1:30am Rat encounter

Let this be a warning to all men, put cornice in your wife's cupboard!

This morning at 1:30 am I wake to my necklaces making noise in a closed cupboard.
On opening the door there is a bush rat at head height looking back at Pooh.

What do you do at that hour of the morning, how do you remove a rat? Is it going to leap from the cupboard and go for his throat, run on to the floor and run through the house of sleeping children, get lost under toys or clothes?

It just seems very bad to my confused just awoken mind.

Pooh gets gloves, maybe he can catch it? It's not going to stay in a container with paper like an obedient spider. No way, springs straight past onto the floor of the bedroom and into the corner where my chair resides.

Words fail to express the horror we felt.

 A stroke of early morning genius, call the dog. She was very bashful about coming into the bedroom, normally the forbidden zone, however on entry in less than 2 seconds she spied and caught the offending rat.

Victory and relief rushed through my body then remorse, I sort of felt sad, the bush rat is very very cute, but lets remember it crossed a boundary.

So needless to say I'm sure, Pooh is currently installing cornice into the now defiled cupboard, the dog is by the fire and the rat, well by all accounds it will reappear shortly in a new form ;o)

A wood fire dinner

Tonight we had the most delicious dinner. DS won a blade roast at the club last night and we cooked it in the wood oven. I have to share this recipe, it is amazing, the gravy is second to none!

• Heat out the dutch oven in coals or wood fire oven 
• In the thermomix chop 2 onions and cook with 30g olive oil, 40 mins. Add 1 cup red wine, 3 crushed cloves garlic 1 cup beef stock. Salt and pepper to taste. Simmer briefly.
• Seal 2 kg blade roast in hot dutch oven, once sealed add onion and stock mix and into coals or oven for 2 1/2 hours.
• If you don't have a thermie, then seal meat first in hot dutch oven, remove meat and cook onions, and add the rest as above, stir, add meat and cook as above.
• Turn and check from time to time, when ready. Remove meat to rest. Wrap and place in an insulated container or cover with foil and blanket.
• Get gravy made with pan juices. Add corn flour and whisk, add more water and red whine, 1 TBS brown sugar and splosh of vinegar. You can do this in the thermie or the dutch oven.
• Carve up and serve with veggies. Drown in gravy!

The point being, use your camping equipment and skills on 'normal' days, saves money and tastes oh so good!

Local Radio

During our busy semester, our DD was a guest speaker on our loacl radio. It was a terrific experience for her and I thought I'd use this post as a reminder about local radio stations. Free and fun activity if anyone is interested in this sort of thing.

Sorry about the photo quality, it was on a phone and we couldn't get any closer, so zoomed in.

Vintage caravan restoration

We have a camper van, a thing that has tent like ends; it's great except when it rains. We had a horrible experience last year, it poured and poured, the wee ones got diarrhoea, it was a long walk to the park toilets and the littlest got very ill and ended up in hospital. So from then on I wanted a 'real' caravan. I wanted to be able to pull over, open the door have lunch a cup of tea and keep driving, no set up.

We had a check box of things we felt were requirements.

• Under $10,000

• Not too long, around 18 foot.

• Single axle

• Bunks and queen sized bed.

We finally found it and it was in another state, a huge task to go and see.
We met possibly the dodgiest vendor in all of existence. While our new van fits all of the above criteria except the queen bed but that can be changed, it was internally in poor condition. It was carefully disguised and we felt quite sad later. However it had towed beautifully, couldn’t be happier as that's extremely important. So the renovation begins in our study down time.

Here’s the before interior view:

The aim is for a cute vintage caravan, all new lining boards and a tiny ensuite. I have had a ball googling pictures and I think we might acutally go quite.. ahem... loud! I'm considering flowers on the outside!
I have decide on white linings, Micheal Miller fabrics (vintage prints), through Etsy of course and I'd love red and white checked flooring but I can't locate any as yet.
Sadly this is a long term project and our study break will be finished soon and all life as we know it is on hold again, until the end of the year.
Pooh, the body in the picture, found a screw had gone through electrical cable! I'm so glad he pulled that overhead cupboard off. Perhaps a complete rebuild is a blessing in disguse?

