earthmotherwithin

Routines for life

2012-02-14T01:41:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about what I love about my home, and what that means for my weekly routines.

For example, I love this hall stand which now has an arrangement of silk flowers in a white cast iron urn on it, along with my 'French' market basket and my DH's straw hat. It gives me pleasure every time I go past it, so it is no problem at all for me to take a moment each Monday to give it a bit of a dusting as I go through my weekly 'house blessing".

Similarly, now we have renovated our bathroom, it is no problem to give it a good clean, too.I usually do that on Mondays too -my aim being to get a basic house clean done by lunchtime. In the afternoon I plan the week's menus and go shopping for any supplies we will need. I also pay any bills that are due.

I like having routines because they give me structure to my week, and mean that I can do some work on my days off, and also have some time to enjoy reading or sewing. When the routine tasks are done, I am free to play!

At this time of year our patio becomes an important place for entertaining friends. Recently we bought a new table and chair setting, and it has been great to have people over every Friday night in February for a meal and sharing our lives together.

This routine has been important to us over the years. We have several couples who come together to start the weekend this way. We take turns being the hosts. It helps us really STOP for a while on a Friday night and relax into the weekend. If we need to 'de-brief" from our working week, this is the place we can do it, so that we are freer to go into the weekend with a lighter heart.

Each Tuesday I give myself permission to sew all day. Today I progressed on my quilt -which I showed you all last week. I am really enjoying the Quilt as You Go method.

On Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays I am at work. I really love the three-day per week work schedule that I now have.

My routines are pretty simple, but they are grounded in making life easier and calmer. If you would like to find out some ideas for a pretty good routine for life, follow the link to the Flylady website.

Inspired to finish more!

2012-02-06T20:18:00.000-08:00

I bought Margarita McManus's excellent book

Finish (almost) Any Quilt: A Simple Guide to Adapting Quilts to Finish As You Go (Volume 1).

I had done one quilt by this method just before Christmas, using Margarita's instructions on her blog. The technique was so easy and so helpful, that I wanted to get the whole picture from Margarita's book. I am very pleased that I did -lots of good helpful tips and tricks.I experimented with buying it on my Kindle. The pictures are only in black and white in the model I use, but the descriptions are clear. I had thought I could read a book I had purchased in this format on any other device, but this one is locked, so I can't read it on my computer to get the colour pictures.

Edited to add: I have found Margarita's videos on youtube which means that I can see the techniques she writes about in the book.

I have been making scrappy strippy blocks to use up some of the scraps in my scrap drawers, before getting down to making a couple of special quilts. I really like scrappy quilts. Quilting fabric is costly, and of course I want to get the maximum benefit from the fabric I have in my stash. I hate waste, and I like being able to use left overs from other quilts in a new quilt. Of course, quilting has a strong tradition of using scraps!

There are two other reasons I like making scrappy quilts. One is that I find them very relaxing -the business of making 'fabric' by sewing random pieces together is a great way for me to 'warm up' to more exact quilting projects. I like 'mile a minute' blocks which I use as 'leader/ender" pieces -also saving me all of that cotton thread which I used to waste.

The other is that the scrappy quilt has its own kind of charm- there is a serendipitous result from mixing fabric scraps in new ways.

The scrappy strippy blocks were just any length pieces of fabric measuring 2.5 inches which I sewed together, then cut on an angle to make the blocks.

I tried out an orange fabric for the block edges and I liked it.

Then I had an idea for making the little log cabin scrappy squares into bigger squares, for a sort of subtle 'panel' in the middle of the quilt..

This is as far as I have got today. Now the fun part starts. In this method, I make 'quilt sandwiches" of each little block, quilt them together and only THEN does the quilt get sewn together. It is much easier to manage the little squares on a domestic sewing machine, which is often the thing which puts quilters off finishing their quilts at home.

Once this quilt is finished, I have a cot quilt to make for my first granddaughter who is due in May, and I have had a great idea for a quilt with a lot of memories for someone special too. So I am hoping to keep working on this scrappy one and finish it in the next two weeks at the latest. Wish me luck!

Summer time -hot lazy days

2012-01-29T20:28:00.000-08:00

It has been HOT HOT HOT -in Perth for a week or so. Several days over 40 degrees Celcius meant that we were struggling to keep our garden alive. Fortunately the new water tank has come into its own, because I can use the water every day on precious plants like this hydrangea and our asparagus crowns, to keep them alive.

We didn't plant a summer crop of veggies this year, because we were going to be away for ten days and knew that a hot spell like the one we just had, would wipe out anything we started. The beds have been fertilised and mulched and we have plans to plant-but only when things cool down enough to let seedlings get a couple of days of settling in before they have to face the heat.
Other plants enjoy the hot weather. These bougainvilleas next to our front fence are relishing the hot weather and are covered in flowers. I hope to encourage them to spread over the fence and soften it. We are happy to see the pomegranate has several nice big fruits just colouring up, and the new Eureka lemon has fruit too. The new olive is growing nicely and the quince has one -rather pretty -fruit too.

For the rest of us, it has been a matter of resting and enjoying the rhythms that summer in Perth imposes. We go for a walk nice and early when it is cool (or just cooler than it will be later) then we retreat inside. I have been making salads cooking as little as possible.

We are of course both back at work after our holidays, so we can at least pass the main part of the day in air conditioning. We don't have air conditioning at home, and that is our continuing choice at the moment. Our shade sails, our window blinds, our insulation, our ceiling fans fortunately make the house comfortable except for runs of extreme weather such as we have just encountered. The house inevitably heats up after a run of over 40 degree days as the overnight temperatures gradually rise too.

Then we get a respite -the sea breeze returns, the evenings become cooler -and so the season progresses.

I hope you are finding ways of enjoying your weather -and making whatever adaptations you need to it.

Finally the before and after bathroom photos

2012-01-22T22:44:00.000-08:00

YES! at last we have a new bathroom. The builders finished on Friday with the painting, and we moved in on Saturday. Here is our lovely new vanity and tap set. We chose these taps because they are 'lever action" and so are easy to turn even with my hands. You can see how lovely our glass block window looks here.

Of course we took the opportunity to purchase new towels to match!

The shower cubicle was made as big as possible, and is a lovely sight to behold. Good bye clingy shower curtain!

In case you have forgotten, this is what was here before:

So glad to have seen the end of the purple bath and the icky brown and yellow tiles!

It took a long time, made a fair bit more mess than I thought, and yet it was still worth it. We love this house and plan to stay here for many years yet, so we see it as an investment in our lives.

In other news, we have inherited some lovely pieces of china from my DH's mum and dad, which have gone very nicely with the pieces I have already collected. I had some Royal Albert china which were 'flower of the month" pattern and also some pretty Queen Anne red and pink roses trios. The tea set from the Royal Albert "Country Roses" pattern sits nicely along side of these ones. I now have enough pieces for a very nice "Afternoon tea party" which I will hold just as soon as the Perth summer eases off a little. We have a very hot week ahead of us with temperatures from 36 degrees Celsius to over 41 degrees Celsius, and no end in sight.

I think there will be cold showers and iced tea all round for a while!

The Twelve days of Christmas in Australia

2011-12-25T19:13:00.000-08:00

The Twelve Days of Christmas are the festive days beginning Christmas Day (25 December). This period is also known as Christmastide and Twelvetide. The Twelfth Night of Christmas is always on the evening of 5 January.

Twelfth Night is followed by the Feast of the Epiphany on 6 January.

I love the peacefulness of the Christmas season. These twelve days are beyond the stress and rush of Advent's preparations, and we can slow down and enjoy the holidays.

Nearly all of Australia closes for the period between Christmas and New Year at least. Many will go to the beach. We like it in the early morning, whilst it is still fresh and cool-ish. We have got back into walking every morning since Boxing Day and we are loving it.

My Christmas decorations are enjoyed now that there is time to ponder their meaning.

Christmas presents can be explored and used for the first time. I have a new Kindle which I am enjoying very much. I have downloaded free books including "On Walden Pond" that 'simple living' classic by Thoreau.

We eat up the leftovers from Christmas.

My DH is able to 'listen' to the cricket whilst sleeping on the couch in the post lunch period.

Our days stretch to a new rhythm -siesta becomes a reality. As Perth Western Australia has a Mediterranean style climate with short wet winters and long hot summers, we really should adopt this as a lifestyle choice. We get active in the early morning, then retreat to a cool place until the sun goes down.

Stone fruit appears in the shops along with grapes and the most popular drinks come out of the fridge -rose, Semillion Sauvingnon Blanc , and gin and tonics! My coffee now needs to be icy cold and I am thinking of getting back in the routine of making iced tea.

This is the time when we try to have friends over for lunch or dinner -eaten outside -sometimes we barbeque.

Relaxation, renewal, recovery.

I do hope that you have the opportunity to enjoy some of the Christmas season in a quiet reflective way.

Progress being made

2011-12-19T23:36:00.001-08:00

I had a sudden rush of energy to make a 'crazy quilt as you go" project and found it a great deal of fun. It came together very quickly and easily, and I hope the person who is getting it for Christmas enjoys it too. This is the front.

And this is the back:

I wish I could be so happy about the progress of our bathroom renovation. We are so close and yet so far! We have the bathroom cabinet installed and the taps in the shower installed and working. Now we need to have the glass shower screen delivered and installed, and then the whole thing needs painting.

We are really happy with how it is coming along, but now we want to get it done and be able to move in. After all, Christmas is coming!

I hope to be able to post the whole 'before and after' bathroom pictures soon, but till then, I guess we will just keep on hoping!

My Quilting story so far

2011-12-03T20:49:00.000-08:00

I started quilting when I took long service leave from my job in 2008. I was lucky enough to find a great teacher, who gave me the skills and confidence to start quilting and to keep going.

Today I gathered together all the pictures of quilts I have made since then.

I am on a journey which has given me a lot of joy, and it certainly keeps me off the streets! LOL.

I have given a few of these away, and it was great to be reminded of them as I put this together.

I hope you enjoy it!

Author! Author!

2011-11-28T19:42:00.001-08:00

My daughter convinced me to have a go at writing a novel during National Novel Writing Month in November. This is an international challenge for all budding writers, to write 50,000 words in one month.

As a teenager, I thought I would always write a book one day. Now I can say I have! Yes, I have written 50,000 words in a novel with characters and plot and chapters and scenes! It even has an ending!

This is my "winner's certificate"! YAY!

In other news, my quick and easy Christmas quilt is nearing completion- I just have to put the binding on.

I have also got my blue-and-green quilt back from the Long Arm Quilters and I am in love with the chain of hearts quilting pattern on the solids!

AND the bathroom demolition has started. Hopefully by Christmas we will have a shiny new bathroom in this space. Meantime it is looking decisively ugly!

Time to say goodbye

2011-11-20T14:18:00.000-08:00

Eighteen months ago we said goodbye to DH's mother, today we say goodbye to his father.

You can read the lovely words my DH will read today at

http://thewildflowerarcade.blogspot.com/2011/11/interlude-tribute-to-fine-man.html

New project ideas

2011-11-07T23:09:00.000-08:00

I have been planning some new quilting projects, now that my blue-and-green quilt is at the Long Arm quilters. It all started with this collection of music fabrics. A young quilting friend had seen a quilt made with this panel and knew of our family's link to music so she directed me to the place where I could order it.

You can see I have quite a good collection of music prints now - even a little bit of a choir dressed for Church singing!

I am thinking of this with some words -Sing to the Lord, or perhaps "psalms, hymns and spiritual songs"

Anyway, it seemed silly to buy $6 worth of fabric and have it posted all the way from the US to Perth Western Australia, so I also bought these panels below.
This one makes me think of all the happy days my DH and I have spent in the Swan Valley, or around the Porongorups, visiting wineries.
I can see this one -quite a large panel-surrounded with cream and blue windmill blocks for a singe bed sized quilt.
This one is just asking to be made into something for Christmas.
But this set of naive images of Christmas scenes I like even more! I am thinking of adding some words to this too, to make a banner.
This one is very pretty, but I am thinking of just using the centre blue and white panel with some pretty blue and white fabrics, and saving the green squares for another quilt.

So, with all these things to get started on, what do you think I am doing?

Taking part in National Novel Writing Month of course! Not much quilting is going to happen, I fear, until November is over!

Quilt top finished!

2011-10-28T22:46:00.001-07:00

It has been a long time in the making. I think I probably took almost six months on this, but today I completed the borders.

It started as a challenge to use both blue and green in a quilt. I think the black and white helps to tie the colours together, and then I went for a lime green sort of colour for the border, to bring that colour out a bit more.

I am so glad it has got to this stage. I am going to take it to a Long Arm Quilter, as it is too big for my domestic machine.

Now I intend to play with some quick, simple and fun projects!

New water tank

2011-10-19T00:43:00.000-07:00

This monster is our first water tank. It holds 3000 litres of water. The white plastic pipe is a clever diverter which allows the first flush of water from the roof to be diverted away from the tank, so that cleaner water goes in.

Yesterday we had a welcome amount of rain, and I witnessed for the first time the lovely sound of water going into the empty tank.

Why install a water tank?

I have written before about the 40% reduction in rainfall that Perth has experienced over the last 40 or so years. Our state government has installed two desalination plants to make us 'climate free' from our reliance on rain water for drinking.

We are a drying city in a dry continent.

I want to grow our own fruit and vegetables, and the water tank is a small part of that. As Perth has a Mediterranean style climate with a dry hot summer and a short wet winter, we could not rely on just 3000 litres of water to get us through the summer. It is however a small contribution to the overall sustainability of our home and garden. Maybe we will eventually install more water tanks.

The tank has another role -this western wall gets extremely hot in summer and so does the room behind it, which is where we have our television. The tank will, at the very least, shade the wall.
It will, when full of water (usually in winter) also provide a thermal mass which should also provide some passive heating to the wall and perhaps to the room.

Anyway, it is nice to hear the sound of the rain hitting the bottom of the tank. Maybe we will have one or two more showers this week, and they too will go into the tank instead of running away. I think I am one of only a few people in Perth who wants it to rain at this time of the year! Nearly everyone else is glad of spring sunshine.

Gratitude-for things that cheer.

2011-10-11T02:01:00.000-07:00

I have had a crook shoulder and neck for a few weeks -not enough to seriously debilitate, but I haven't been doing all the usual stuff. The weed onslaught has had to stop and there has been no spreading of mulch.

The garden flowers on, in beautiful profusion.

I can still drop in to the occasional op shop, you understand, in search of a little prettiness. I found this candle holder and candle and I really like it. At Christmas time, with a red or gold candle, it will look great with the rest of my angel collection. I have a collection of angels who play musical instruments -and these each have one.

And I found some chincherinchees in the local shop and I actually bought them for myself and put them in this lovely old depression glass vase. With the morning sun coming in the dining room window, I think they look very pretty.

The "sea lavender" is in flower.

Apart from that, I have been doing some cooking- trying to break out from a self imposed rut and make some new dishes for a new season. I hadn't made lasagne for ages so I made a big dish this week, and I tried out a new pizza stone with my bread-maker pizza dough.

I have been helping out with my little community choir -we are having a concert soon and I am helping with ticket sales. If you are in Perth and you would like to go, just drop me a line...we have two concerts in November -on the 5th and 13th in the afternoons -and one is north of the river and one is south. We will be singing some lovely music -there are quite a few John Rutter pieces.

And there has been some reading -because other things seem to aggravate the shoulder. I am gradually improving, and hope normal service will be resumed shortly!

The value of nothing

2011-09-26T19:50:00.000-07:00

There is water in the river at New Norcia!

We were in the Benedictine town of New Norcia last weekend, taking part in a retreat lead by members of the Christian Meditation Community of Western Australia. It was a lovely quiet and restful time.

When we were able to take a break, we enjoyed the sights of the town we know so well, shown in its green and fruitful best after a reasonably good winter.

There was water in the river!!!

Lovely to be able to be there and enjoy the renewal of the earth and our souls. The olive trees are just budding.

Olive trees in bud. New Norcia's olive oil won major awards last year.

