Fun bargains in winter

Last weekend we celebrated Solstice with a bit of a family party. The grandchildren came over the day before to help decorate. We talked about longest days and the way the earth moves around the sun -all sorts of things, and they decorated small trees and we spread candles and greenery around.   The next day DGS1 turned up with his stuffed toy from the Frozen movie -Olaf the snowman! Great idea, as this is the closest we will ever get to snow during out winter! 

Due to the restrictions in place to keep us all safe during the pandemic, we couldn't have our friends over for a Winter Feast but we still had a lovely day. As it happened, it was sunny day and we were able to be outside. Our DD helped the grandchildren to a long painting session -I think DGS2 must have painted about 14 pictures in about an hour. I had made beef cheeks into a pie, and we had an apple and raspberry crumble to follow. 

The weather has been a wonderful mix of rain and sunshine. When we can we get out the bikes and go to the park. All of the kids' bikes we have here have been found at our Tip Shop, which is a social enterprise employing vulnerable people and saving things from landfill. DGS2 loves his balance bike.

DGS1 now has a big bike at our place with trainer wheels -it was $15 at the Tip Shop, and DH just tidied it up, oiled it and made sure the bell worked! He was delighted with it -"it's perfect!" he declared.

In the same vein, we have noticed that we really like the kind of ambiance you get from table and floor lamps on a winter's day when it is grey and cloudy outside. I got the idea that our lounge room could do with a standard lamp, and went online to see what was available to fit our 'traditional/cosy' decor. That meant that we didn't want any modern lights, nor anything too fussy. I found a wooden lamp secondhand on marketplace, and bought a new shade.  The whole thing cost $105 which was a third of the price of new lamps which look like this.

The sunshine and rain have been great for the garden. I have continued to make compost, and am pleased that the new mulcher I got for Mother's day has improved the quality of the mulch a great deal. I have moved some roses and planted some native plants like this one, for the birds and the insects. It is part of my on-going campaign to add flowers to my edible garden, and to ensure that there are mid and lower story plants among the trees. The garden is by no means full! 

I have been working on a quilt, using some gifted panels with a gardening theme. It is almost at flimsy stage -I have found one of the border patches has a hole so I have to take it out and replace it. It is a generous single bed size. 

We continue to experience the house, following our insulation upgrade, to be a bit warmer overnight and less in need of extra heating, although there are of course days when a glass of wine and a fire seems just right.

My state of Western Australia is doing very well so far in the COVID19 epidemic, and we are moving out of restrictions for everything except interstate travel on July 18. As a result, my choir is working on a regime to enable us to sing together in a very modified way, and we are now holding small dinner parties in our homes. This is a wonderful feeling: today I can go to my library and get some new books! 

If you are still in more resticted times, I hope you are coping well and staying safe. None of us can go back to normal yet, but life is still good. 

Thanks to all who leave comments -I love to read about your responses and your different lives. 

We upgraded our roof insulation

What is in your roof in the way of insulation?

Our brick and tile house 

When we bought this house about 25 years ago, it already had blown in recycled paper insulation. This was pretty standard for the time, and was usually installed to the R2 specification.  Over the years, this kind of insulation can become compacted and lose a bit of its insulating properties. It still works though as an insulating layer, and we have not been in any hurry to think of a replacement project until we had done every other possible thing we could think of to improve the thermal properties of our brick and tile home. 

We installed a north facing pergola with a grapevine for summer shade and winter warmth, we shaded our only west facing window, we improved the curtains and blinds. DH recently also went around sealing lots of gaps around doors, and those wall vents which let so much cold air in during the winter time. 

The old insulation

   

We decided that this was the season we would upgrade our insulation. A local family owned business came with a huge vacuum and sucked up all the old insulation, and replaced it with "EarthWool" batts at the now recommended rate of R4. "Earthwool" batts are over 80% recycled glass  and use no added formaldehyde in their production.  