Electricity goes up 20% & carbon tax, reduce usage!

July 1st the "promised" 20% increase in power comes into effect. I *think* this is on top of our governments idea to give us a carbon tax. Either way it's time to reduce our reliance on our electricity usage.

*We have one tiny refrigerator only (as in no freezer in it) and 1 deep freeze chest style.
Out fridge uses very little power and we turn the freezer off by a timer every night. I can't reduce them much further other than doing away with them altogether which is possible. I could survive using a pot-in-pot style to keep a few things cool, I'd prefer not to at this stage.

*We have a tiny solar panel on our roof, in fact it was my Christmas gift last Christmas from Pooh. Of course Pooh bought a regulator and is so small these days, amazing. This panel charges two second hand small sealed gel batteries that we got from a mobility scooter man. Here they are in the cupboard, looking rather dodgy at this stage, but we are still in the "testing phase"!

*From these batteries we run a car CD player and radio. We have car speakers through the ceiling, the sound is awesome and if the main power goes out we can listen for community announcements during bush fire season.

*Also from these batteries we have some 12volt lights that are in the ceiling, neat little down lights so at night we don't require the mains power and of course when it goes out which it does regularly here we have very little interruption to our life.

*On top of this, we use a tiny inverter, you can get them cheaply from Dick Smith or car supply places. We charge our lap tops too. While studying, between the 3 of us, there was always a laptop charging. We just changed over to charging this way.

*We have the computer modem on other than that we have nothing else plugged into mains on stand by mode. We turn the TV on for a few shows then turn it off.

Replacement: Worcestershire Sauce Recipe

I don't know very many people that don't use worcestershire sauce. We certainly do and a homemade recipe was shared years ago and in the spirit of casting off supermarket reliance, here is our  tweaked version:

In a 3 litre bottle  (an old juice bottle is perfect) put:

• 2 litres vinegar. White, brown, malt whatever you want.

30 grams (1 oz) of the following:

• tamarind (optional, from indian grocer)
• Chopped garlic
• Cayenne pepper
• whole cloves
• sea salt

• 1 tin treacle 850g
• 3 TBS fish sauce
• 2 lemons chopped 1/8th with skin left on (they add flavour)

Mix all together in bottle. Leave for 6 months, turn occasionally, give it a shake. When you go to decant, strain into another bottle. We have 3 bottles on the go, one we are current decanting from, one that will be ready soon and one that has just been made. We really like the stuff!

What can you make that you normally buy?

I was pondering how supermarkets are a relatively new concept. My grandmother, long since departed did not have supermarkets for the bulk of her life. I am trying to make a conscious effort to reduce my reliance on supermarkets, to avoid their excessive chemicals, their packaging and over inflated prices.
But lets be honest some of their stuff is just darn convenient, so this week I have started to look through my pantry and see what I can replace with home made products. Well, not entirely home made, the basic ingredients still come from the shops but at lest I have a better idea of the contents.

CUP-A SOUP, this weeks replacement item. We rarely use them but they are good to have on hand for an emergency meal. Google recipes, there are so many wonderful sites with recipes to try. Something like this. Here's the one we are sampling this week. I tried to stick to organic ingredients, but my milk powdered isn't :o(
However, very simple and store in a glass jar.

For our child with wheat allergies, we cook 3 TBS rice/water in the microwave and 1 TBS of this mix so he can have a 2 min noodle equivalent.

A productive silence

In some ways I can't believe it has been so long since I've posted, on the other hand I've not had time to scratch. As mentioned earlier we have undertaken study again and it has absorbed almost every waking hour. Here we are at mid semester and taking a well earned break from the books.