There is something very grounding in spending a couple of days in the farming belt -it reminds us city folk of how much the basis of our society depends on a healthy earth, and decent returns for farmers. Spending time in prayer reminds us of the big issues of life and death, and what is really important.

This coffee table in my lounge room is being decorated by an op shop find -a lovely lacy table topper- and a bowl of home grown musky roses.

Since I got home, I have been reading this book, which I found in my local library, called "The Value Of Nothing" in which Raj Patel makes some very interesting points which are very thought provoking. If you are in WA too, you will be able to ask your library to get an inter-library loan so that you can read it too. If you aren't here, it is available world wide in book stores. Easy to read and I recommend you do.

This is a quote about the book:

“With great lucidity and confidence in a dazzling array of fields, Patel reveals how we inflate the cost of things we can (and often should) live without, while assigning absolutely no value to the resources we all need to survive. This is a deeply thought-provoking book about the dramatic changes we must make to save the planet from financial madness – argued with so much humour and humanity that the enormous tasks ahead feel both doable and desirable. This is Raj Patel’s great gift: he makes even the most radical ideas seem not only reasonable, but inevitable. A brilliant book.”—Naomi Klein, author of No Logo and The Shock Doctrine

http://www.blackincbooks.com/books/value-nothing

I am writing this post as the Debt Crisis seems to lurch into another worrying phase. The ABC news has just now quoted an expert who is predicting Australia will be in recession in a year or so. To those of us who are trying to live simply, we look with concern for the people who get crunched when the big corporates and nations stuff things up.

Why haven't we been told of the things Raj writes in his book -about how, if we factored in the real cost to the earth and its people of a typical fast food hamburger, it would actually cost $200?

Why aren't we more concerned about the fate of the poor workers who labour to provide us with cheap consumer goods?

Why aren't we aware of how much the trade in rare earths which are mined in the Congo, and used to make components in mobile phones, has fueled the violence there over recent years?

Why hasn't any news outlet I have found in Australia reported the protests of these people in Wall Street for the past 9 days?

"The protest dubbed Occupy Wall Street kicked off September 17, targeting corporate greed and political influence, the government bailouts for banks during the 2008 financial crisis, capital punishment, and a litany of other grievances."

The title of the book comes from a quote by Oscar Wilde who described people who 'knew the price of everything and the value of nothing" .

I am heartened by what the author describes as grass roots movements of people around the world, often the poorest of the poor, who are taking back some of the political power and rights which our current system has stripped away.

Living simply is not just a lifestyle choice -it may be the only choice for the planet.

Recycling, producing not consuming, and other lifestyle choices

2011-09-19T20:46:00.001-07:00

Over at Down to Earth, Rhonda has got us all talking yet again about reusing and recycling.

I thought I would not just talk about ideas for recycling, but in fact the whole idea of producing not consuming -of living a more creative, productive life. It is an important part of being able to recycle -because we need active and shiny creative minds to be able to think of new ways of doing things with stuff other people would throw out. You need to practice making things to have the confidence to try something a bit out of the norm.

I found this very helpful book in the library recently -art of the Rochdale's Succesful Quilting Library- it encourages a novice like me to have a go at all kinds of interesting techniques built by others who were creative and willing to try something new.

I found this beautiful silver urn in an op shop recently. I was overjoyed as I have been on the lookout for this shape for over six months. I never dreamed it would be in such good condition.

The grey foliage I have in the urn is quite a showy feature of my lounge room at the moment, but so simple!

I guess someone threw this urn out to the charity which runs the op shop. Perhaps they couldn't be bothered cleaning the silver. I am so glad I have it -it is a thing of joy. I intend to change the display in it regularly -flowers or shiny glass balls or whatever I can find as I 'shop at home" for displays which keep me entertained as I decorate our little house.

This crumb quilt is made of scraps and orphan blocks left over from another quilt. So this is another way of recycling and re-using things.

I enjoyed making it, and learned a lot from it.

I call it "Think Outside the Box".

This quilt is back on my design wall. I am auditioning that green as a potential border, and slicing other blocks to see what I can make which is more interesting as a setting.

Finally, a picture of a whole bowl full of roses from the climber on the back fence. After years of doing nothing but grow leaves it is in flower at last. I wish you could smell the delightfully musky fragrance - it is so strong I can smell the perfume whilst I sit in my chair nearby.

I hope you feel inspired to be creative around your place -and to find new ways of using what you already have.

Spring pretties

2011-09-09T22:19:00.001-07:00

We have had the most perfect entrance to spring this year, with a good winter rainfall followed by a pattern of sunshine and showers. The days are gradually warming up, and the garden is calling out for action.

I am afraid things got a bit overgrown during the winter, but nearly every Saturday for over a month my DH and I have been toiling away bringing things back from the brink.

This morning there was so much loveliness to see, and so many perfumes to smell, as I brushed past the peppery geraniums, the astringent lavender and the musky tansy. I absolutely adore perfumed foliage!

The front garden has a nice mix of plants which give generously of their flowers, and some newish fruit trees which are settling in well.

It being such a wonderful spring day I had to bring some flowers into the house!
Nasturtiums grow like weeds around here. I bought a packet of seeds once, and they now come up all over the place!

Simple pleasure of a glass vase and a few geraniums and pelargoniums and lavender.

And here is the reminder of what kind of gardening we have yet to do....a huge bag of lupin mulch to protect the veggies as the weather warms up, plus we need to feed the fruit trees and mulch them, and weed the back yard, and give the roses a bit of attention and ...and....good thing there is a lot of spring left yet!

A Series of Firsts and Scraps

2011-08-30T01:43:00.000-07:00

My "living simply" quilt is now hanging up.

I started this quilt to practice a number of new techniques:

first 'crumb' scrappy blocks. I discovered how much fun these are, and what a great way to use up little bits of fabric which are too small for incorporation in other projects. Many sewers like to use little scraps to start a line of sewing -to make sure that the threads are not tangled at the back and so on. These crumbs can be used therefore as 'leaders/enders" of lines of blocks which are being sewn together which makes it possible to be creating lots of these without really noticing. My next crumbs will be grouped, I think, according to colour just to see how that goes.
first UnRuly letters -I want to use words on the border of a quilt top now in production, but wanted a bit of experience first.
first UnRuly house -and tree (which I designed myself) -quite happy with the result.

The quilt used my first ever attempt at joining two smaller pieces of batting. I usually buy queen sized pieces and as a result often have some bits left over. I joined two pieces with a zig zag seam and honestly, I don't think you can tell where it is.

The border was a piece of fabric I picked up in an op shop. I thought it was gloriously ugly, but in small amounts it looks great.

I am quite happy with my progress on Free Motion Quilting too, but there is still a long way to go before I am feeling competent about it.

Nevertheless I am pretty happy with this little quilt. Pretty simple, really.

Making the most of what you have got

2011-08-23T05:20:00.000-07:00

Recently I heard one of these books being read on the ABC and I thought -gosh, what a quirky, funny idea! Eoin Colfer's fantasy world where fairies are crossed with a James Bond style boy genius criminal -crazy idea.

I mentioned it to my daughter who immediately turned up with a whole stack of them that she had read some time back! Great! Lots of easy escapist reading, which kept me going for a while.

Reading books is a lifetime pursuit for me, but there is always the problem of finding something else to read. I often have a number of books on the go, but don't intend to buy every book I read- apart from everything else, where would I store them all?

There is always the local library, and I often buy books second-hand so that I can enjoy them at a more reasonable cost. However, I also love re-reading books I already own. All the pleasure without the pain of purchase! Some are old favourites and if you were to count the number of times I have read them, the cost per read-through would be quite small.

I am working really hard at avoiding waste at our place. Today I used nearly a litre of beef stock that DH bought for something he made on the weekend -it said "use in three days after opening" -so I turned that into soup with some garden veggies and the left over bits of a garden salad which was also from the weekend, along with some bits and bobs I had stored in the freezer. You know how it is -not enough to make one person a meal, but I hate throwing food out so I put it in a tiny container in the freezer. There was half a serve of carrot and turmeric soup, and a bit of a beef soup I had made some time back.

So I reckon that was pretty much free food -and the best bit is that there is quite a lot left for lunches this week.
My quilting can be an expensive hobby. That is why I have been so happy learning how to make these scrappy blocks and UnRuly letters out of what I have left over from other projects. I completed this quilt top today -and I have to say I am very pleased with it. It was fun to make and cost nothing as previously I would have thrown out pieces like this.

So that is it for this week -learning to make the most of what we have got.

Hope you are the same.

Feel free to leave a comment if you stop by.

Why we have to change

2011-08-15T16:34:00.000-07:00

My progress towards a simpler, greener, more eco-friendly lifestyle has many causes. One major cause is a result of reading books about the effects of human induced climate change due to excess consumption.

This report will explain why, as a resident of Western Australia, I take this particularly seriously. It is a report from the Climate Commission pointing out some worrying statistics about how the south west of Western Australia is being significantly impacted by reduced rainfall over the last 40 years along with rises in sea levels and increased ocean temperatures.

Fortunately our rains this winter have been close to normal, but one reasonable winter won't get us out of the difficulties we are facing. Our state government has built two desalination plants to insure our water supply, but desal plants are expensive and energy hungry.

My DH and I are gradually building up our home and lifestyle to reduce our water and energy consumption, and to increase the production of food in our garden. The bathroom renovation is part of our project to reduce our water consumption by putting water efficient appliances in, and renewing our infrastructure of pipes etc to remove the leaks and blockages etc. I have been getting quotes on some major plumbing and tiling which is the next step. Not much has happened, and it has been frustrating, but it must be done as a step towards our goal.

I have also been enjoying a learning new skills, which provide me with entertainment and opportunities for creativity. This week I have been enjoying making these scrap blocks as 'leaders/enders" in another quilt project. They make use of bits of fabric I would normally have thrown out, and are actually great fun. I wanted to practice some skills so that when I use them on the green/blue quilt I will have some idea of what I was doing!

More eco-friendly lifestyle does ask us to change, but there is a lot to enjoy as well.

Why it is worth bothering to do it yourself

2011-08-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

Photo credit: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150340406430797&set=a.308323450796.193718.274330505796&type=1&theater

Years ago I thought there was nothing very important about the things we all need to have done to keep our houses clean and food on the table, and have clean clothes to wear, and so on.I had been through the "Women's Liberation" phase in the 1970s and I was pretty clear that

a. house work was a chore
b. everyone who lived in a house was responsible for it
c. I had better things to do
This quote is from Colin Bevan's book "No Impact Man":
When did taking care of ourselves become something so unimportant that it should be got out of the way rather than savored and enjoyed? When did cooking and nourishing my family become an untenable chore? What is more important that I’m supposed to do instead?

He continues on page 47:

Even modern replacements for priests, rabbis, and Zen masters — the positive psychologists — have something to say on this point. That new breed of shrinks has discovered that happy people spend a lot of time being grateful for what they have and savoring their experience. They don’t rush through “now” to get to later. They don’t make taking care of themselves or taking care of their families something they have to get over with so they can get to the good stuff. Instead, they insist that this moment, whatever it is, is the good stuff.

Over the years I have discovered that there is something eminently satisfying to me about making something from scratch in the kitchen, or growing my own vegetables and arranging the house to be attractive and comfortable.

I especially know I get a big sense of satisfaction from making things myself -whether it is knitting or sewing. Recently for example, I have made this tea cosy.

I also made this hand towel for the kitchen. It works really well, is a generous size and hey -I made it! It came from a book I found at Kmart, of all places, with really easy knitted projects in it.

Over at Consumption Rebellion I found a post which I think sums up how I feel now about why it is worth bothering to do it yourself -whether it is cooking, gardening or creating things for the house.I

http://consumption-rebellion.blogspot.com/2009/09/but-im-not-creative.html
For me, the reason why it is worth bothering to do it yourself is a combination of
unleashing my creativity
encouraging independence (I don't need other people to make things for me)
saving money (sometimes - the flood of cheap imports from factories where people are paid a pittance sometimes makes this harder to achieve
creating better quality things (this is especially true in cooking at home from scratch)
reducing unnecessary consumption -which is a major problem in this old world of ours.
Sure, not everything I make is perfect, but given the list of reasons above, I will continue to do as much as I can myself. This does not reduce my conviction that house work is the responsibility of all who live in it -but it simply says that there is something worth doing in all of this.

Keeping things in focus

2011-07-31T21:49:00.001-07:00

DH has finished the painting of the kitchen cupboard and finished the doors and handles.

There are two great blog posts I want to share with you.

I have been following both of these blog writers for several years now, and I think what they have written is quite profound.

Over at Simple Green Frugal Co-op FT has been thinking about what people settle for in life, and wondering why they would do that.

Norma Jean at Down to Earth has done another of her surprising and wise choices -to choose quality of life over income.

I would encourage you to read both of them and consider what is really important in your life, and whether it is still the focus of your time and energy.

Today I am at home, working on our life here. I am keeping the accounts, and waiting for a plumber to come and do the next part of the renovation -installing a water wise toilet for the main part of the house.

Geraldton Wax flowers in my garden -first flowers from a new plant.

Life is short, and those we share it with, will not be here for ever.
I hope we can all keep the really important things in focus.

Whale watching in Albany

2011-07-26T01:56:00.001-07:00

We have been down to Albany on the south coast of Western Australia. Usually we go in summer, but this year we managed a few days in winter, which is when the whales migrate up our coast from the southern oceans, to the warm waters around Ningaloo where they calve. I am not a great sailor, but we took the chance on what looked like a reasonable winter day and went on the Whale Watch catermaran to see if we could spot any whales. (No, this is not me - I preferred to hang on to something a little more substantial!)

We spotted some humpback whales in the water along side the boat. I guess we saw 8 or so individuals. We saw the water spouts and several of them dived down deep, showing their tails as they went, but my camera doesn't do quick shots very well so I don't have any tails to show you.
Then someone noticed our catamaran was being followed by two whales, who obviously were interested in what kind of thing we were.

All of a sudden we had two whales on one side of the boat, and one on the other, surfing along with us for several minutes.
Our skipper said it was the first time this had happened in the 7 years he had been taking tours out of Albany. We were very excited and happy to have such a unique experience.

I am also feeling quite proud of myself, as I am not much of a sailor but I was able to enjoy this trip very much.

If you ever get a chance to see some whales, do try. It is such a special experience.

Progress!

2011-07-22T00:53:00.001-07:00

All sorts of progress was made this week at our place. For one thing, Dora made it to the top of the bed, after being hidden underneath for most of the week. She is getting more relaxed with every day.

But the big news was that this horrible purple bath was resurfaced. The process was rather stinky, but as you will see, it was well worth it. From this:

To this:
I hasten to add that the bathroom renovation is not finished yet. Those tiles look even wilder now than they did before, and will leave permanently in a few weeks.

DH and I are off to Albany for a few days R & R. Hope we might see a whale or two.

See you when we get back

Dora is in the building -somewhere!

2011-07-17T21:21:00.001-07:00

This is the best shot I have got so far of Dora, who has just been adopted by us.

Dora is a young cat who has had a hard life. You can read about her story on my son's blog here. My son and his wife had been fostering Dora, while her owner is trying to put her life back together after one of those difficult times which come to some people.When my son and his wife had to move to a new pet-free home, Dora's owner made the hard decision to give her up so that she could find a permanent home with us.

Dora is making herself at home -very slowly-with us. She has a safe place under my daughter's bed, where she performs cat magic by making herself flat enough to fit.

Each evening and morning, she gets a little braver, and explores a little further. Today I managed a quick photo when she briefly wandered into my bedroom. She made little mewing noises -the first time we had heard her voice.

She is still very skittish, and scared of every movement and every noise. We are taking it slowly, just letting her do things in her own time.

I hope to get a better picture sometime soon. I would love to show you her pretty little face, which has a white nose with a funny black smudge on it.

Maybe next time

Winter sun today

2011-07-11T20:47:00.001-07:00

I took advantage of a break in the rain, to go out with my camera and take a few carefully framed photographs of my garden in the winter sunshine.

I have to frame them carefully so that you can't see all the weeds which are growing, and the pruning and feeding which I haven't done yet. The rain has brought on a growth spurt and everything is looking plump and happy.

