubbish bin which I filled  with small pieces of kindling.  That is now in the workshop and there are also 4 black tubs in the shed stacked with small to medium wood.

This definitely a work in progress but I am determined that the pile of large, wet  and well-seasoned logs in the backyard will be a a stack of dry,split firewood that is ready to use and easily accessible from the house.

The first step of the process has been taken towards this goal.  That is often the most difficult.

Do you have an overwhelming jobs that you do not  know where or how to start?

Kitchen Kapers

I have spent the best part of today in the kitchen.  The first thing was to juice the 60 limes I picked from the tree.  Some is in ice-cube trays in the freezer and the remainder in a jug in the refrigerator.  I will freeze this in trays as well once the others are completely frozen and can be removed from the trays and placed in a bag.

Next were 5 pumpkins from the garden.  Unfortunately, I cannot leave them on the vine until the stalks dry out completely because some of the wildlife starts to eat them once they are mature.  Because I have to pick them before the stalk has withered, this means that they will not store.  So my plan was to cut and peel them (a mammoth job), roast in the oven and then mash the pumpkin.  I have frozen it in batches so that it can be made into soup as required.  By just freezing the mashed pumpkin I save space in the freezer as compared to making and freezing the soup.

I also sorted through the freezer and pulled out this bag of chopped onion tops.

These are from the onions I grew last winter but our winter is not long enough for the tops to die down before I have to harvest the onions.  Otherwise our wet weather starts and they would just rot in the ground.  I diced all of the onions and froze them in 150g packs and I could not bear to waste the fresh green tops so chopped them and pt the bag of them in the freezer while I considered what to do with them.

I decided to thaw them out and then put them on the trays in the food dehydrator.  My plan is to dry them completely and then grind them in the spice grinder to make my own onion powder for seasoning. I will post about the success or otherwise of this venture in a day or so.

The other thing I retrieved from the freezer was a bag of cherry tomatoes.  These were picked from the neighbour’s garden a couple of months ago when they were away and I didn’t have time to do anything with them apart from wash, hull and freeze them.

I found a tomato sauce recipe on the internet and made a couple of adjustments to suit the ingredients I had.  I cooked up the sauce and 1.9 kg of cherry tomatoes made up into 1.75 litres of sauce.

Here it is – bottled and ready to add to the stock cupboard.

I made 3 batches of muffins – lime and coconut, fig and almond as well as banana ones.  This is some of them packed and ready to freeze.

While the oven was on I made another zucchini quiche.  We have an abundance of eggs and since this uses 5 eggs it is a good way to use some up.

I had planned to make so more fresh pasta – using eggs again – but the day was almost over.  I will save that job for Wednesday which is a public holiday here (Anzac Day).

Most of my cooking and preparation was a direct result of produce from our garden, either fresh or frozen.  Since we are blessed to be able to grow this food I feel it is important to make sure that we use it to the best of our ability.

 

 

Sunday Stuff

Today I continued with my sewing and sorting our some more of the stuff that was on my sewing table.

I have all but finished the apron I am making.  Just a bit of handsewing on the waistband and buttons and buttonholes to attach the neck strap.

This is what the neck strap and buttons will look like.

Finally, the pocket detail of which I am rather proud.

I really hope my apron partner likes it.

The next things I am working on are 2 summer tops for myself.  I know I will not need them for several months but it will be nice to have them finished and hanging in my wardrobe, rather than cluttering up space on my work table.

Now that the space is cleared I can see exactly what else I have to sew.  There are several Christmas gift bags as well as fabric for a reusable shopping bag (I am going to copy an existing one for a pattern).  I have other fabric earmarked to make a skirt for my niece, summer pyjamas for my granddaughter, a dress for Belle and a couple of polo shirts for The Duke so there is plenty to keep me occupied.

My plan is to do some sewing at least one each week and gradually work my way through the ‘To Do’ list.

On other matters, I have done a menu plan for the week for both lunches and dinners.  I have been rather slack lately and although we have not resorted to takeaway or eating out, my planning has been a bit haphazard.  I am back on track and hopefully this will make the morning rush a bit less rushed.  Tomorrow we are having leftover lasagne and salad and this is all prepared and in the refrigerator ready to grab and go in the morning.

I like to spend some time on Sundays getting organised so that I can have a headstart on the coming week.

Are you prepared for the week ahead?

Garden Planning

After a few weeks of mostly wet weather, our vegetable garden is pretty well non-existent.  While the weather was fine on the weekend, I took the opportunity to examine what is left.  The cucumbers, zucchini and tomatoes all need to be pulled out.  There are a few corn growing and I don’t know whether the cobs will mature but I will leave them for the time being.  The same goes for the button squash which have weathered the wet conditions much better than the zucchini.  There is Greek basil still going under all the weeds so that will stay.  The cherry tomatoes are wild and threatening to take over the garden.

I also was able to pick some figs.  There are a lot more on the tree so I am hoping to get enough to make some fig jam (my favourite) and perhaps to try drying some as well.

Next weekend I hope that the weather is fine and we will remove all of the old plants and start preparing the beds for our winter crops.  It is time to get some more mushroom compost again and hopefully some mushrooms as a bonus.

Although it is still most definitely summer it is time to get prepared as we have a relatively short and mild winter.  I will be planting onion and leek seeds this week as it takes about 10 – 12 weeks before they are ready to plant out and that takes us through till the beginning of May.  Although I have grown onions successfully in previous years, our winter is not long enough for the tops to die down and dry off.  I have to pick the onions with the tops still green so they do not store well.  I have diced and frozen the onions previously but this year I hope to dehydrate at least some of them.

I checked the seeds that I have to see what else I need to buy.  I keep my seeds in a container in the refrigerator.

I buy my seeds from Green Harvest so am going to spend some time checking out the catalogue.  Fortunately for me, Green Harvest are located in Maleny, near my home so I can pick up my order in person.  I need more broccoli seeds and am going to try to grow cauliflower and cabbage from seed as well.  I may have another go a growing carrots which are my nemesis.

My ideal is to plant my first crop of broccoli seedlings around St Patrick’s Day (March 17th) so I want to get the seeds planted as soon as possible.