We have made some interesting discoveries! Having no time to go anywhere or do anything, we have hardly spent a thing!
We used our food supplies and just popped into the shops if we really had to, never spending more than needed.
We filled the car up once a month which is amazing as we live in a rural location and not walking distance to anything.
The only clothes we got where 2 pairs of $6 track suit pants for the wee ones. I don't think I've even op shopped.
I've not had time to craft, except for one set on gorgeous fabric coasters for a friend, I used scraps and 3 precious hours :o-

Our needs and wants went down and it has been reflected in minimal spending. We did well with our studies so all in all a productive silence.

Valentines day

Our Valentines Day.
Pooh took me for a walk on the beach and provided a snack. It was gorgeous, the day was so clear and the ocean was awe inspiring. I made those in the picture below. While it cost us very little and certainly came in under our $10 limit, we both thought it was a hoot and appreciated the efforts, especially the time together.

Pikelets for morning tea and brewed coffee of course.



I crocheted love birds and made a card.

Here's the link to the free pattern: http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/80015AD.html
You have to join, it's free and you get their great newsletter with lots of links to freebies.

Minimalism

I have always been curious of minimalism. The problem I had though, I'm a hoarder and recycler of all things remotely useful.
I have so much stuff and it is ruling me, I hate it.
In an effort to understand minimalism, I down loaded 2 kindle books, appropriate don't you think, Miss Minimalist (Francine Jay) and Clear your clutter with Feng Shui (Karen Kingston). Both books I enjoyed very much they had different things to offer. It seems like all things you have to get into the head space  of minimalism. I love the idea the Miss Minimalist had, can she walk away in an emergency (political or natural etc) and feel ok? I know I could not! I like the idea of working towards it though.

This would have been a ridiculous concept a few years ago, but secretly I wished a disaster would befall my house (not my family!) so I could start again. I suspect I'd just pile up the stuff again so learning to part with things and file things safely is by far a better lesson.

I love the idea of never having a dvd again. A physical disc that gets damaged. I want to down load my movies as I want them off 'the cloud' which I'm still to get my head around.

I want to sort all my photos digitally on the 'the cloud' and various hard drives so I can't lose them to theft or disaster.

I would like to transfer my books to kindle or pdf. I suspect I'd always want a few 'real' books for inspiration. I love the feel of books and looking at the pictures.

Can I transfer all my cook books to digital? Some are available as kindle versions but lots are not. Can I scan and transfer to pdfs. I have no idea, would that even be legal?

How about no cd's or a reduced amount and using my ipod?

How can I de-clutter my kitchen? Now that makes me feel a little faint. Baby steps, baby steps.

Guilt and Ramblings

I feel very bad I've not taken the time to post, I do apologise!

We have been busy over the Christmas new year period, like everyone else! We had littlest in hospital twice with lung issues. He has now been well for over a month now! Hooray!

We had a thrifty Christmas, everyone was happy and no debit occurred. We didn't do a homemade one but the older children commented they would like to do that this year again.

We are delighted out DD16 got into Uni this year. She will be doing in distance ed. If you are disciplined, DE is brilliant, it cuts so many costs.

She will save heaps:
*Moving out of home
*New furniture
*Rent/Food other than board at home
*A car or transport to get to Uni, a job or shops
*No uni parking fees
*No library fees/photocopying etc
*No text books (Most is available on line now, it's amazing!
*No student union fees

For older people who didn't do their HSC or state equivalent, you can do a tertiary preparation course at home, on the internet and gain acceptance that way.
Something like this: http://www.cdu.edu.au/lba/all/programs/tep.html It is full time and you can't work and do it in the evenings, it will be too much, those who did dropped out.

It's never too late :o)

So DD got a small extension to her room done in preparation of lots of study. Here's her new office:

A brand new bench top

Today the other bench top was finished! Soon we will make new cupboard doors, I'm thinking white french country look.

Oiling the new top

All the stuff back in and functional!