Let's not spoil it -most gardens look a bit like this in the winter, don't they? If you want to be outside gardening, it is too cold and wet. Yet when you are at work all day, you get a brilliant sunny day!

My DH is planning a couple of weeks holiday -starting in a few days' time. We both hope he gets a bit of time in the garden -I am OK at pottering about, but for garden blitzes he is the person we need.

Thankfully the work we have done earlier has produced some nice results -for example we have Kale growing this year, and the peas are looking good too.

I put some of our rainbow chard in the latest loaf of bread I made -which gives it these cute red flecks. It also has feta cheese in it and nutmeg -so not much good for spreading with jam, but nice with vegemite and cheese.

Tuesday -Knitting and Quilting -ideas and effort

2011-07-04T22:46:00.000-07:00

I often pick up yarn at Op Shops -and also find quite a lot of other haberdashery there too. Most of the yarn in this box is Op Shop yarn. When you find your yarn this way, you don't get lots of balls which are exactly the same -you have to be prepared to mix and match to make something. What you do get, however, is often good quality yarn at a fraction of the price in the shops.

That is why I saw this book as a real treasure: Margaret Radcliffe's book The Essential Guide to Colour Knitting Techniques -a bargain at just $4.95.

The book suggested that I use a circular needle for a certain project. Now, as I said, I usually try to buy all my yarn and needles from the op shop, but no-one seemed to have thrown out any circular needles so I had to actually buy some at the Big Girls Toy Shop (my name for a large haberdashery store).

I have never used one of these circular needles before , but I can see that it will be very useful -particularly as someone on the Aussies Living Simply website has sent me a link to a very sweet tea cosy which I plan to make -and which also requires circular needles.

I had some lovely bamboo yarn which my daughter had given me for Christmas, and which I had in mind for a new scarf. I will add some of my Op Shop yarns to this. Did you notice that this scarf is being knitted side-ways?

The knitting makes a welcome change from the other activity which I have been doing each Tuesday -making Disappearing Four Patch blocks. I have completed 25 and still have 6 to go. To help me pass the time I am listening to radio programmes. I think I will be adding sashing between the blocks -so once they are finished the rest should come together a bit more quickly.

I like quilting, but the repetition of the same block is my least favourite thing. This is what I want to do next -UnRuly Quilting! This book came today and I am very excited about it.

I won't allow myself to start however until this other quilt is completed. My one rule is "NO UNFINISHED OBJECTS!"

The only thing to do is to keep on keeping on -and then I will really enjoy breaking out and making something in which I don't need to repeat myself.

Winter weekend down south

2011-06-27T01:28:00.000-07:00

We have just returned from a wonderful winter weekend down in the southern capes of Western Australia, between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leewin. I love this shot of a very spectacular cloud near the Busselton Jetty.

We climbed to the top of the lighthouse. It is the one at Cape Naturaliste.

We marvelled at the ocean surging through Canal Rocks. Isn't this photo amazing?

We were visited by a mob of kangaroos each morning, after a bunch of kookaburras woke us up at 6:30 each morning.

When we weren't sight seeing, we read books or knitted or whatever we felt like.

Bliss!

A new kind of Monday

2011-06-20T00:50:00.000-07:00

The new kind of Monday is likely to see me spend at least as much time at my kitchen bench making rye bread, as sitting at my desk.

I am now only working three days per week! This will be quite a change to a lifestyle -and one which I have worked for and planned for quite a long time now. My DH and I used to share a job, when our children were little, so having one of us work part time is something like normal, for us at least. It has been over 15 years since I started working full time, however, so it is going to take a bit of an adjustment.

I have a number of goals to achieve in my new Monday and Tuesday space.

1. I want to take care of things. By that I mean that when I am able to maintain our home and the possessions in it, it will remove the necessity to buy more things because they are broken or unserviceable. Making things last, is an important contributor to reducing greenhouse gasses. My goals will include taking much more care of our finances, too, as I will have time to monitor things more carefully.

Sometimes taking care of things will actually be letting things go from here -de-cluttering.

Sometimes it will be re-organising things so we know where they are and can use them as required.

All of these activities take time and now I will be spending at least all day Monday doing this.

Today I spent an hour doing a quick tidy up and clean. I made the bread. I swept the front porch. I put the laundry away. I wrote a menu plan for the next two weeks. I pulled a few weeds. I stirred the compost. I will make dinner from scratch.

2. I want to take care of people. The most common message I hear from my full-time colleagues and friends is that they wish they had more time-for themselves, their families, their friends.

Today I have been enjoying writing comments on my friend's blogs, and I have been reading old quilting magazines. Tonight I will go to choir practice and I won't be too tired!

3. I want to have fun! In particular, I am going to be setting aside each Tuesday for quilting -something I enjoy very much and have far too little time for when working full time.

4. I will be project managing the bathroom renovation. Again, it is too hard to fit seeking out suppliers and products, organising tradesmen to come and visit the house and leave a quotation, and all of the disruption that such work entails. We have been saving for this renovation for some time, and we have finally the time and space to make it happen. I will be poring over catalogues and making detailed plans. Our goal is to reduce our water consumption by installing water efficient appliances, and also to see the house through the next 20 years of our life in it.

Today I wrote the project scope, I researched some local companies and did a bit of a budget and Gantt chart. I collected some brochures.

All of these new Monday activities are, hopefully, going to help us build a more sustainable future for ourselves.

Please come back next week for the next exciting installment!

Happy home

2011-06-12T02:10:00.001-07:00

My friend gave me some lovely roses, which are gracing our hall stand. They have a lovely perfume and make me feel happy every time I pass them.

We are all missing fresh bananas in Australia, as the dreadful cyclones in Queensland and the floods in Carnarvon in my own state of Western Australia has severely depleted the crop. At $12 per kilo I am definitely not buying these regularly. I had some friends over for dinner on Friday however, and as a treat I served fresh bananas with strawberries and pineapple. It has been so nice to have the taste we miss.

I remembered that I had frozen some bananas when they were cheap, so I made banana bread today. It feels like a real luxury at the moment!

Mt DH changed the sheets on the bed and with the warm winter sun coming in to this room, it looked so inviting!

It has been just a Sunday at home, doing happy homey Sunday things.

Hope you have had a good day and will have a good week.

I'm saying YES

2011-06-04T22:20:00.000-07:00

Earthmotherwithin has been out and about this week, attending the Say Yes rally in Perth. I am proud that my DH and DD came with me, to say Yes to the price on carbon which Australia has been talking about for far too long. This is a picture of the people who came to the Say Yes rally in Perth.

This is what it is about:

http://youtu.be/omGKw4XgFEc

I am trying to live more simply -for many reasons, but mostly because I am convinced that climate change is real, human activity is involved and that we must learn to live with less in order that all should be able to live.

Western Australia, where I live, has been subject to a 40 year drying trend, and if we can't turn around the dependence upon carbon fuels soon, we will lose even more of our annual rainfall.

Reports like this indicate how important it is to do something now.

A new independent commission, made up of leading Australian climate scientists just found that the next decade is the 'critical decade' to stop devastating climate change before it is too late. The longer we wait the more expensive the solutions will be.

I believe that the carbon tax that our government is talking about is not going to be enough on its own, but it is an important first step to make the transition to a clean energy future.

If you want more information about the science of climate change, I encourage you to have a look at the climate commission website for more information.

Assembly Line

2011-05-29T01:19:00.001-07:00

I have had a quiet Sunday at last, busily churning out these Disappearing 4 (edited when I realised there are only 4 to start with) Patch blocks. They are fun to do, and I feel as though I made good inroads into the assembly of these blocks, which I cut out over a month ago.

To our surprise our little grapefruit tree has been busy too -we have 6 fruit (as compared to two last year!) . Looks like the shade structures we created to get it through the very hot summer we had this year, was appreciated.

DD has been busy too -at last his shed has a work bench (easily assembled with allen key provided!). I know he is looking forward to moving his projects here and finally enjoying his shed. It will be good to get the stuff out of the carport too.

I have only had one day off this weekend, but it was a good, restorative one. I have to say that I am happiest when I am at home, and if the day includes sewing all the better!

This is new

2011-05-22T17:00:00.001-07:00

Ever since we bought this house over 15 years ago, I have wanted to do something about the ugly bathroom. The thing I hated most was this window -it is too high and too small. The room is darker than it need be.

This week we took Step One of our bathroom renovation (yippee!) when we ripped out the window and installed a glass block window.
The surrounds of the window will be finished when we do the tiling.

The window has greatly improved the amount of light coming in to the room (sorry, this picture does not really illustrate that as it was taken very early in the morning!)

There are many steps to go and it is going to get uglier before it gets better.

The purple bath needs to be made white.
The purple and green tiles are coming off to be replaced by white.
The brown floor tiles will be replaced by grey.

There will be a new vanity with a grey marble top.

There will be a new shower cubicle with a sliding glass door.

I am glad we have finally started.

Rather than offend your eyes with any more ugly bathroom pictures, I thought I would end with a pic of the new kitchen cupboard my DH has just painted. We bought it from the local Op Shop. It was an ugly baltic pine stain, and so we painted it white to match the kitchen.

There are glass doors for the top and solid wooden doors for the bottom, which DH hasn't had a moment to paint yet.

I am very pleased with the amount of storage it is offering, and how the new cupboard has inspired me to get on to de-cluttering some of the other cupboards and generally making the kitchen work better.

I will post another pic when we have the doors on.

35th anniversary weekend

2011-05-14T22:40:00.001-07:00

35 years ago I walked down the aisle to marry my lovely DH. The church has now been bulldozed to make way for housing, and the reception centre is now a sports medicine clinic! Our union has survived, however, and we are still in love, still fascinated by each other, still best friends, still learning about each other, still growing.

We took ourselves to celebrate, to the hotel where we had our first anniversary dinner. They have redesigned the restaurant over the years so it is now a 'Margaret River Wine Bar' type of thing, but the food was excellent (just as it was all those years ago). It is named the Parmelia after one of the ships which brought the first settlers to the Swan River. In 1977 it was the only five star hotel in Perth Western Australia!

We checked in and lapped up the 5 star treatment -valet parking, someone to bring our bags to the room, and enjoyed having our breakfast brought up to our room on one of those trolleys with white cloth -just like you see at the movies! (grin)

We spent this morning having a leisurely walk through King's Park -stopping for coffee on the way. Here are some pictures of the lovely Western Australian wildflowers we saw. Just like being married to my own sweetie, I never tire of them.

My lovely mum

2011-05-07T02:01:00.001-07:00

From this lovely lady I inherited:

a love of singing around the house
a talent for story telling
a real sense of fun
the essential use of hands when talking!

(I recognize my Dad in some of these traits too)

From this lady I learned:

how to read
how to knit
the power of family
the courage to get through
the way to say Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch and a few other words which are part of my Welsh heritage
When is St David's Day (1st March)

My mother was nearly forty when I was born, so I didn't know her when she looked like this:

But I love this photo of her as a 17 year old. I reckon she would have been a real sweetie.

When I was in my late teens Mum was in her late 50s and she loved to tell me stories of how things were when she was young, working in a grocer's shop where the butter was cut from a block and shaped with butter pats, sugar was weighed and packed in brown paper with string, and cheese was cut from a large wheel.

She told me about being in the ATS during the war, and the adventures she had starting work as a typist for an officer in Chester, when she couldn't type! How she was once on the city wall when the air raid siren sounded, and she was caught out in the open with no shelter in sight.

She married my dad during the war. He basically wooed her with letters! I cannot imagine how they felt as he went off again each time after a period of leave.

They brought up six of us, scrimping and getting by, until they emigrated to Perth Western Australia, and our lives started to look up.

On Mother's Day these are the things I remember with gratitude and lots of affection. She is gone now, but she is in my heart.

When life gives you lemons...

2011-05-01T03:13:00.001-07:00

...from your wonderful Meyer Lemon tree -a cross between an orange and a lemon, which tends to fruit only once per year...

...you can find yourself with quite a lot of lemons to share! We have been passing them off to friends, relatives and workmates in bundles of sixes for over a week now.

I juiced quite a few and have frozen them as ice cubes, which are quite sensational in a gin and tonic :) or to give a zing to cold water on a hot day..

My darling Hubby (DH) got busy and processed quite a few to make the most wonderful tangy lemon and lime marmalade -YUM!

He also made just three jars of Date and Lemon chutney from Stephanie Alexanders' A Kitchen Garden Companion", which is also wonderful. Sometimes we pretend we are one of those posh "deli cafes" and serve, for dinner, some cold home roasted chicken or beef, served with home made relish or chutney, and lots of salad, on home made bread or foccaccia.

There are still quite a lot left! Preserved lemons next, I think...

Thanks for visiting this blog. Please feel free to leave a comment -perhaps you can suggest something else we can make with lemons?

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T21:47:00.000-07:00

My DH challenged me, some years ago, to decorate our home for Easter, as well as for Christmas.

Each year I try to add something to the collection, rearrange something, make it fresh.

Here is this year's display. Above - an icon of the "Anastasis"- the pictorial story of Jesus leading the captives out of hell, forms a dramatic focus of our 'meditation wall" along with a small gold frame in which the "Agnus Dei" or Lamb of God, is pictured along with the words "He is Risen"
There is also an icon of Pantocrator -"The wisdom of God" -along with crosses from various places around the world.

Above is the display on our dining table and wall -focusing on a traditional Easter symbol of eggs and chicks. This year I added to my collection of decorated eggs from the Oxfam shop.

I thought the colours of this quilt were bright and fresh for the Easter season, which is full of joy, so I have hung it in the entrance to our house.

Finally, I popped a little Easter Bunny in a basket full of home made decorated eggs!

Happy Easter Everyone!

(We are at New Norcia this weekend, celebrating with the Benedictine Community)

Happy Easter. I hope you have much to celebrate. Life is good.

Meet Humphrey

2011-04-16T15:47:00.001-07:00

Humphrey is the name my mother used to use for her shopping trolley. It was rhyming slang : Humphrey Bogart= go cart! Therefore my 'nanna trolley' is called Humphrey in honour of my mum!

My daughter does not drive, and some time back she asked if we could find a trolley so that she could walk down to the shops for me and bring back heavy stuff like milk. As a Uni student she has some times in the week when she can usefully do that.

I was happy to do the research and find this very posh trolley at Lady Kitchener in Subiaco. It has seriously good wheels. The flap at the top has a zipped pouch for my keys and purse.

The trolley has had a number of airings already. I find it encourages me to leave the car at home for those short trips to the shop. It means I can get some exercise, and the world benefits from me using foot power rather than petrol power. I can bring home quite a lot of stuff. My suburb has good footpaths which makes the whole experience enjoyable.

PS Please notice my new fly screen door, fitted just this week. When we installed our new wooden doors, we needed something which would not detract from them. Metal security doors would have spoiled everything. They quoted us $1000 for one door!

We found this door for $150 in Bunnings, and a lovely carpenter hung it for $80.

Do you like it?

Blooming all over-best thrifting find so far!

2011-04-05T02:32:00.001-07:00

As you can see I have a complete collection of Royal Albert "Flower of the Month" mugs. Collected lovingly over Christmasses and birthdays for several years. They are our special 'breakfast mugs" because something that pretty deserves to be USED.

Imagine my delight when, sitting in the St Vinnies Op Shop in Freo, there was.....THIS set of teapot and milk jug which is Royal Albert "Flower of the Month"!!!

Imagine how I held my breath when I asked the shop lady for a closer look and discovered they were perfect-no chips, no cracks.

Did I look too eager when I said I would take it? At less than a quarter of the new price for one piece?

Can you imagine how carefully I carried them home?

My breakfast mugs now have a breakfast teapot. Gorgeous for the Earl Grey, which is of course the only way to start a day!

Exciting news

2011-03-27T00:33:00.000-07:00

I have worked full time for many years now, and have always been very lucky to have interesting positions where I felt I could make a contribution. I work in not for profit agencies who are dedicated to making a difference to our community. For the last 18 months I have had the great pleasure of working in a very satisfying position, with great colleagues.

Like most not for profit positions, this job was reliant upon our funding base, which was due to expire in June this year. I have, therefore, been considering what to do next. With my family's support, I had decided that I would try to find a part-time position next. We are now not so dependent upon big salaries, now our house is paid for, and I have so much I want to do outside of work!