The team also installed special covers over the exhaust fans, so that they are sealed when not in use. 

The new insulation and a cap sealing the vent on the exhaust fan

Why did we do this?

This diagram of the temperatures for our city will explain.

Like many places Perth's climate is getting a lot hotter. We wanted to see if we could improve the temperatures inside our home without resorting to the use of air conditioning (this is a last resort for us, but we may have to do it at some point in the future).  Last year the lowest temperature we recorded inside was 14C and the highest was 30C. We wanted to see if better insulation could bring those extremes back a bit-we want to be comfortable. It is early days yet, but even though the past week had outside temperatures down to 4C we did not get lower than 17C inside. We have also not used much heating in the evening. 

Would I recommend this to others?

I think that we need more data to be completely certain we have a Return on Investment  recommendation, though initial results look promising - I will keep you posted! 

Meanwhile I encourage you to watch a blogger named Nev talk about the measures he has taken to improve his place in Western Sydney -also visit his blog Under the Choko Tree 

Watch the talk here 

The power of a good list for the garden

Rose after a wet morning

Are you a list-maker? I love a good list, it keeps me on track, reminds me of what needs to be done, and I love ticking things off when they are completed.  This week was a pretty good week for me, mainly because I came back to making a list of things I wanted to achieve, and have been reviewing the list regularly. 

Iris in bloom

One of the things I have learned about myself and lists, though, is that I often need to break down a task into some smaller bits in order to get the energy to complete it. "Make an apron" is better listed as "choose the fabric to make an apron", especially if that choice is the thing which is holding up the whole process. 

I am also a person who is quite happy doing things in stages. I had the idea that I wanted to totally revamp the garden bed which borders our patio out the back. It is in full shade in the winter, but in full sun in summer, and has a wonderful trellis which needs to be in use.

In order to get that done I had to remove some plants which were not really working there, including a gardenia which had always struggled-it was too hot for it during the summer, so I moved it under at tree.  In the course of several weeks I have removed and replanted some ground covers which were here.  I needed to weed the whole bed, to buy some plants which I hope will succeed there, and to prepare the soil. The plan is to try some roses here, as they are deciduous when it is shady but will cope with the sun. The trellis will have a passionfruit on it and possibly a climbing rose. 

 I am now keeping a sort of 'garden journal" which records what I want to do and what I have done -successfully or not-and I am finding it very helpful. It is just a spiral bound notebook, and all I do is write the date and anything else I find helpful. I stick in seed packets or draw a design for a garden bed I have in mind.

Today's citrus harvest

Today we had a good time in the garden, pruning the citrus. I like to keep my trees quite low, as I am a small person and the fruit needs to be within reach.  Next time I am in the garden I want to give all the citrus a bit of a feed and attention, as they have all given such a lovely crop of fruit this year. The grapefruit has a second crop coming, which is a surprise but very welcome. As a result of the rain we have had, everything is looking quite happy. 

rainbow chard

Yesterday I made this recipe for a chard and feta pie using my rainbow chard. It was really nice! I used fresh oregano, parsley and thyme as flavourings. Rainbow chard is a pretty vegetable -mine has lovely red stems, and it copes with our climate very well. I have had this one growing for over 12 months- I just cut it from the outside of the plant and it keeps on putting out new leaves. As a result I am always glad to get another chard recipe. 

I planted some more snow peas this week. The ones I planted a few months ago are now putting out flowers and pods. I am hoping for a good crop this year -who knows, maybe some will actually make it inside? I love to eat them right there in the garden! 

How is your garden growing? Do you keep a garden journal? 

Hard times need soft hearts

Times are tough all over, and we know that around the world we are dealing with multiple problems -COVID19, institutional racism and climate change.