Nesting in the Island bench from post below :o)

I was nervous about doing the kitchen but I'm really happy with how it is turning out.  I have so much more bench space and things are easier to store and find. I'm thrilled that it has cost so very little. I did buy the woven baskets but they were quite cheap, $14 each I think. All the timber was from trees that fell over in the huge storm we had over a year ago. It is so much easier to do these this if you have the tools, thankfully DS does.

New kitchen Island bench

Ds made me this awesome timber bench from timber on the property. It was designed to fit my thermal cookers and large cooking pots. I'm yet to nest properly but here it is!

Illegal food activity? The Food Bill verses the other Food Bill

Garden fresh, healthy and keeping the family food bill down :o) 

Possession of these seeds could become as illegal as carry illicit drugs with the other Food Bill.

We are enjoying some of the fruits of our garden, we plan to keep the seeds and we'd love to share out of our abundance, but for how much longer will this be legal?


The US have already passed this Bill and NZ introduced it to parliament last year very quietly.
When is Australia's turn? When will this bill be quietly slipped in? Can you imagine it being illegal to grow and share garden produce, seeds, herbs and water!!!!


A normal person cannot even imagine this getting any air time, let alone being passed in the US and through the first round of Parliament in NZ.


Here's a snippet:

What are the problems with the Food Bill? From http://nzfoodsecurity.org/

- It turns a human right (to grow food and share it) into a government-authorised privilege that can be summarily revoked.

- It makes it illegal to distribute “food” without authorisation, and it defines “food” in such a way that it includes nutrients, seeds, natural medicines, essential minerals and drinks (including water).

- By controlling seeds, the bill takes the power to grow food away from the public and puts it in the hands of seed companies. That power may be abused.

- The bill will push up mainstream food prices by subjecting producers to red tape and registration costs. Food prices are already rising due to increased energy costs and commodity speculation, while effective disposable incomes are falling.

- Growing food for distribution must be authorised, even for “cottage industries”, and such authorisation can be denied.

- Under the Food Bill, Police acting as Food Safety Officers can raid premises without a warrant, using all equipment they deem necessary – including guns (Clause 265 – 1).

- Members of the private sector can also be Food Safety Officers, as at Clause 243. So Monsanto employees can raid premises – including marae – backed up by armed police.

- The Bill gives Food Safety Officers immunity from criminal and civil prosecution.

- The Government has created this bill to keep in line with its World Trade Organisation obligations under an international scheme called Codex Alimentarius (“Food Book”). So it has to pass this bill in one form or another.

- There are problems with Codex also. Codex will place severe restrictions on the content of vitamins, minerals and therapeutic compounds in food, drinks and supplements etc.

- The Food Bill means that non-Codex-complying producers can be shut down easily – thus it paves the way for the legal enforcement of Codex food regulations. Producers will be denied registration (which is discretionary) if they do not keep to Codex food production rules.

To read the bill click here.

We need voices to tell our politicians that this is not OK for Australia

Thanks to Rob for the heads up on this.

Kitchen changes

When were moved into our house nearly 10 years ago, there was no kitchen so we took the offer of a freebie. This freebie has served us well but it was a horrid shape and function lacking. Finally I had an idea to rearrange and gain better functionality.
So far it looks like it's going to cost about $50 for grout, shelf holders and some new drawer runners.
Sorry the pics are lacking, I lost the camera for a few days in the mess I made.

We pulled off the wall mounted cupboard from above the stove. Plastered and sanding it.

All sanded and about to paint.

Painted and Pooh putting up some shelves. Outdoor brackets and reclaimed timber.

Almost done, need to add cup holders and a basket for all the herbal teas. Need to grout the tiles too.
I'm hoping to get a range-hood to go above the stove.
We have to make a small bench for the left of the stove. DS made a small cupboard for the baking trays etc.

Here is the deep freeze hiding in the hall cupboard
Need to get the power point moved.
The fridge is at the end of the bench we cut off.

This used to have the deep freeze and the fridge in here. The cupboards are the the old island bench that we just pulled out.
We are going to put on a new bench top but for now, so we can eat, we are resting the old bench here.