The big news is that this week I have been offered a really significant job in another not for profit agency, very close to my heart, and .......it is Three Days Per Week!

I have to bring my other work to a satisfactory conclusion, so I will be working two part time positions for about 7 weeks, but after that my new routine begins. Woohoo indeed! :)

After that piece of news, just a few pictures of things which have delighted me this weekend:

Hand knitted tea cosy thanks to the ladies at the Floreat Salvation Army fete.

Quilt top pieced mostly from op shop fabrics. Now on the design wall whilst I try to decide if it is finished. I think it needs another border. Just a small one in orange ??

World Music Festival

2011-03-14T15:28:00.001-07:00

I have been away to a most wonderful music festival called WOMADelaide. World Music of all kinds -calypso, bluegrass, pop music from Nigeria, psychadelic pop from the UK, Indigenous rock, Fado from Portugal... here is a picture of the very talented Marshall McGuire playing his harp.

We went to 13 concerts over 2.5 days in the lovely Adelaide Botanic Park setting. It was very well run, we had a very happy time and I am so glad I went. It was so relaxing to move between one concert and the next and then sit down again and listen to another one!

We brought home a lot of CDs to remember the event by, and some photos -most of which are on my DH's camera which he left at work.

I have a feeling heaven will be a lot like WOMAD- people from every country on earth, all playing music and having a great time in a garden setting, everyone happy, and great food!

I am afraid the carbon foot print is getting a lot bigger this week, after coming back from Adelaide I am off to Canberra for one day as part of my work.

This coming weekend we are going to be away with some friends.

See you when I get back.

In praise of generous craft women

2011-03-07T01:59:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the Centenary of the International Women's Day, whose rallying cry was always "bread and roses" -women calling for beauty as well as sustenance for themselves and their families (see the words of the song below)

I have spent today very happily sewing some pillowcases to go with the "East Meets West" quilt which was my first ever queen size quilt, and in the process I have been thinking about how much I have always loved working with my hands in the way women have always done. From high school onwards, every moment away from my studies was a moment to engage my hands in activities-to rest the mind and enjoy the peaceful absorption I feel in working this way.

My love of craft has been encouraged by women who have shared their gifts with me, as women do, freely and with great grace.

I remember my Grade Three teacher who taught me to knit, and my mother whose praise of my early efforts kept me at it even when it was difficult.

I remember my sister showing me how to embroider.

The "Home Economics" teacher who showed me how to sew and make clothes.

I remember the women behind counters in shops, who helped me find the resources and gave me the tips to try new things -beading, macrame, a thousand things. Women who wrote books I borrowed from the library, inspiring me to try harder.

Trish of Quilting Matters, who taught me my very best love -quilting.

Then there are all those generous bloggers (see my list to the right) who take the time to create tutorials to show other women how to do things -how to insert a zip, how to make easy pinwheel triangles, how to use the buttonhole foot on my sewing machine.

Thank you, all for giving me this wonderful gift -the ability and confidence to make things for my home and in doing so to express my own creativity.

Song lyrics

As we go marching, marching, in the beauty of the day,

A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,

Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,

For the people hear us singing: Bread and Roses! Bread and Roses!

As we go marching, marching, we battle too for men,

For they are women's children, and we mother them again.

Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;

Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses.

As we go marching, marching, unnumbered women dead

Go crying through our singing their ancient call for bread.

Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.

Yes, it is bread we fight for, but we fight for roses too.

As we go marching, marching, we bring the greater days,

The rising of the women means the rising of the race.

No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes,

But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses, bread and roses.

Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;

Hearts starve as well as bodies; bread and roses, bread and roses.

On Not Having Air Conditioning in the Heat

2011-02-26T17:12:00.000-08:00

It is hot...again. We are now breaking records for the longest Perth period of over 30 degree maximums, and over 26 degree (Celsius) minimums. Add some unaccustomed high humidity caused by tropical cyclones off the north west coast of WA and it is very uncomfortable at times.

We don't have air-conditioning in this house.

We have shadecloth blinds over the windows to keep out the heat. They stay up all summer long.

we have planted trees on the northern boundary -in the future their shade will be very welcome.One is a deciduous quince and will let light in during the winter months, one is further away and is an olive tree. Both have the potential of providing us with yummy things to eat.
We have ceiling fans
we have shade sails over areas to the west where the late afternoon sun beats on the house
The rear of the house has a covered patio area for shade and a retreat place when the house gets hot
The recently built carport over the driveway provides some respite from heat baking down on the paved area, and provides afternoon shade to the northern front garden.

You can see a number of these features here and here

There are a number of reasons we don't have air conditioning, but the main one is our concern for the environment. Our city in summer uses MASSIVE amounts of electricity...some summer days in the past our electrical company has towed out huge generators to add load capacity to certain suburbs which are known excessive users of power on hot days, as everyone runs their refrigerated air conditioners to the max.

Power costs have risen over 40% over the last few years. MY DH and I hope to work less at some time in the future, and we don't want to be dependent upon systems which are expensive to keep running.

Lots of Perth homes have evaporative air conditioning, which used to work quite well at pretty low power use when our summers were the usual hot dry affairs typical of a Mediterranean climate, but they don't work in higher humidity. They were also indicated as the principal cause of over half of the houses which caught on fire in Kelmscott and Rolystone a few weeks ago.

This week we have planned a few more ways in which we could improve the comfort in our home.

One western wall gets a lot of afternoon sun, and the room behind it gets very hot-noticeably hotter than the rest of the house. We installed a temporary shade structure and immediately noticed the difference. The way we plan to go is to install an under-eave water tank on this wall, which will shade and insulate at the same time, and when it is full provide some extra water for the garden.
We have ordered a screen door for our front door, which will allow us to get any breeze that is going through the house. After we installed our beautiful new front door, we were reluctant to put anything ugly next to it. We have finally found and ordered a simple, old fashioned wooden screen door and it should be installed in a few weeks.

Meantime I am making iced tea and cold coffee for refreshing summer drinks, and planning lots of cold meals! Roll on autumn!

Farewell lovely lady

2011-02-18T02:41:00.000-08:00

You came to us as a tiny kitten, into a house of small children. Very wisely you learned how to hide away from arms that wanted to carry you about. We thought you were unsociable, but you just wanted some space and some respect.

Nevertheless you kept us entertained with your antics. We remember a tiny kitten asleep in the hand basin in the bathroom!

We moved you from one suburb to another and you were frightened. One day you left and for three days you didn't come back. We thought you had gone for good! Then you found your way home, and we could tell you had been even more frightened out in the big bad world. You had decided that you needed us, even if we lived somewhere else.

I can remember how, towards evening, I would call "Puss Puss Puss" and the neighbours would call "Jacko Jacko Jacko" and each of our cats would come in to spend the night at home.

You left Jacko to roam the outside of our place, and you stayed inside, where it was warm and safe.

In your later life you wanted to be near us. You would greet us in the early morning, with a conversation about the difficulties of 'night starvation in cats" and then, suitably breakfasted, jump on our bed to have us spend some time giving you a 'full body massage' as befits a well-loved cat.

You would make your way to the TV room in late evening, and INSIST on your place on the couch whilst we watched TV. You showed us what true relaxation really looks like.

I started quilting only two years ago, and you discovered a new career as 'quilt inspector" and never ever missed an opportunity to do your job.

Recently you have been showing your age... all 20 years! You rallied several times when we thought it was the end, but today it really was the end.

We are going to miss you soooo much, our lovely Lady. Mornings will be so quiet without you.

How sweet home can be!

2011-02-12T22:18:00.000-08:00

It was a shocking fire in the Perth hills last weekend that saw 72 houses destroyed and approximately another 30 severely damaged. Amazingly there were no lives lost. On top of the floods and the cyclones in the east of Australia, it has been a very sobering start to the 2011 year.

My devotional wall in the loungeroom reflects the sadness of this time-instead of the icons and other symbols I had there at Christmas time, we have hung a collection of crosses from around the world.

On happier thoughts: I am just so thankful for my own home, which I love and which I see as my responsibility to enjoy and care for, as so many of our own people have lost theirs.

I went op-shopping yesterday and had some interesting 'finds'. I found a brand new tea towel from Chester, where my mum spent her war years in the ATS. I just loved the name of the house in the picure" God's Providence House". I am thinking of this as the central image in a black and white quilt. I found a vintage table cloth in very good condition, just right to be made into another craft project. And I picked up two necklaces. One had seven red beads on a ribbon thread, and the other some interesting black and grey beads on a velvet thread. Neither very exciting on their own, but I had an inspiration that I could put them together and this is the result. I think that this will just set off a couple of outfits I have. I have no real experience in jewellery making, but I have had a go, and it hasn't fallen off yet!
I hope that there will be better times ahead for us all in the rest of 2011!

Summer in OZ Quilt finished!

2011-01-31T03:21:00.000-08:00

TAADAA!

Excuse a little excitement but I am quite positively happy about this quilt and how it looks in my lounge room. Pardon the lighting, but I have just put it up on the wall this minute and it is getting dark.

Want to see it a bit closer?

I started this after Christmas. My DD gave me some fabric and I wanted to use some of it in the quilt. I had picked up a lot of quilting books on freecycle and the inspiration for this design was in one of them. I wanted to have a quilt that celebrated an Australian summer, so the Bougainvillea applique was exactly right. I have some wonderful Australian fabrics in the quilt.

There were a few firsts for me in this quilt. First applique in a quilt, first serious attempt at stippling.

Lots of happiness now it is done. WooHoo!

(I already have an idea for the next one....oops I may be obsessed!)

It could have been so much worse

2011-01-30T14:24:00.000-08:00

Ex-cyclone Bianca crossed the coast over Perth last night, but apart from some strong-ish breezes and a bit of drizzle, you would not have known it.

It was thunderstorms that accompanied the unsettled weather which did the damage in the towns of Northam and York, where houses and schools lost their roofs, and in Geraldton, sadly, one young person died when she came in contact with live electrical wires brought down by the storm

We are glad that we have had a quiet weekend. We are glad that we have excellent emergency response teams, which warn us about such possible dangers. We are glad that we took their warnings seriously. My DH is still a little muscle sore from cleaning the gutters, but gutters always need cleaning after summer, and the job is not wasted.

I am glad we finally put together our 'emergency box' of things we would want all together, to take with us should something drastic happen.

I am also glad to hear that our eastern states are also on a reprieve from a cyclone which was bearing down on North Queensland yesterday.

Much to be grateful for!

In the path of a cyclone!

2011-01-28T15:00:00.000-08:00

The Weather Bureau is warning of the approach of Tropical Cyclone Bianca, heading for the South West of WA and due to cross the coast early Sunday morning. At the moment the prediction is for a Category One Cyclone by the time it reaches us, with winds of 100-120k per hour and possible flooding of low lying areas.

This is pretty rare in these parts. The last one was in the 1970s and caused much destruction and the loss of 5 lives. I think we should take the warning seriously, and prepare for it, even though most of us haven't had much experience of it. Those who live in the North West of WA are much better at this than we are. My DD and I have just had a talk in which we tried to remember what the people of the north usually do when on 'cyclone watch'.

So today my DD will take down our shade sails and the temporary shade structures we have built over the veggie gardens. We will put away loose objects and lift the cafe blinds on the patio.

I will make sure we have some batteries for a radio. We will begin an emergency box in which we have a few important papers and -perhaps by tonight-a disc of scanned documents which we will want to have on hand.

Should the power supply be affected by strong winds (the most likely scenario for disruption is power poles down) then we have lots of candles. As we have gas for cooking we would probably be able to keep on cooking even without the electricity, and we always have the barbeque for back up. I have a well stocked pantry and the fridge and freezers would be Ok for a few hours at least.

I hope all of this is not necessary. I hope that Sunday morning comes quietly with a bit of welcome rain. With the stories from Queensland, Victoria and NSW lately, however, we are all more aware than ever that the weather in this country can be wild and disruptive, so I guess we are all taking the warnings to be prepared much more seriously than we would perhaps have done so in the past.

I hope that those of you my readers who are also in these parts are prepared for this event, and that we are all safe with our loved ones on Sunday night.

The power of a good label

2011-01-22T16:35:00.001-08:00

There is something about the beginning of the year that often causes me to want to organize something.

This is my 'baking needs' cupboard. Recently I went through it and made sure that everything had a label-sadly my housekeeping had got a bit rushed some time ago, and I had dumped a few things into various containers without putting labels on them. Of course I forgot what was what. I had to throw some things out because I could not be sure what they were! I really hate that, it seems such a waste.

The yellow labels come with Decor containers and are OK as far as they go. You can rub out the label and write it again. The only problem is that they have a habit of falling off and then you are back where you started.

The white labels are made by a Dymo labeller, which I got for Christmas a few years ago. My whole family thought it was a great joke when I went around putting labels on everything. The picture below caused some merriment, because I had gone to the laundry cupboard and labeled the hooks so we knew which implement hung on which one.

The fact of the matter is, however, that everything always has a place and people do put things back where they should be.

My case rests, your honour.

Last week I decided it was time to go through the spices in the pantry. I bought some tiny container and sorted them all out. I threw out some that I suspected were rather old. Then I put them in alphabetical order! Makes it much easier to see what is there, and quicker to get them when a cooking project is in full flight.

The power of a good label for me is that I can see immediately what I have and I can avoid buying more of something just because I can't find it when it is lurking somewhere in the kitchen cupboards. We have two other cooks in this house -my DH and my DD so labeling these things just makes it easier for everyone to feel as though they have the tools to do the job properly. We can all have a kitchen that we can use efficiently and we can put things away so that the next person can find them.

It saves us money, time and energy.

Wet and Dry

2011-01-15T01:09:00.000-08:00

Photo credit: Queensland goverment website.

Like most Australians, I have been shocked and saddened by the devastation wrought by the floods on the eastern seaboard. I have also been quite proud of our excellent emergency management authorities, and the way most Aussies have taken the courageous and generous steps of helping their neighbours. The Queensland flood appeal donation site is here.

We are a very long way away from Queensland. In Perth our summer continues as before -dry and hot.

We have experienced a 40 year drying trend in the south west of WA, which seems to make us one of the places in the world where climate change is showing itself very early.

In contrast to the rest of the continent, the southwest of Western Australia experienced a very dry year, continuing the long drying trend which extends back to the late 1960s. For the southwest region as a whole, the 2010 rainfall total was a record low 392 mm, well below the previous low of 439 mm in 1940. Rainfall in the cropping season (April to October) in southwest Western Australia also set a record with just 310 mm falling; the previous low was 348 mm in 1914. source: Bureau of Meterology.

The CSIRO suggests that if the world could begin to reduce our atmospheric carbon levels, WA weather would get wetter, but that this would be very slow indeed (500 years!) source: CSIRO

This week DH and I have been thinking about a new insulating paint which has been recommended to us, which can reduce internal temperatures thus reducing the need for air conditioning. We already have a painted cement tile roof, so painting with the insulating paint would not be too difficult.

I have also been researching the purchase of a good quality personal shopping trolley, so that we can reduce car use for those short trips to the shop when we have run out of milk.

We have re-jigged several of our vegetable garden beds, by adding water conserving coir and the materials from my worm farm and compost bin so that we can continue to grow the kinds of fresh food we can at home. Today we harvested some onions and tomatoes.

Each time we grow a crop (or half a crop if it fails!) this we learn more of the skills we need to become more self-sufficient, which means we rely less on goods transported over long distances.

We need to do what we can, all of us, to live more simply, for the sake of the earth. Weeks like this week remind me of what I have been trying to simplify my life for, and how much further we all have to go.

Eating in Hot Weather

2011-01-09T14:36:00.000-08:00

Here we are =summertime in Perth. Our forecasts are quite boringly predictable, with temperatures in the high 30s for days at a time, and moving in bursts into the low 40s. We expect that it will stay that way until late March at the least!

When it is hot, cooking is an ordeal. No-one wants the oven on for hours heating the house further than necessary. No-one can really face lots of hot and stodgy food either.