DH and I went to the protest in Perth today in front of the Rio Tinto headquarters, to stand in solidarity with the PKKP people whose Juukan cave site with over 43,000 years of cultural significance, was destroyed by that company recently.  Organiser Josh Eggington said Rio Tinto knew of the land's importance.  "The PKPP (Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura) Aboriginal Corporation has on numerous occasions since 2013 communicated to Rio Tinto the significance of Jukkan Gorge," he said.  

DH and I are happy to stand in solidarity with Aboriginal people as allies, in their struggle for justice. 

Read more here: 

I hope you are safe where you are as you read this, and working as we do, in our own space, for systemic change. Everyone has an opportunity somewhere to build the world we want for the future -in our own living, in our friendship networks and in the wider world by what we do and how we use our various powers available to us in the ballot box and in our economies by using our money wisely, building communities and supporting one another. 

In times like these we need to find beauty where we can. DH and I enjoyed a walk in the lovely Walyunga National Park on Friday. The river is low, but there is more water than two months ago. We are still waiting for good winter rains here, but have had a couple of storms of rain.  The land responds to the rain. It makes us feel as though anything might be possible. We supported a local Swan Valley winery by having a leisurely lunch, and enjoyed it very much.

We had DGS1 at our house for a sleepover on Saturday night. Saturday was the day our playgrounds were open again after the COVID19 shutdown, and we celebrated with a picnic in the park. DGS1 is nearly 6 years old, and we had a lot of fun with him. We took torches out at dusk to look at the trees and birds, we found big logs to climb on, we did all sorts of wonderful things!

 DGS1 is keen on all things with wheels, so DH put some wheels on a box he had made, and we had fun playing with it as a bus. Our lovely boy decorated it with chalk, including blue 'go faster' stripes! 

Our usual activities have continued -we are still gardening and taking care of things. I updated my "from my kitchen' page to include a pesto recipe I made using mizuna and peanut butter! 

DH completed my spice racks this week. These are IKEA picture rails with IKEA spice bottles. I now have them in alphabetical order from Allspice to Za'atar! 

DH also renovated our outside lights. He had to repair one, and the technology had changed but he worked out how to use some of the old system and some new bits to get a nice wash of light at the front of our place.

He also renovated my secateurs, after seeing a story on Gardening Australia about a repair cafe. He sharpened the blades, lubricated the spring and fixed the lock mechanism. 

Finally, to encourage your gardening, a bit of reading! I hope you stay safe and well till next time. 

Gardening is good for mental health 

Makuru: Winter in South West (Australia)

It has been wet and cold (in relative terms!) for us this week. The garden is refreshed and the water tank a third full again. Hopefully we can get more rain to fill it up again before winter is over. 

We have been experimenting with the use of the new "Hay Box"  (above) that DH made for me.  

Since my last post, DH painted the Hay box and it has found a permanent place in my laundry. 

 It is great for proofing my sourdough overnight. Last winter I used to wrap the bowl in a blanket on the kitchen bench, or heat the oven very slightly and put the bread in there. With the Hay Box I just put the bread dough in an oiled saucepan and tuck it in to the Hay Box. The method of making sourdough to this stage does not, of course, have any heat, so as I have a microwaveable stone pad, I heat it slightly in the microwave for 1 minute on medium, then put that underneath the dough in the saucepan. The last step is to tuck a cushion I made from a leftover curtain, stuffed with more leftover Earthwool insulation on top before I add the lid. The couple of times I have used the Hay Box the bread has risen beautifully by morning. 

The first of our pumpkins was harvested. I weighed it as 6 kilos! If you have bought pumpkin from a supermarket (or bought it in a can, as apparently happens in some places) you have really never experienced the wonder that fresh pumpkin can offer, cut on your kitchen bench with the fragrant perfume of ripe orange flesh which is dripping with juicy goodness. It is of course pumpkin season, so pumpkin is only $3 a kilo at the moment, but still, that one is worth $18 and all I did was let it run rampant under the citrus in the back yard. There are 5 more out there! 