Here are two good recipes for jaded summer palates, which are easy to do and do not require slaving over a hot stove for long, and lastly a cheap and refreshing summer iced tea recipe.

Gazpacho-cold summer soup.(pictured above)

Quick to make in a blender or food processor and very yummy.

What you need:
1.5 kilos of good red tomatoes ( I use one 800 g tin and some fresh) 2 cloves garlic 1 red capsicum about half a long continental cucumber one slice of good left over homemade bread or equivalent to about 100 g-stale is fine 1/2 cup red wine vinegar good slosh olive oil 3 teaspoons salt

So far this recipe is standard, and pretty much what the wonderful Stephanie Alexander recommends.
However my added touch is 3 teaspoons of white sugar.

Bung it all in a food processor and then add about 2 cups of water. Let it stand for at least one hour but overnight is good. (My DD recommends that you do not over-process the soup -you don't want it completely blended -a bit chunky is good).

Asian inspired summer soup
Mu inspiration for this was realising that Asian countries are often hot and humid, and that soup is nevertheless a strong component of their cuisine.

After frying off an onion in some oil, add about a tablespoon of fish sauce and about the same of minced ginger and fry a little more.
Add 500 mls or more of stock if you have it, or water and stock cubes (chicken or vegetable).
Throw in whatever vegetables need to be used up in your fridge. I used a piece of red capsicum, carrots, zucchini, green onion tops and some cauliflower. Chop them up to be easy spoon size.

Then when the vegetables are tender/crisp add one packet of Udon noodles and some leaves from the garden -I used a handful of celery leaves and about 4 stems of rainbow chard.

You could add left-over roast chicken or some fish to this.

Cheap Iced Tea

Brew a black tea bag with two herbal teabags -I used one apple and cinnamon and one mango and raspberry teabag -in a teapot with about 600 mls of water for one hour.

In a pretty jug, start with one litre of cold water. Pour over the tea, then add a little sweetness -some ginger syrup or some fruit juice or syrup left over from tinned fruit.

Hope you are keeping cool and enjoying the summer!

At the beach

2011-01-01T17:30:00.001-08:00

Each day we can, during the summer, we head out to Mullaloo beach for a long, early morning walk before it gets too hot (today's expected temperature is 40 degrees Celsius). As we have to go back to work tomorrow, today's walk was one to celebrate.

It was a public holiday today so the surf lifesavers were on duty when we got there, practicing "take offs and landings" in their rowing boat.

We like to walk as far as we can towards Ocean Reef, and love to check out the rock formations and reef gardens as we do so.
We are so lucky to have all this within a 10 minute drive from our house. Down on the beach, with the wind in my hair and my toes in the water, I feel totally spoiled, rich beyond measure. Life is good!

Don't hurry past Christmas

2010-12-26T15:34:00.001-08:00

"On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me"

We had a lovely start to the Christmas season. Gently we entered into the celebration at Grace Anglican Church in Joondalup for midnight mass on Christmas Eve. Then it was champagne, fresh fruit and homemade yoghurt, wonderful fruit toast and coffee for breakfast. Opening presents from under the tree. Lunch of salmon or beef steaks and salads with DH's family including his dad who is in his 91st year.

Yesterday we had lunch in the park with my extended family, now grown by the addition of three lovely new baby girls this year. There is much to celebrate.

Most of us know that song quoted at the beginning of the post here -about the twelve days of Christmas. The Church has a Christmas season, which begins on Christmas day, and then goes on to Epiphany on the 6th January. It is a lovely time of the year. No need to hurry past the one celebration of Christmas Day. We can keep the decorations up until Epiphany, use the time to send those letters we didn't manage to write before Christmas, and catch up with friends and family members. We didn't make it to see the Christmas lights, so I hope to do that very soon.

Both DH and myself have this time away from work as leave, so it means a whole week of relaxing and resting and contemplation. It is traditional for us to use some of the time for tidying up our house-sorting the linen cupboard for example, or the tax documents we need to keep. It is also a time of looking back on what was achieved this year, and what we hope for in the next 12 months.

We will be off to New Norcia for their Ecumenical Carols service next weekend. In the wonderful relaxing times after Christmas Day it is lovely to sing the stories of Christmas and enjoy the traditions with friends and family.

I hope that you too find time to linger with the Christmas season, to find some rest and relaxation and spend time with family and friends.

Home made gift

2010-12-18T15:25:00.000-08:00

I have made a gift for a special relative, and I hope she likes it.

There are two parts. One is a large jar of a concoction which is called "Jarrah Coffee" here in Australia -instant coffee with other flavours etc. It is expensive, but I found a recipe to make it at home and the ingredients are easy to come by and not very expensive at all.

The recipe is 2 parts of coffee whitener, 1 part instant coffee powder (I added coffee granules as well), 2 parts powdered milk and one part caster sugar. Just add water, stir and get a creamy and sweet coffee. Not everyone likes this but the person I have in mind for this gift does.

I made some biscotti to go with it. Just found a whole website dedicated to biscotti recipes! I made almond biscotti. They were not hard to make, and taste yummy!

Then I wrapped it all up in some home made wrapping paper, from an idea I got from someone else's blog (sorry, can't remember where). I have some old Vogue magazines with beautiful photographs and glossy paper, so I cut out and taped several pages together. I used a story about cafe's in Vienna which I thought was most appropriate for the gift. The coffee mix is wrapped in pictures of elegant china cups.

I hope that your preparations for Christmas are going well, and that you too, find time for a coffee and a biscuit in the midst of the last week. Thanks for stopping by!

Take care of yourself!

2010-12-11T22:45:00.000-08:00

In the midst of the Advent season, with Christmas celebrations nearing, many people find that they are getting tired and fractious. Too many parties and end of the year celebrations to attend (parents with school age children know what I mean!) and too much stress about the preparations for Christmas.

Over at Flylady the Challenge of the Month is pampering yourself. Over at the Simple Savings network we have gone one step further and challenged ourselves to find ways to indulge ourselves which cost under $0.50. Lots of people have contributed ideas in what has become a very nurturing and positive thread on how to take care of ourselves and give ourselves a little delight each day.

I thought I would add a few of my own ideas, for feeling calm and relaxed in this season, as prompts for others:

1. Pampering myself is much easier if the basics have been done around the house -the bed is made, the dishes washed, I know what we are having for dinner, and any 'hot spots' which are accumulating junk have been dealt with. Most of this can be done in less than 15 minutes, but it makes such a difference to my feeling of calm it is definitely worth it. This is very much a Flylady habit and I would encourage you to make it your own.

2. Lists! Making a list of what I have got already in the way of Christmas presents, and what I might still need to organise, makes me feel calm and in control. My next step-for this week - is to write down the ingredients I will need for Christmas and Boxing Day foods, and then make sure that I have them ahead of time. I can feel OK about sitting down with a magazine or book if I think everything is organised.

3. Non-Screen Time! Now, I love blogs and Facebook and such as much as anyone, but I do find myself more relaxed if I ensure some non-screen time -and especially with some old fashioned reading. Recently I scored 45 craft magazines on Freecycle -just the kind of thing to enjoy with a cuppa and my feet up-and as they were free they were definitely an indulgence under $0.50! Maybe you could swap a book or set of magazines with a friend as a way of getting in some non-screen time.

4. Looking at things with new eyes can bring a little indulgence.
I started using a scented cream I found in the cupboard -with the title "leg rub" I guess I thought of it as something I might use when I strained a muscle. Actually it is a lovely moisturizer scented with rosemary, and it makes my legs feel refreshed when I use it. The perfume is quite pleasant and particularly nice to put on at bed time. I may as well use it up -rather than leave it in the cupboard where eventually it will go stale or dry up or something.

In the same vein, I was given a brown candle recently, by someone who didn't like it. I lit it and found it has a lovely vanilla scent which I am enjoying very much. I have it on the dining room in one of those chimney type candle holders and it is perfuming the whole place quite nicely.

Today I put together a silk flower arrangement and put it on my bedside table, where it will be in all its glory until after I put the Christmas decorations away. In its new home I get to see it every night and every morning, and it feels quite special to have it there.

Making a cup of real leaf tea and sipping it in a china cup can do the same thing -make us feel special.

I would love to have your comments here about other ideas you have for keeping calm and relaxed and feeling pampered. Please write!

Simplifiying Christmas -what we are doing here

2010-12-04T22:12:00.000-08:00

1. We tell each other what we want as a present. In fact, we make lists with cheap and not-quite-so cheap ideas so that we can avoid spending money on things no-one wants or needs. We do not believe that "if you love someone you can read their mind and so know what they want"!

2. We are giving experiences instead of things to some people. There are some people in everyone's life who don't really need anything much -but who would really enjoy going to a movie, a concert or going out to a dinner somewhere. In the case of my DH and I we are giving each other a season subscription to the WA Symphony Orchestra. Usually we would hesitate to just add the concerts to our entertainment budget, but as a Christmas gift it has its own budget! We will enjoy these concerts all year.

3. We have planned a simple Christmas celebration schedule, which spreads the festivities out over two days -Christmas Day and Boxing Day. We had found that our extended family was getting exhausted trying to see both of their families on Christmas Day. Children were getting toys on Christmas morning yet did not have time to play with them because they spent so much time in the car. My extended family meets on Boxing Day, which is much more relaxed and enjoyable. This year we are going to have a picnic in the park -there are 28 adults and 14 children on the invitation list!

4. We have got used to a simple style of Christmas menu, which allows most of the work to be done the day before. It is usually very hot in Western Australia on December 25th so we enjoy lots of salads and fruit. This year we are just adding to these a grilled salmon steak or beef steak -grilled on the barbecue, served with a special sauce. So everyone enjoys it -even the cook. The point of the meal is to be with our family and friends, not about trying to win the culinary Olympics. You will note that I am not a traditionalist at all when it comes to Christmas -we don't like turkey for example, and I personally detest plum pudding, especially on a hot day. You can do what ever you like at Christmas -there is no Christmas Police force who will check up on what you do!

5. We select several charities and give donations on behalf of all of us. This year I am going to choose Caritas for overseas aid, and Bartholemew's House (local homeless shelter) but you might think of Oxfam and the Salvation Army, or any charity of your choice. Giving to others makes Christmas meaningful.

6. We make time to enjoy the experiences which make up a Christmas season.

My DH is singing in the UWACS performance of Handel's Messiah on the 19th December for example. What would Christmas be without Handel's Messiah?
We are marking the Advent season with our Advent Calendar and our Advent Wreath.
We are writing cards and letters to old friends.
We will go out to look at those gardens nearby which have decorated with lights for Christmas. ( not something we choose to do, for the sake of the planet) but we can still appreciate the efforts of others.
We always watch the Carols by Candlelight (an Australian tradition) from Melbourne's Myer Music Bowl on Christmas eve, then go out to Midnight Mass.

There are some great resources to help make Christmas special and simple. Here is one I ejnoy enjoy.

The Advent Conspiracy

Waiting, Trusting, Listening: Advent 2010

2010-11-28T04:23:00.001-08:00

This painting of Mary is by Antonello de Messina: the Annunciation. Isn't it a powerful picture of a woman with great dignity and inner strength. I was introduced to this image this weekend.

We went to an Advent retreat at our beloved New Norcia, the Benedictine community an hour or so north east of Perth. This is the view of the courtyard in the guest house. It always makes me feel peaceful just to see this tower.

The theme for our retreat was listening, waiting, trusting. We looked at the birth narratives from scripture, and at art and music which helped us revisit these beloved stories. We prayed with the monks. In particular we looked at the words the characters in the Christmas story actually said -including the strong female characters in Luke's gospel: Elizabeth, Mary and Anna.

This is a picture of from a local Indigenous artist who has painted the angel Gabriel -it was at the back of the church, where people could make private devotions.

When we got home we did what we always do on the first Sunday in Advent -we started our Christmas preparations at home by putting up the tree.
We also put out our Advent wreath -but to my shame I have forgotten to have the right coloured candles on hand, so we lit a white one tonight to mark the first Sunday in Advent.

This is a picture of my Advent calendar quilt, which I made last year. As it was completed only on Christmas Eve, this is the first Advent it will be used to it's intended purpose -to mark the passage of days as we move through Advent. Despite what the retailers would have you believe -we are not there yet. Christmas is 4 weeks away. This is the time for preparation -for waiting, trusting and listening.

Just as Mary and Elizabeth would have marked the passage of time in their pregnancy, waiting and listening and hoping, so I hope that we can keep this theme going as we move through this season. In all the bustle of the Christmas preparations, this becomes even more important.

How have you marked the beginning of Advent?

The end of the holidays was very productive!

2010-11-21T01:49:00.000-08:00

I finished the 'jelly roll' quilt -also known as the "Coffee Quilt" because it has prints which relate to all things coffee- beans, percolators, capucinos etc. I found this quilt stand in an op shop for the princely sum of $8.95!

I found a special cat bed for our 20 year old Lady -with in-built electric blanket. Just the ticket for old bones!

I made new cushions for our TV room. Very happy to have used up pieces of left-over wadding and fabric from my stash.

But my darling Husband went all out. This was a weed infested, derelict and disgusting corner of our garden , between our house and the one next door. My DD's room looks out on to this, and suddenly we decided (he decided) it was time to act! Lots of manure and coir in the soil, some re-located hardy plants from another area of the garden, some mulch and 300 kilos of blue metal later and look at this wonderful transformation!

This is a newly made bed near the TV room, on the south side of our house. Hope the hydrangeas settle in.

Oh what a lovely feeling to have got all these things finished.

Oh dear, we have to go to work tomorrow! Should be quite restful after all the activity we have done in the last few days!

The South Coast Holiday

2010-11-15T16:48:00.001-08:00

Isn't these stunningly beautiful scenes of the Stirling Ranges in the rain? We had a mad day roaming around this area of unique biodiversity and scenery. We had a yummy lunch in the car at Bluff Knoll, because it was too cold and wet to sit outside. No matter, the sight of Bluff Knoll surrounded by clouds was wonderful. My DH used to live in Albany, and we know that you must not let the weather get in the way of your enjoyment of the place, because it will always be changeable like this. If you take the chance and go anyway, you will see wonderful things.

I took this picture whilst sheltering on a holiday cottage's front verandah, near Emu Point. We had been out walking and suddenly the weather changed. We only got a little wet, and when the rain eased off we walked around to the Emu Point Coffee shop for a coffee.

We stayed at Middleton Beach in Albany, and enjoyed the many walks along the coast that are available in either direction. This view is on the way to Ellen's Cove, early one morning as we walked up the side of Mount Clarence. It is only fair to put on record, after you have seen the pictures of rain above, that we were lucky enough to have some glorious weather at the start of our week there.

We read some lovely books -my favourite was a second-hand treasure: Garrison Keilor's book "Leaving Home", stories from Lake Wobegon, a fictional middle Minnesota town. Very funny indeed -the laugh out loud kind of funny.

We drove around our favourite places, walked a lot and ate in cafes and restaurants -some of the things we don't normally include in our weekly routine.

It was a lovely way to slow down at the start of our holiday.

Now I am home I have a lot of craft to keep me busy for the rest of the week. Hope to post some pictures of completed projects in a few days' time.

Off to the South Coast

2010-11-04T17:46:00.001-07:00

My DH and I are going for a short holiday to Albany on Western Australia's south coast.

Compared to the kinds of holidays that some of our friends like to take, this is all a bit mundane really. We are not going cruising, we are not flying off somewhere exotic.

We are just going to drive for about 4 hours south of here, to a coastline with beautiful scenery, to stay in a rented holiday cottage at the beach, to walk, to read, to relax. Yet this is exactly the kind of holiday we like -the scenery around Albany is spectacular, and we love to revisit it. I wonder if we will see any whales? They migrate up the coast and sometimes stop over in Albany on their way up or down.

See you when I get back.

Recycle this-garden chair

2010-10-30T23:30:00.001-07:00

It used to be a garden chair, but ended up in pieces on the side of the road during our last council bulk rubbish collection.

The seat is a round, saucer like cane object, which now has a new life in my garden as a rather stylish shade structure for a little citrus plant which struggles in the hot weather. With our new water restrictions we wanted to help the tree along, and so this is what my clever DH made for me. All we used were 4 star pickets hammered into the ground, 4 pieces of heavy gauge wire to wire the cane top to the star pickets (which have handy holes drilled into them -ideal for this purpose) , a piece of 50% shade cloth and about 6 cable ties (they hold the shade cloth on the structure).

We liked it so much we built another over the quince -to help it along for its first summer. This one hasn't got it's shade cloth yet. It is a bit easier to see how it all goes together.

We are going to need all the shade we can get -summer is one whole month away and we are already getting +30 degree Celsius temperatures.

If you want to try this at home, please be careful. Something I did during my Saturday gardening has really hurt my back. Went to my lovely physiotherapist today, however and things are on the mend.

Happiness is Home Made!

2010-10-23T22:27:00.000-07:00

If I try to think of a theme for this weekend, I can't go past the idea I sewed into this stitchery some long years ago: happiness is home made.

My DH and I love to be at home on the weekend. We do all the kinds of things that help us live more independently and simply -we garden, we cook, we do simple repairs. These things give us a great amount of pleasure and a sense of achievement. They are a lovely break from our usual kind of paid work -for one thing you get a pretty immediate result! They save us money too.

Over the years we have had to learn all sorts of skills -and had our share of failures too. One of the things my DH has learned is that a good job does depend on having the right tools. This afternoon he is putting an edging strip on the edge of the tiled surface he made on the front step -and is very happy with a clever product which he has found which is making the task a lot easier than he thought it would be.
I have just finished the quilt top I have been making using a Jelly Roll pattern. It has been quite a learning experience. Some bits I had to unpick -and I hate unpicking!

We have just enjoyed a fine Sunday lunch. I used the first of our home grown garlic -harvested and put into a home made foccacia, topped with home grown herbs such as rosemary, basil, thyme and sage. We ate it with some home made chicken and vegetable soup.

After the bread was cooked, I popped a chicken into the oven to have with salad for dinner. I now have some potatoes cooking, ready for home made potato salad and greens from the garden.

Just simple things -nothing special really, except for the quiet enjoyment we share in living like this.

If you scroll down to the end of my blog you will see a quotation about making things -how important it is to be fearless -to work through the mistakes and the things which do not live up to our hopes. To keep on going -I do hope you do the same.

This is not an obsession

2010-10-20T02:19:00.000-07:00

This is a kookaburra, resplendent in our new door which has been finally installed.

No this is not an obsession either -it is another kookaburra! This one lives near the front door.

These aren't obsessions -they are just flying kookaburras in my lounge room!

No... you guessed it...still no obsessions here, just kookaburras in the patio.

And this one might just prove it.... but no, just another kookaburra!

The internet succumbed to some dreadful line disease over a week ago -which it took a week to recover from.

Did you miss me? Even a little bit?

E

Rest for the Soul

2010-10-08T19:23:00.001-07:00

This is the view which greeted me from my window at the lovely Nathaniel's Retreat in Mundaring, where we spent last weekend. We had a blessed time. We talked, we walked, we ate yummy food, we read, we slept, we celebrated.

We have absolutely enjoyed and benefited from our program of retreats this year. The chance to get away for the weekend is always good, and to go somewhere with lovely scenery and such is lovely too.

A retreat may be all this but it is so much more. It is a time to consider what makes for real happiness -what makes for real contentment -what goes wrong with our dreams and plans, and how we might make it different next time. What resources we fail to acknowledge, what help is there always waiting for us to ask and receive.

It acts like a massage for the body -but works on the inside.

A good retreat leaves a lingering effect. I have certainly felt it this week as I went through my week. In times of stress I thought of what I learned about myself on retreat. In times of repose I remembered the good times on retreat.

And both DH and I have planned to take this retreat pattern, as much as we can, into our routine every weekend. We want to plan for at least one day each week in which we do the kind of things that are joyful and restorative. For us this means we must do something that takes us out of doors -walking in beautiful places for example. (We decided that this could include gardening, because we both have a lift in spirits whenever we do this).

It does mean sharing time with family and friends -and being open to them and their needs. Love is always restorative!

We decided that we wanted to break our routines -a cooked breakfast on the patio for example. This morning DH made poached eggs florentine with freshly squeezed orange juice.

What goes to make up the rest of such a day is still something we are considering. I hope this can become a good habit and that we can learn what makes for 'rest for the soul' and seek it out together.

What would you include in a day like this?

Gardening in a drying climate

2010-10-03T02:13:00.001-07:00

Western Australia has had the driest winter in decades, and this is not unusual, but part of a consistent drying trend that has been going on for the last 40 odd years. In global climate terms, WA is the canary in the mine -we are the first to show symptoms of what is a consistent change to the weather patterns.

As a result our state government has told us in the metropolitan area of Perth that we can use irrigation for our gardens for only one day per week. Now, we are used to irrigating two days per week -and irrigation is necessary in a mediterranean climate with a long summer drought. But from 1 October all the way to the end of November we can only water once per week, and who knows if this will change in summer. We have long, hot dry summers, so most gardeners are worried. Very worried.

On the political level I feel this is a bit of a cop-out. Our state government has not done very much to create incentives for industry to become more water efficient, and has reduced incentives for private households to put in the kind of water recycling and water retention systems that will make us work harder at not wasting a drop of water.

In our garden we have already installed some shade sails and 50% shadecloth over our vegetable beds, which are built on the wicking system which reduces evaporation rates. (Search the Aussies Living Simply site for more ideas on wicking beds).

I have ordered a bale of lupin mulch -we will need to mulch heavily to reduce water loss this summer.

The good thing is that we already have drip line irrigation which delivers every drop of water to the plants not into the air where it evaporates. Most of the front garden is hardy Mediterranean type plants like lavender, rosemary and pelargoniums which will survive pretty well.

We also have NO LAWN. Nope, not a bit. Lawn is very water hungry. This will help.

I imagine that before the end of summer we will be taking quite extreme measures to keep our fruit trees alive. We may need to build shade structures like the ones in the picture above to help them cope.

In the long terms we will need to install a grey water system to re-use our water to help the trees out. I haven't done this yet, but it will become a priority soon I think.

I wonder if anyone has any suggestions for gardening this summer or in a drying climate? What would you do?

Spring in Perth

2010-09-26T00:27:00.001-07:00

We went to Kings Park with DH's 90 year old father for a quick look at the wildflowers.
Here is what you can see even if you can't walk very far. These are Darwinia bells I think.

These are red kangaroo paws with scaevola (the purple ones)

The view of Perth city -overlooking the wishing well.
Views across the Swan River, the city to the left, the Darling Range in the background.

We all agreed that we love living here. What's not to love? Spring is here, the flowers are in bloom and we are all rejoicing in the idea of summer coming.

Wedding To Do List-Done!

2010-09-19T02:18:00.001-07:00

1. Make ten table centres by sewing the same fabric as the bridesmaids were wearing into table runners, adding shining mirrors and tea light candles and flowers. Take them up to the reception centre and put them on the tables whilst wearing cotton gloves to avoid finger prints on the shining surfaces. Make sure all the tables were correctly laid with place cards and gifts. DONE.

2. Arrange two large flower arrangements for church, deliver them to the church, and have my dear sister and brother in law take them to the reception centre afterwards. DONE.

3. Attend one of the happiest and most romantic weddings ever (am I biased?) of my dear son and his Beautiful Girl, making sure to have a little cry during the service. (most people confessed to this). DONE

4. Give away the table centres to all sorts of worthy people and then bring everything home and put everything away. DONE

5. Put your feet up on the sunny spring patio, with a drink and a decorating magazine and relax. DONE.

6. Have the bride and groom live happily ever after. Work in progress!

Happiness is

2010-09-13T05:09:00.000-07:00

"happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of acheivement, in the thrill of creative effort."

This is a non-wedding post, even though the wedding is now only days away! Don't want to give away any surprises, so I thought I would share the results of a little Freecycle bounty -ten packets of curtain swatches and samples! From all of this I now have some half metre pieces of quite gorgeous suede, brocade and lace along with smaller coordinating pieces. A whole box full, just waiting for me to have a post-wedding calmer life to play with them.

I am thinking -the big pieces might make shopping bags, the suede and brocades could combine in a stunning lap quilt and the lace could be given a weighted border and become picnic throw overs (to keep insects off the food).

There has been a lot of other sorts of creativity going on in a number of places, towards the wedding. All sorts of creative people are making this happen.

If that makes for a happy start, then we should have a great day!

Love is in the air!

2010-09-05T02:52:00.000-07:00

Thirty four years ago this ring cushion was used in my wedding ceremony, carried by a young nephew.

In the meantime it has been in a bottom drawer, the only relic of my wedding day apart from photos. It was my decision to spend all the wedding budget my dear old Dad could afford ($200!) on the reception and to hire my wedding dress. Not ever sorry, but this ring cushion was never thrown away as a result.

Over the years it gained a few age spots (haven't we all?) so when the Son and his Beautiful Girl were planning the wedding Son remembered we had it and we all looked at it. Oh dear! "No worries", quoth I,"I think I can fix it".

So I embroidered and spot cleaned and stuff and this is the result. I hope they like it.

Two weeks to go to the Big Day.

As a result Father's Day was a bit low key, but Fathers get this stuff. DH has a wild new 3 disc set of black gospel music and two DVDs of Dr Who -the latest series. Woo Hoo!

Simplifying the wardrobe

2010-08-29T02:26:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by a thread on the Simple Savers website to go through my wardrobe today and throw out everything that I did not like, anything washed out or stained or just never worn.
Anything worthwhile I put aside for the local op shop, but I ruthlessly culled all socks without a pair, and anything which could not be repaired.

When it comes to simplifying one's wardrobe, there is a great deal of good advice out there. The inspiration was this site, referring to the Capsule Wardrobe -a set of basic clothes which coordinate and can be mixed and matched to make a variety of outfits for a variety of occasions.

Let's face it, it is too easy to get sucked into the commercial hype around clothing, that makes women feel inadequate and sends us off to buy clothes which hang in our wardrobe rarely worn because we have nothing which goes with it. The idea of working towards a basic wardrobe can save money and stress -when you pick something out, it should work with other things hanging there!

I like to look nice, but I only pay an occasional nod towards the world of fashion. Fashion was not meant for the likes of me -too short, and too womanly in shape to feel as though I was going to get far down that track. As it is, I find it difficult to find pants that fit, or shirts where the sleeves are not too long, or clothes that actually keep me warm!

There is a fascinating story on the web of a woman who took a stand against fashion, and wore ONE DRESS for a whole year. You can read about her experiences here:
The Brown Dress
What she discovered was that other people rarely notice what we are wearing -they are too busy with their own concerns! She also found a certain freedom in getting off the fashion treadmill.

What I found today was that I like to wear black, red, blue and green with occasional bits of purple or pink.

I have a fine collection of jackets (15!) , and some good shirts, but I am lacking one or two foundation pieces like a black skirt for work and a couple of pairs of dress pants.

I have a very fine collection of scarves and pashminas, which I use to dress things up, and a good collection of ear rings and other jewellery, which finish off an outfit.

It will be necessary to buy another pair of summer shoes as the ones I have are looking a little worse for wear.

Knowing this will help me buy what I need to keep the wardrobe simple, but effective.

When I see the victims of the Pakistan floods on the TV, with nothing at all to their name, I take it as a worthwhile corrective to the acquisitiveness which comes in our Western culture too easily. I hope I can keep thinking simple when it comes to my wardrobe!

Bargains!

2010-08-22T03:45:00.000-07:00

Here are some thrifty things we have been doing this weekend.

We noticed our neighbour was throwing out some white tiles, during the last Council Clean Up weekend. DH rescued them and this weekend he has been laying them in the porch outside our front door.

The area is very dark -dark bricks, dark floor. The idea of tiling had occurred to us, and these tiles turned up at the right time.

We had to buy cement and grout for the tiles, and DH needed a special tool so I guess it cost $100 all up to do this makeover. (the tool is ready for other jobs, of course). The picture was taken yesterday, before the grout was applied.

We have already noticed how much the tiles reflect light into this dark space, and when we get our new doors installed soon, it is going to be quite transformed.

Spring time is nearly here, and I noticed these bright place mats in the local op shop for $1 each. I think they are just the thing for a spring weekend lunch.

It was the same op shop that supplied this lovely box with red butterflies. All it needed was a split pin to hold the lid, and I am delighted that it matches my desk mouse pad. I am using it to hide my camera cable etc.

We planted this lavender in the veggie patch to encourage the bees to hang around and pollinate our veggies. I get to look at this loveliness, the bees like the flowers and everyone is happy. I guess it cost about $4.oo.

AND all these lovely green leaves, for salads. They are quite perfect at the moment, given the showers of rain, and so fresh and healthy. This tub probably cost $12 for the seedlings.

We planted some early tomatoes, peas and more lettuce today. Well, in a few weeks these lettuces will be finished, and lettuce leaves are one of our favourite garden crops.

Thank you for those who leave comments. I am always delighted to get them.

Time for a progress report-DH at work!

2010-08-15T01:13:00.001-07:00

My Dear Husband has been at work doing lots of jobs for me. This installation in my sewing room is a panel curtain from Ikea, which replaces the wonky wardrobe doors. These slide, so do not intrude into the room, and yet cover up the craft storage cupboard, which I am still organising. I really like the look of them.

I keep finding bits of craft materials which I had stored in all sorts of cubby houses all over the house. Just yesterday I found a lovely selection of coloured cotton reels hidden in a decorative box on top of the piano!

As you can see, they are easy to slide in any direction so I can get what I want. I have been gradually labeling the boxes, and deciding what to put where, so that I can easily find it again.

The panel curtains can stack at either end or in the middle.

It is so nice to see these jobs being done around our house.

The carport is finished and looking good. My DH has been doing some jobs around it, to make it all perfect again. Some of the driveway bricks had been disturbed and needed to be relaid, and there was a bit of leftover building material which needed to be disposed, so there is a skip on the front verge, and we have a week to get some of the junk into it before it goes away.

I hope you like the pictures of our home improvements. I am very grateful for my lovely DH who is such an enthusiastic partner in all of our home improvements around here. Thank you DH, for being willing to tackle so much of this stuff for me. I know he gets a big sense of satisfaction when it comes out right. Don't you think he does a good job?

Celebrating democracy

2010-08-08T01:47:00.001-07:00

Something very exciting happened this week.

I am a GetUp member, and we were happy to support the High Court case brought by GetUp to challenge the validity of a law brought in by the previous government, which had the effect of disenfranchising a lot of people -mostly young people voting for the first time-from voting in an election if they did not manage to get on the electoral roll within 24 hours of the poll being called. We took a court case and ....we won! It is estimated that there may be up to 100,000 people who will be able to vote as a result, in the next election, due in 2 weeks' time.

Have a look at the story here.

I do believe that the cause of Simple Living is one which does not just relate to growing veggies, cooking from scratch or living frugally. It also encompasses contributing to the community in which we live. GetUp is a new way of doing this.

On Tuesday next I will be participating in a silent vigil organised by GetUp and others, to highlight the plight of the mentally ill in our society, in the run up to the election. I am making a sign which I will carry which will say:
"immigration detention causes mental illness".

If you are a local Perth resident, please feel free to join us.

A candlelit vigil will take place in the Perth CBD on Tuesday 10 August commencing at 5.30pm for a 6.00pm start. Concerned members of the public are invited to gather at Stirling Gardens, on the corner of Barrack St and St Georges Terrace, Perth. The group plans to do a silent walk through the gardens. There will be speakers and singing.

The Vigil is being planned by a coalition of individuals and community groups. It supports the call by Professor Patrick McGorry for national mental health reform.

The vigil will be conducted to remember those who’ve been lost, and those who still suffer needlessly because of the inadequate mental health care system. Simultaneous vigils will occur in public places across Australia, including a similar event at ‘The Gap’ which will be led by Professor McGorry.

People who attend are being asked to bring warm clothes, candles, banners and pictures of loved ones affected by our failing mental health system. This is a non-partisan event, calling on all political candidates to make mental health reform a priority.

Retirement planning!