With 6 kilos to manage, I had to get busy in processing it. I roasted some and it went into the pumpkin soup, which I started on the stove and heated to boiling and put it in the Hay Box for about 7 hours. When we got it out for dinner the internal contents were +60C which is fine. I blended the soup and heated it a bit on the stove before serving, adding a squeeze of lemon to take the edge off the sweetness. 

Some of the pumpkin was just steamed in the microwave and frozen for later use. 

My granddaughter (aged 8) came over and we made pumpkin scones, and then the rest of the family came to help us eat them. 

Another use of the Hay Box was that I cooked some jasmine rice in an equal volume of boiling water for 5 minutes and then tucked the pot into the slow cooker for about 90 minutes. When I pulled it out the rice was beautifully cooked by the absorption method with no dried overcooked rice on the bottom. I can see me thinking twice about the electric rice cooker -maybe it could go, and this would become the favourite method around here from now on. 

If you are interested in Hay Box cooking, you might find this link helpful - about Hay Boxes and temperatures here 

This weekend is a Long Weekend in our state, for the "WA Day" holiday. It is also National Reconciliation Week. "We strive towards a more just, equitable nation by championing unity and mutual respect as we come together and connect with one another. On this journey, Australians are all In This Together; every one of us has a role to play when it comes to reconciliation, and in playing our part we collectively build relationships and communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories and cultures".

I have been reading Layla Saad's book "Me and White Supremacy". It is a difficult and thoughtful work. We have much to do here in Western Australia to overcome our terrible history of oppression and marginalization and dispossession of the Indigenous people of this land.  Watching the USA in terrible conflict over race relations is scary and sobering. 

I was much saddened by the terrible news about the destruction of a 43,000 year old site of Aboriginal culture THIS WEEK by RioTinto, who blew it up to extend a mine, and did so 'legally'. Sure, they got around to apologising, but there is no way to compensate the traditional owners, let alone all of us, for the loss of this site of world significance. 

I leave you with this thought. 

We are as busy as!

DGS2 had a sleep-over at Nanna and Pa's place this week. No parents, no older siblings. He was always busy!

He sat at the piano, playing lightly on the keys and singing to himself.
He spent most of his time in the garden, watering the plants, playing on the balance bike, chalk drawing and watching the garbage trucks pick up the rubbish in the street (awe-inspiring!).

We were delighted with how he managed this 24 hours with us, and we missed him when he was gone!

DH has been busy too! He completed a project he has been working on to improve the storage of DS and DDIL's kitchen. They had bought a second hand pine cupboard. DH sanded it back, strengthened all the load bearing surfaces -eg adding a support under the bottom floor in case they were going to store heavy appliances in it- and finished it with an undercoat and a couple of coats of paint. The handles now match the rest of the kitchen.  DS has a plan to use this as part of an extension to their island kitchen bench, with the addition of more bench top space -that is why the top is left unfinished.

I have been busy - I have continued to work on the garden. There has been more work on the flower bed in the front garden, and of course some regular pruning and feeding and tidying up in the veggie patch. The picture above is the first time I have seen a butcher bird actually drink from the bird bath, though we are regularly visited by magpies and wattle birds. I am hoping a denser planting of shrubs and flowers will bring more birds in to the garden. I know that it doesn't look lush and full yet but hopefully things will grow and be wonderful by spring.

There was a big storm here in Perth yesterday.  Just before it happened I harvested lemons, limes and tangelos in order to lighten the load on the branches and save the fruit. These pictured below are the sixth and seventh boxes of Meyer lemons I have given to the neighbourhood this season, and the third box of limes.

Now I am flash freezing slices of limes and zesting and juicing lemons for our household. Maybe DH will make spiced tangelo marmalade later?

DH made me a 'hay box" for slow cooking and proofing bread overnight. He very proudly used mostly scrap wood he already had in the shed, and lined the box with some leftover earth wool insulation. We were thinking that, seeing that we now have an all electric kitchen, with a storm on the way it might be an idea to have alternatives for energy for cooking if the power went out.