2010-07-30T03:32:00.000-07:00

The Bank sent me a brochure about retirement planning! Just because I have reached a magic number in the computer's data bank -a number related to my age of course -apparently I am now a customer for all sorts of 'financial planning' advice and products.

The truth is, of course, that we all need to think of our financial health into the future.

I am sorry I was so slow to pick up on this in years past. We spent everything we earned. We had no savings, and no plans beyond wishes for a home of our own.

It was some time later that we came around to the need to get smarter about money.

I can remember a system which worked a simple budget out on a Cash Book with columns. We wrote down what we spent, divided it among categories in the book, and when there was a balance we bought something we needed or wanted. We saved up for clothes -a budget of $5 or $10 per week added up to a nice pair of leather shoes which lasted for a lot longer than the pair bought 'on impulse' as we walked by them in the shop window.

The children (as they were then) had columns of their own, and when they were quite young teenagers we gave them full control of their clothes money. They could buy anything they wanted, but there would be no more than what was in the column balance. One bought chain store value, one bought name brands, but both learned the value of money.

I can remember both my husband and I having 'an allowance' - a little bit of our own money to be spent as we chose, without question -just for sanity's sake.

Over the years we have had variants on this system, some more labour intensive than others, but all of it about making informed choices which accorded with the priorities we set together in discussion, each year.

One of the major challenges for us was the purchase of our home. We lived in homes which belonged to others, and went with our employment, for 20 years. We 'lost' those years, in terms of paying off a mortgage, although we gained a lot of other things which money could not buy.

When we finally took out our mortgage we had meagre savings which we supplemented by cashing in the long service leave we were due when leaving one place of work. The early years of the mortgage were very tough, with growing teenagers at private schools and my husband suffering 18 months of unemployment after being retrenched.

So, this week we are celebrating a certain milestone of life, and one which is a significant one on the road to a sustainable life after our retirement age. We paid off the mortgage!

I'm counting my blessings this week! Hope you are too.

What a lovely weekend

2010-07-25T15:46:00.001-07:00

Lovely new curtains for my bedroom.

I picked up my "East Meets West" quilt from the professional quilter's house, where it had been quilted on the large computerised quilting machine. I am delighted with the result. I now just need to bind the quilt and it is ready for my bed. This is the first queen size quilt I have made, and I learned a lot in the process.

We have put together yet another raised garden bed, again in the wicking syle.

The idea is that you develop an impermeable layer at the bottom of the bed, and then water down a pipe to that layer, so that your plants always have water to draw on. It works well in our dry climate.

Winter gardening -the weeds are growing faster than I can pull them out, and it is so dark in the mornings that not a lot gets done. It will wait, however. Spring can't be too far away.

We also went to the Playhouse for a production of Twelfth Night -a lovely rendition of the Bard's comic work.

So - some decorating, some gardening, some crafting, and some entertainment. Great weekend, really.

First pics of the sewing room

2010-07-18T02:26:00.000-07:00

First a marathon unpacking of a certain kind of flat pack furniture, with my darling Husband and Dear Daughter hard at work.

Then, once everything was in-and it fitted! (WHEW) it was my turn to move all my stuff in, and begin the arranging. Of course not everything is as it should be yet!

This is a height adjustable desk for my computer and household management.

I fell in love with these lamps -and ended up with two!

This is my sewing desk.

The curtains are being hung and measured so that they fit exactly. I wanted to hang them for a few days before cutting anything! Do you like them?

I have a set of shelves, so I have room for all my craft books and patterns as well as the household files, and of course some friends!

This is another shot of my desk. The wardrobe has been fitted with shelving and baskets. The doors are not fitted as yet -they need to be painted.

Dinky little table top ironing board for those block seams.

How do you like it so far?

What to do on a very wet weekend

2010-07-11T01:38:00.001-07:00

Over 75mls in the rain gauge since Friday morning makes this a very wet weekend. June left us with only one quarter of our normal rainfall, for what is traditionally the wettest month of the year, so this rain is most welcome. I have not emptied the gauge yet -after so many days of dry weather I am really enjoying seeing the column of water.

It hasn't made much of an improvement to the temperature however. Perhaps it is slightly warmer overnight, so we have not had the ice on the cars, but the days are quite chilly.

Our DS has been learning about living in his rental accommodation. It seems quite a chilly house, even with the wood stove. It is a great pity that the idea that the Federal government had, to subsidise the placement of ceiling insulation in rental accommodation, turned out to be spoiled by tricksters and conmen, who did such a bad job that there were lots of house fires and the whole scheme was abandoned. It is also a pity that the programme of legislating for each house rented or sold from July 1 2010 to have an energy efficiency rating, has now been put on hold for two years. It is the renters who struggle trying to keep warm in houses without ceiling insulation.

My lovely DH has painted the ceiling, and started on the first coat of the sewing room. As you can see, we are going to be much lighter and brighter than before. My DS chose this lovely honey colour because it was close to the colour of his lovely old violin, but I want a neutral canvas so that my quilting colour choices can be seen without competition, on my design board. I will also need good bright light to work in here.
Our lovely ancient Lady (next month she will be 20) has spent the weekend seeking out the warmest places in the house. Without the winter sun streaming in, this turned out to be the best option for her old bones.

I have been reading Penguin classics. They had a three for the price of two sale recently, so I have enjoyed George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" and am now into Isabelle Allende's "Eva Luna".
I have made a bottle of preserved cumquats in a very heavy syrup, which I am told will be nice on a cheese board, or served with icecream. We have been on the look out for more uses for cumquats as the yummy marmalade that DH makes is rather fiddly and you can only eat so much marmalade in a year.

The other jar is fresh ginger, which I have pickled in a brine/vinegar/sugar solution. I also have some grated and frozen -will compare the two methods to see how I like the result. Both methods were recommended by my friends on the Aussies Living Simply website -if you click on the button on the right you will be taken to a wonderful repository of wisdom.

Tonight's dinner for DH and I is a mushroom braise -winter fare! I got these from the Midland grower's market this morning, along with the ginger.

I guess this weekend has been just one of those quiet, productive, happy kind of winter weekends. Hoping you, dear readers, have had a lovely quiet weekend too.

A Room of One's Own

2010-07-05T03:44:00.000-07:00

Virginia Woolf said a woman needed 500 pounds a year and a room of her own -with a lock on the door -in order to write.

Rick Rutherford in his classic magazine "Australian Country Collections" once had several feature articles on the creative spaces some lucky women had -and got me thinking then how wonderful it would be.

This weekend my DS moved into his first ever rental home -in preparation for the Wedding to his beautiful girl in September.

AND ...."TAA DAA" -I am now in possession of a Room of My Own. A Sewing Room, no less.

My DH is planning to paint it for me just as soon as he can -thank you darling. We are painting it Antique White USA. I will put up some curtains and furnish it with a desk for my computer and household files, a sewing table with cutting board, small iron, and permanent place for my sewing table with its lovely Bernina on it.

I have already put my craft supplies on shelves in the wardrobe, as you can see. These things used to be stashed under my bed, on the top of my wardrobe and anywhere else I could possibly fit them.

I plan to take up the carpet and replace it with bamboo flooring, which will be just right for the messy business of sewing -threads and wadding can make quite a lot of stuff on any floor, and the bamboo will be easy to sweep.

This is a lovely room, facing north, towards my glorious front garden.

Am I excited ? What do you think?

PS you might be wondering where the pictures of my new carport are -well, apparently the workshop has prefabricated it, but it won't be delivered until the construction gang are ready. So we are all still waiting.

Fire and Ice

2010-06-27T01:05:00.000-07:00

Fiery colours of nasturtiums in a tiny crystal vase. This one survived the 'great vase de-cluttering" of last week. It is so handy for tiny flowers and they always look wonderful in it.

I like this thought from the ALS website thread on de-cluttering:
"There is clutter and storage. Storage is stuff with a known and expected use, placed sensibly in such a way to make it readily available when its time comes. Makes you happy to look at.
Clutter is disorganised, unknown or unlikely use, and makes you feel slightly queasy to look at. In severe depression there is no part of the house which makes you happy to look at. Clear it back to bare boards if necessary, you will be surprised how much of it you will never miss, and even feel good about the loss of."

And this is the ice! On my car, this week. We people in Perth are not used to such cold mornings. It should be raining -if it was raining, it would be warmer. As it is, there have been two mornings we have had to deal with ice on the cars in the driveway this week.

The exciting thing is our new free-standing carport is due to be constructed next week. Watch out for pictures!!

I like the colours of cumquats as they ripen. I have several new recipes to try out on this year's crop, including preserved cumquats and cumquat biscuits! We plucked up the courage to try my preserved apples (faithful readers will remember this is my first attempt at preserving things using the water bath method) and I am pleased to say they tasted great.

This is a view of my front garden in the winter sunshine. In the middle of all of this profusion of winter growth my DH found space to plant a Quince tree.

We are looking forward to summer shade, winter sun from the quince, and lots of ruby red quince preserves in due course.

DH grubbed around in the potato bed to check them -and found some tiny taters. I think they need a bit longer yet.

And finally, I have been sitting near the heater sewing the binding on my Dark Nightz quilt. Soon it will be on the wall.

Hope you are all keeping well and warm during this southern winter time.

SHHH!

2010-06-21T02:07:00.000-07:00

I have been on a silent retreat, at the wonderful Nathaniel's rest.

No talking for 40 hours.

BLISS!

As my DH said, it is a great relief not to talk for a while.

Time to rest.

Time to read.

Time to think.

Time to walk.

Time to notice how lovely our winter bushland can be.

We saw 4 kangaroos on the hop -bounding through the bush.
Didn't get a picture, but how glad it made me!

These horses were still enough to photograph, however.

Now that I am back home, we are thinking about how we can include at least some quietness in our lives.
We could drive without the radio or music playing.
We could spend one of our morning walks together in silence.

Silence helps us to notice what is otherwise hidden.

One of my readings this weekend said:
"Why should creation play to an empty house?"
At least some times, I intend to be in the audience, quietly watching the show.

Three visit rule!

2010-06-14T17:12:00.001-07:00

It was like this, you see. I had this lovely mug given to me some years ago, by a friend who knew the potter. She had him add my name to this mug. I have an unusual name and so I have never been able to buy anything with my name on it -and I was delighted to have this mug.

Then I saw this tray with more of exactly the same mugs as my name mug, in an op shop near where I work. They were in excellent condition and for just $25 or less than $2.50 per piece -including sugar bowl and milk jug-a real bargain. The only problem was that I really didn't need any more mugs. Have lots of them in the house.

So I left them for other lucky shoppers. And a couple of weeks later they were still there.

And then a month later they were still there!

That is when my DD's 'three visit rule' came into play. If it is still in the op shop after three visits, you get to buy it! Well, obviously I was the only customer for these mugs -the only one who would really appreciate them -and the op shop needs to sell its stock doesn't it!

So they came home and we are all delighted with them. We had coffee on Saturday with home made peanut butter and chocolate biscuits -and we all said what a nice set it was. Unlike some pottery mugs these have a nice feel to them.

The way that I make room for such purchases is to take back to the op shop some things I don't need. I now have a boot full of things such as glass vases, which I don't use very often. I have included some china too. I don't want to clutter my house (some people would say it is already full!) so this is the way I manage this kind of thing. I love op shops and the thrill of finding something special or unique, or just loving something no-one else wants.

I Like My Small House!

2010-06-05T21:55:00.000-07:00

We bought our first home when we had been married for 20 years. I was tired of living in other people's houses and I wanted to have a home of my own. For many years this seemed an impossible dream. My DH and I had shared one full time job when our children were little, and as a result we had a great relationship with our two children, but no savings. As they grew we took on more days of work and started to save.

Eventually we had a moment -throwing every resource we had, including converting our long service leave to cash, we bought the best house we could afford - a 25 year old three bedroom, two bathroom home. It is not large by Australian standards, but palatial by the standards most of the third world experiences. It has a 'family room' -a new feature when the house was built-that is about the size of a bedroom. It does not have the standard four bedrooms. It does not have a games room or a theatre room or any of the rooms Australian families have been told that they need to have a good life these days.

Over the years we added a patio out the back, and with clear plastic blinds and a patio gas heater it is a comfortable space for a lot of the year. My DS invited his friends over last night and there were ten of them enjoying each other's company in the patio whilst the rest of us were happy in the family room.

This article sums up what I like about small houses. What is suggested is that if we can not be sucked in by the consumerist culture of our society, which tries to convince us that we need more and bigger and newer things all the time, then we can enjoy what we have rather than what others tell us we should want.

Yesterday evening my DH and I were sitting in our lounge room at about 5pm. We both had good books to read, and a glass of wine. We were warm and comfortable, there was jazz on the radio, and the rain was softly falling. We were both well aware of what a luxury a comfortable home can be, and are grateful for it.

Sorry that I have had to add another level of moderation to the comments section of this blog. Please feel free to leave a comment anyway!

Completion

2010-05-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

Yes the 'rainbow quilt' is finally finished. I put the binding on yesterday and now my DD has it on her bed where it makes a very bright addition to the bedroom decor.

Something else was brought to completion this weekend. My husband's mother died at the age of 91, after a long and fruitful life. Mum died at home in her sleep, having been declining with dementia for about three and a half years. My sisters in law did a fantastic job of caring for her and Dad over these years. It is not inappropriate to say that it is a relief for all, including Mum, that she has now come to the end of all of this.

Mum had a very strong and active faith. She and Dad worked in the Church for many years, side by side. In the last months, my DH used to take communion to her and Dad at home, and she always seemed to be making some kind of response to the prayers. We are quite at peace with the thought that she is now with God, whole and full of life and laughter again, as she was in her youth, and with her loved ones by her side.

First ever preserved fruit

2010-05-26T01:37:00.000-07:00

I have never seen anyone preserve their own fruit, and so it has taken some time to build up my courage to have a go. I decided that if I never tried, I would never be able to do it, so here is my first ever attempts using the water bath method, the most trusted method around.

I bought the jars for $2 each at a second hand shop in Albany, where the proprietor has been surprised at the interest in them lately.

I got new lids, clips and rings.

I followed an excellent website where the method was explained.

These are just apples and pears -which were the cheapest fruit per kilo in the market yesterday.

The reason I am interested in learning this new skill is that I want to be able to preserve the produce from our garden, when we have a glut (one day perhaps). It is also a thrifty way of exploiting the natural glut of seasonal fruit in the markets. Preserving gives me total control of what we eat, including how much sugar or salt, and that is a good thing too.

So, the question will be -have I done it right? Will they be edible in a month's time? Watch this space!

South Coast holiday

2010-05-24T01:25:00.001-07:00

We have been away to our favourite south coast town of Albany. The weather was so warm for this time of year, we were able to enjoy all of our favourite view. Here are a few to share with you.

We went to the wonderful Bluff Knoll -and no, we did not walk up. It is ahard 4 hour round trip. My DH used to climb these mountains in his younger days.

And we have been to the little town of Denmark on WA's south coast. This is the river in the centre of town.
And now we are home again.

There is nothing like a quiet lovely holiday like this to restore the soul.

Eat what you grow

2010-05-15T23:01:00.000-07:00

This is a recipe for Bok Choy, which is growing well in my garden at the moment. We usually use it in stir fries. By harvesting the outer leaves only, we can keep this useful vegetable growing for quite a long time. As we have been quite successful at keeping the caterpillars away we have a good supply, so the time has come for more uses to be found for the Bok Choy...Thanks to Stephanie Alexander I found a recipe that inspired the soup below.

I offer it in the spirit of making sure we can eat what we grow.

Bok Choy Soup

I litre or more of good quality home made chicken stock
About 12 Bok Choy leaves
Olive oil for frying
Soy Sauce
Udon Noodles
Any other green vegetables to hand -eg asparagus, broccolini

Heat the stock.
Whilst this is happening, stir fry the Bok Choy and other vegetables for a few minutes and sprinkle with soy sauce.

Add the vegetables to the hot stock and then add the Udon Noodles - I like to snip these a bit so that they are easier to eat.

Flowers for Mother's Day

2010-05-09T01:27:00.000-07:00

Spent a lovely morning in the garden, among all this loveliness. Since we had the first rains followed by cooler nights and warm days, my garden has emerged from its stressed summer look to lush growth, in which each plant tries to outdo it's neighbour.

There is both pink and blue rosemary in flower, white and yellow and pink daisies, red and purple and cerise pelargoniums, and lots of lavender cultivars. The bees are still very busy.

I found a volunteer (self-seeded) rosemary and lavender which I have replanted out in the back to encourage the bees out there where I need the bees to pollinate vegetables and fruits.
Speaking of fruits, this is one of the gifts from my family for Mother's Day - a lovely kalamata olive tree. We planted it in the front yard where it will be some light shade in the summer time.

I got other lovely gifts -two books on preserving, and two seasons of Hercule Poirot on DVD!

Tonight we are going to a concert version of Rockwiz - a favourite TV show which celebrates rock music and I know we will have a whole lot of fun.

Happy days!

Busy Bee

2010-05-02T01:55:00.001-07:00

There were lots of bees in the garden today. All through the lemon blossom, the lavender and the daisies. They were busy bees!

I have been busy too, sourcing flower arrangement paraphernalia for a certain celebration in September. You have to practice these things! These strange purple beads swell up in water and I am testing them out with some asters to see if the flowers stay alive.

I have made a Stargazy set of quilt squares. I liked it once I saw it come together like this.

The myer lemon has luscious fruit-just a few.

DH planted a Kaffir lime -thank you darling.

The potato beds got extra mulch.

The 7 year beans have their first bean pods.

And there is a new addition waiting to be planted - a giant kalamata olive! Just in time for Mother's Day ! WoHoo.

How to have a great weekend-The Husband's story

2010-04-27T04:31:00.000-07:00

Start by admiring your lovely vegetable tub, growing so well under your careful water management.
Plant up a new strawberry pot.

Then paint out the old yellow paint in the hallway and redecorate with "Antique White USA". Of course this is after you have moved all the stuff out, and found the scrapbooks and memory boxes and had a laugh and a cry at all the stuff we found.

.
Have a nap when you need to-after all this hard work.

And what is your wife doing all this time?

Sewing!

Riot of colour

2010-04-18T01:41:00.000-07:00

I have been quilting again!

I plucked up the courage to take my queen sized quilt to a local person who has an enormous long-arm quilting machine. Surprisingly she did not comment at all on the small but obvious flaws in the top, (blush) instead we spent time choosing a lovely over-all pattern and the thread which will be used to sew it all together. It will take a few months for her to be able to quilt my top, as she has such a lot of work on, but I am glad to see it off to its next stage of development, because there is so much else happening.

My DD and I made the 'quilt sandwich' today for the king size single quilt I have made recently with all the lovely colours in it. You can see that Lady, our very elderly cat, came out of her usual sleep mode long enough to inspect progress as the green spotted border went on. This quilt has been a joy to make, because I have just loved the colours.

I think I can quilt this one at home, as it is going to be quite simple and I think I can -just-manage it. Mind you it is quite a big quilt and there will be moments when I wonder why I started!

Yesterday I was back in my lovely sewing class as I am embarking on several new projects.

One is a Jan Mullens pattern called " Dark Nightz" and I am making this as a comforter size, using all my scraps in new ways. It is a fun project and not too complicated.

Next Saturday I will be back in class, this time making a jelly roll quilt. I have some luscious moda prints called "Bistro" and I am really looking forward to another jelly roll quilt as they are such fun to make.

None of this activity is exciting enough yet for Lady to be particularly interested however. Her interest is only when the project is on the floor!

There was a wedding here

2010-04-11T05:20:00.000-07:00

My sister in law is now married to her lovely man. What a happy time it was.

It was also quite a simple family affair.

My son played his violin, my husband was on the piano, his sister on the organ and a friend played trumpet. Some friends sang for us whilst the register was signed.

My brother in law drove the car -which belonged to the groom.
The bride's son read a Bible reading, as did the sister of the groom.

My other sister in law worked on the invitations, order of service and other printed material.

We had cake in the church hall after the service, then went to a restaurant for a lovely meal. The tables were decorated by a friend. The table decorations were given out at the end of the service to some of the many people who had contributed to make the day a success.

Yes it is a relief it is now over -no wedding comes together without some stresses and tears and worries. But the best thing of all is that two people who could do with some companionship and affection have found each other, after some pretty turbulent years each of them had to face alone. Happiness always to the bride and groom!

AND happy birthday to my two gorgeous men -my son and my husband, both of whom are celebrating this weekend!

First Easter at New Norcia

2010-04-05T02:31:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely time celebrating Easter with the Benedictine community at New Norcia. We were able to be there from Maundy Thursday right through to Easter Monday. What a treat! There were several of our friends and acquaintances there too, and such an interesting group of people who travel a long way to spend Easter like this, without a bunny in sight.

The Benedictines have a ministry of hospitality. This is the guest house where we stayed. The rooms are comfortable, but it is the peacefulness and quiet which is so highly valued. Most people find their mobile phone is out of range here, and there is no radio signal either, or any televisions.

The farmland behind the monastery was looking good after recent storms dumped over 80mm of rain in two days. I thought this landscape was begging for an Arthur Streeton to paint it.

There was time to walk after the regular prayer times, and high and holy days in the Abbey Chapel.

It was lovely to see water in the river again, after such a hot and dry summer time. In the northern hemisphere Easter signals new life after the barrenness of winter. For us in Western Australia, Easter often coincides with the break of the season from summer to autumn, and with the return of the water to the landscape new life emerges again.

The river managed to make a quite acceptable little babbling noise over the rocks, but you have to be still enough to hear it. Rushing about will only mean you miss the subtle beauty. There were other sounds too-monks quietly chanting psalms, wind in the trees and the exuberance of birds first thing in the morning.

On Sunday there were lots of alleluias, trumpets, cellos and organs, and of course the singing of the choir! DH and I were privileged to be asked to sing in the choir, and it was such a lovely thing to do.

Easter meant that we slowed right down, and made time to listen, and pray and reflect. We talked to people and to each other, wrote in our journals and read several books.

It was a wonderful celebration, and we hope to do it again next year.

Recipes!

2010-03-28T02:42:00.000-07:00

Thought I would share a few recipes with you this week.

Minted garlicy salad dressing
The first started with a problem -our autumn garden had no 'leaves' for salad! What to do? I took a head of broccoli and a head of cauliflower from the fridge and, after cutting them into little pieces, blanched them in hot water for about a minute.

Then I went out to the herb pots and harvested some mint -a good handful.
I whizzed it in the blender with a gloop of home made Greek yoghurt and a clove of garlic. The quantities are a bit vague =you want it to be able to coat the veggies. I reckon about 3 tablespoons would do it.

Then I added a pouch of chick peas from the freezer, (I cook then up in batches and freeze until I need them) which I popped in the water I had used to blanch the veggies, to warm them up a bit.

YUM!

The next recipe is from I don' t remember exactly, but I know that it is attributed to Peter Singer.

Dahl is the staple diet of millions of people in the world. Don't let them have all the fun!

Dahl:
1 tblspn olive oil
2 cloves garlic (crushed/chopped)
1 medium onion, diced
2 tspns curry powder (more if you like it)
1 cup small red lentils
1 cup water
2-3 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1 tin tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup coconut milk
2 tblspns lemon juice

In a large saucepan, saute the garlic for a minute then add the onions and cook until they are beginning to soften.
Add curry powder and cook for a minute.
Add lentils, stir a bit and then add water, bay leaves and cinnamon stick.
Bring to boil, turn down very low and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring from time to time.
Add chopped tomatoes, and simmer until thick (10 minutes?)
You want soft lentils and it should be not-quite-porridge in consistency.
Add coconut milk and lemon juice.

Serve over rice -with broccoli and cauliflower dressed in minty, garlicy dressing!

Enjoy!

Be Careful What you Wish for-storms in Perth!

2010-03-22T15:31:00.000-07:00

No photographs in this post today-I was too busy trying to keep safe as I drove home from East Perth, through the tunnel, down the freeway during the "Perth Apocalypse Storm" last night.

It was a blessing to be stuck in tunnel for a while, as there were hailstones like large 'tombola' marbles falling at the entrance.

Later I had to dodge water which had closed off three lanes near Hutton Street.

Then when I got off at Erindale Road because I had heard that my exit had no traffic lights, I drove right into a storm which was overhead with driving rain causing visibility to shut down to less than 3 metres, high winds shredding the trees on the side of the road, and overhead lighting! I mean it really was overhead!

We had some water bank up in the gutter at the back of the house, where the patio roof meets the house roof, and that is a problem which we have every winter, so nothing too unusual there.

We had a large puddle by the front door which caused DS and DD some anxiety before I got home, but it cleared quite quickly.

My new veggies -planted last Sunday -all look in fine fettle.

Can't say the same for the rest of the northern Perth suburbs where I live. Our hospital is damaged, there are at least 6 schools and colleges which will not open today.

Across Perth we have over 75 traffic lights not working today and over 80,000 customers without electricity.

After 3 months of summer drought -the driest on record-this is a spectacular way to have the season break!

National Quilting Day!

2010-03-20T00:53:00.001-07:00

Apparently the 20th March is National Quilting Day, according to the National Quilting Association
http://nqaquilts.org and even though it is probably an American idea, what the heck -I am happy to celebrate my favourite new hobby.

I have been enjoying my new project very much. It comes from this book: Material Obsessions by Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke.

I am using a jelly roll like the one in the picture below. The fabric is Moda Botanicals from Jellyrolls2Go

This fabric has really inspired me to move out of my usual boring colour schemes. That is a good thing.
My DD commented that 'you could drown in that colour!"

I have done 5 blocks -there are six more wonderful ones to go, what fun!

Happy National Quilting Day everyone!

Waiting for rain

2010-03-13T22:57:00.000-08:00

We had the hottest night on record for Perth in over 30 years on Thursday last week. It has been hot and hotter. We had a band of cloud mover over the city and it kept everything hot and humid, night and day. We have been longing for a change!

Is there a breeze out there yet? Is that the wind chime I can hear?

We have been watering this little tree in the park behind our house. The big trees are OK, but this little one needs support. So far, so good but I feel the whole park needs a good dousing with water.

The birds are now struggling to find food -the pink and grey galahs do a lot more ground feeding at this time of the year, digging into the soil for grubs. They look funny when they come up with grubby faces!

The birdbaths we have around the house are popular -we have birds visit regularly for drinks and for baths too. Yesterday I watched in great amusement from thekitchen window as a mudlark (a medium sized black and white bird) splashed about in the birdbath to such a degree that he was in danger of falling out!

I think I am now officially ready for autumn to begin. We have emptied the veggie beds and are getting ready for autumn plantings.

Wait! A few drops of rain are falling!

Hopefully this is the start of something good.

Water! It is getting harder and harder to get.

2010-03-07T02:13:00.000-08:00

The CSIRO announced this week that the south west of WA is likely to see a 40-50% reduction in rainfall over the next 30 years or so. This is the continuation of a 'drying trend' that has seen the rainfall over the last 30 years reduced anyway. Predictions are that the climate bands are moving south, with Perth likely to look more like Geraldton's climate over the next 30-50 years.

Our government has been aware of this for some time, and has one desalination plant already in operation, with another to come on-stream by 2012.

Desalination is an expensive way to get water. If there was another way we would do it. There is also the worry of highly concentrated brine being discharged into the oceans, after the process is complete.

Water will be in short supply and expensive. That means we will need to be strategic in our use of water, especially as gardeners and householders.

I have just got my water use bill, and whilst we are shown as using less water than the average in our suburb, I am disappointed. There is a long way to go.

We have a spot for a watertank, as you can see, but no water tank there as yet. In our mediterranean climate, where we have summer drought and winter rain, it is very difficult to build enough water storage on a suburban block to carry us through the summer. The best thing to do with a water tank is to plumb it into the toilets, and use the water in the winter time (when the tank will fill many times) for toilet flushing, so that it can reduce the overall dependence on scheme water for a house over a year. This is a complicated thing to do in our setting, with an older house.

We have instead opted for re-jigging the reticulation in the garden to go entirely to dripper irrigation, which has proved effective. It guarantees less evaporation, and our front garden is showing the benefit in particular.

One nice surprise is that the pomegranate we thought had died in the heat, is this week showing signs of sprouts at its base, which is a great result.

The next task in our drive for water efficiency will involve removing our 1970s versions of toilets, to make way for much more water efficient models. We are saving up and hope these will be installed before next summer. After the garden, the toilet is the next most water hungry place in a suburban home.

I wonder if the rains will come on time this year? We usually look for the break of the season at Easter. Fingers crossed!

I've been busy

2010-02-28T18:58:00.000-08:00

I have just finished my first ever BIG quilt top.
I call it "east meets west" because it started with two fat quarters my daughter gave me for Christmas. One has a Japanese lady and one had old English phone boxes. The red of the phone boxes was right for the lady's gown, but how could I put them together? Like this!

Quite a lot of the fabric came from the Op shop. I always browse in the fabrics and am often delighted with what I can get for $2-3. I bought some half price fabrics to complete the quilt, because I wanted it to be big enough for our bed.

I learned a lot in doing this -I enjoy the challenge of trying to find fabrics that go together and producing something which is quite unique. It was hard to sew as it got bigger, and I have decided to send it off to a professional quilter as it is too big for my domestic sewing machine. I will make the back today from some other op shop fabrics that I have in my stash.

It is interesting that up until last year I was convinced that I could not take on any projects like this as I did not have a sewing room where I could leave things when half done. The way I got over that was to put my sewing machine on my desk where it is always available, and then I just use the dining room table for cutting out. There are boxes under the bed where I store my fabrics and other equipment. It really only takes 5 minutes to take things out or put them away.

I am amazed at how a barrier like the one I had in my mind prevented me from having so much fun. This project has been so good that it has kept my busy even when the weather in Perth has been so hot. We have had the hottest and driest summer on record! Roll on autumn!

By the way, today is St David's Day, so in honour of all my Welsh relatives I wish you all a good day. Cymru am byth! (Wales for Ever!)

Giving it all away (well, some of it!)

2010-02-19T00:55:00.000-08:00

Lent is a special time in this house -one we look forward to with enthusiasm.

Rather that punishing ourselves by giving up treats and such for the 40 days, like I used to do when I was a child, we challenge ourselves in a different way -not to give up but to give away!

Lent is a time when we choose new charities to give to, and enjoy the fun of discussing what to give and to which charity. This year I am thinking in particular of UNICEF as one of the candidates.

Lent is also a decluttering time, when we go through our possessions and give away the things that are still useful to charity shops, Freecycle and the like. Last year DH gave away his beloved SLR film camera, and was delighted to find someone who would love it and use it.

The result of all of this is a cleaner house and gives us a great deal of satisfaction.
If you would like to know what brought us to this point, this blog might explain it

http://the-go-between-god.blogspot.com/2010/02/what-do-you-think-god-is-like.html

This weekend we are off to a retreat at one of the 'thin places' here in WA -New Norcia, the Benedictine town. People have been praying here for almost as long as there have been Christians in WA. The picture above is of the town from a distance...that will get closer in a few hours!

It will be quiet and restful, and I imagine also inspirational.

I wish for you some of the same!

I am so stingy that...(part 3)

2010-02-05T01:26:00.000-08:00

......I turn out nice new hankies from old shirts! I found out that men's hankies are a lot bigger than women's hankies, so when mine turned out to be about 10" square, I got some nice new hankies with lovely strong but soft fabric.

......I also make muffins out of leftover pasta sauce!

The recipe is infinitely adaptable....

2 cups self raising flour (I sifted mine to add lightness)

Mix the following wet ingredients and then add to the flour:

1 egg
1/2 cup oil or melted butter
1/2 cup milk
add leftover pasta sauce-in this case it had about a cup of veggies and liquid together.
Sprinkle with something savoury -salt, or parmesan cheese or herbs or something.

Bung into muffin cases and cook at 175 degrees C for approx 20 minutes.

If that wasn't thrifty enough, I then take them to work for lunches!

Beatuy in the dark

2010-01-28T03:40:00.001-08:00

It was a hot summer night.

The bougainvillea was in flower.

I just had to capture it!