The usual back up I think of under a power blackout is the portable gas bottle barbecue on the patio, but I couldn't imagine that being much use in a 130k wind!

The box is quite deep so I will add a woollen blanket to the box, on top of the saucepan,  after I put my food in it. That will ensure that the food stays safely at a good temperature to continue cooking.

I have just checked my bread -and the rise is great, so the box will get good use during winter at least. The view from inside the house, as the sun comes up, is that everything around here has survived the storm well.

Resources for you: 

When life gives you lemons

Listen to this

Resetting the fashion industry's calendar: 

Autumn tasks

This week I have been working my way through some autumn tasks, some of which are concerned with using up our citrus harvest. The mandarins are all gone now. It turns out that when your three grandchildren move close, you have a ready market for all the mandarins you can grow! DGS#2  (2 and a bit years old) delighted in taking a small basket of mandarins home to Mummy when he visited, and Mummy tells me he was capable of eating three of them in an afternoon!

I have now given 4 large boxes of Meyer lemons away to the neighbours through our local Buy Nothing FaceBook page, but I reckon there are at least two more boxes full left on the tree. They have also gone to my DDIL and her mum too. The Meyer, being a sweeter and bright yellow fruit, are a bit of a magnet for fruit fly. The crop comes in a huge wave, over about 4 weeks so it is important to try to get them off the tree before the fruit fly finds them. I freeze affected fruit before disposing of it. We have a rigorous baiting regime and a practice of never leaving fallen fruit on the ground, and as a result we are not getting too many spoiled fruit.

Everyone is amazed to discover the delights of the Meyer lemon: thin skinned, sweeter than the Eureka and very juicy, they are a big hit. I made 4 jars of preserved lemons, one for me and others to give away to friends.  How to preserve lemons here 

The pink grapefruit and the tangelos are a delight to add to our breakfast juice. We feel like we are staying in a posh hotel, with freshly squeezed juice every morning!

I made a tangelo cake for Mother's Day lunch. It is like a whole orange cake but you boil the tangelos and cool them before use. This is the recipe I used.  Instead of the syrup, I warmed up some spiced tangelo marmalade (one of DH's specialities)  and used it as a glaze on top of the cake. It went down a treat with some cream on the side.

There was a special occasion this past week. DH and I celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary! DH decided not to go with the gifts set down in the 'modern calendar of anniversary gifts" which declared that the 44th was the time to give groceries! Instead I got some pretty candle bowls. The Ellenbrook family came over for lunch and DH did a barbecue.

This is a chalk drawing of me, complete with white hair and dragonfly earrings! Drawn by DGD (aged 8), with a bit of help from her little brother.

 I am continuing to make over the front garden around the bird bath. I have been moving irises, cannas, a gardenia and various groundcovers from other parts of the garden, to create a sort of central bed under the fruit trees. These trees are mostly deciduous -apart from the olive- so the bed will get lovely winter and spring sunshine before being protected by the leaves from our hot summer sun. Most of the things I have moved have settled in well. I have a couple of pots of annuals coming up -anemones and calendulas, which I will add in a few weeks, along with some bluebell bulbs. It should look good in about 4 weeks or so. I keep having to remind myself to grow flowers -so much of what I do is about growing food!

The 'Glamis Castle" David Austin rose is doing well at the end of the front garden central bed. It has been here for years. I have plans for moving some other roses away from it to the back -so they can get more sun, and so this one can be less crowded.

I am slowly working on my next quilt, which has a gardening theme too. 

The other things I have been doing include continuing to refine my compost making skills -I am convinced that they are the backbone of the garden- and attempting to improve my skills in growing and saving seed and taking cuttings. This week I have started saving basil seed for next year.

Thanks for visiting my blog. I hope you are all safe and well wherever you are. Leave me a message - I love reading them.