......in the day.
I am working some long hours this week but still hoping to keep on top of the day to day stuff at home. At the moment the washing is done, meals organised and not too much ironing in the basket.
Money is a bit tight for the next few weeks and I have finished a menu plan for the next fortnight. I really only need fruit,vegies and a little meat but will buy some other basic items in order not to deplete the stockpile too much and also to justify the trip to the shops. Living in a rural area means they are not just around the corner.
Mind you, this all pales into insignificance when you consider what our friends in North Queensland are preparing for at the moment as Cyclone Yasi bears down on Cairns and surrounds. I just hope and pray that everyone is as prepared as they can possibly be and manage to stay safe wherever they are.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
A Productive Day
I love being at home and not having to rush off to meet deadlines for other people. I can just make heaps of progress on the things I want to achieve. Today I started by doing a pile of ironing. I have not finished but am making some headway. Then after breakfast we went to a local market and got enough fruit and vegies for the week - after I had done a menu plan.
The meals for the week (Saturday to Friday) are (in not particular order):
Mushroom and bacon quiche with salad - we had this toinght and there are enough leftovers for lunches.
Nachos
Sweet & sour meatballs with rice
Pumpkin soup
Tuna patties and vegies
Stir-fry beef and broccoli with rice
Mexican bean pie and salad
I have made this list from the what I already have plus the fruit and vegetables I bought this morning as it is not payday till Tuesday.
We spent the rest of the day in the garden. 2 garden beds are weeded. The large branch off the silky oak which came down in some wild weather before Christmas has been removed from its resting place on the chook house roof and through the patch of heliconias. It is now cut up and all of the smaller pieces mulched. We tidied up some other piles of branches and mulched lots of that as well. The area near the chook-house looks much tidier as a result and we can actually walk along the path to the avocado and other trees at the back.
Then we turned our attention the the workshop/shed which has really got out of control over the last 6 - 12 months while we have been busy doing things for other people. The metal shelving which came from my Mum's place is now fully assembled and positioned in the corner by the door. All of the tins of paint have been checked and those with next to nothing in them are open and drying out prior to dicarding them. The rest of the tins are sorted and stacked in the shelves under the windows (re-purposed kitchen cupboards from the kitchen renovations last year). We discovered a few things that we had been keeping 'just in case' were really only fit for the bin so out they went. All of the cardboard boxes are flattened and stacked, ready to use for the base of our raised garden bed. A cupboard whcih we had acquired ages ago has been cleaned and we will put that on the verandah tomorrow. It will house all of the equipment and accessories for the BBQ and the top will be where we place the Mr K's (the cat) bed. He likes to be up high so he can survey his domain.
Since we have had the solar panels installed I am trying to use our power at night to maximise the amount which is returned to the grid during the day. So, once it was dark I turned my attention to cooking. I made the quiche, roasted some garlic and also made a muesli slice for snacks during the week. The roasted garlic went into the slow-cooker with the rest of the ingredients to make refried beans. That will simmer overnight and be ready to process in the blender in the morning. I will then freeze it in 500g portions. Some will be used in the nachos and also the Mexican Bean Pie.
The meals for the week (Saturday to Friday) are (in not particular order):
Mushroom and bacon quiche with salad - we had this toinght and there are enough leftovers for lunches.
Nachos
Sweet & sour meatballs with rice
Pumpkin soup
Tuna patties and vegies
Stir-fry beef and broccoli with rice
Mexican bean pie and salad
I have made this list from the what I already have plus the fruit and vegetables I bought this morning as it is not payday till Tuesday.
We spent the rest of the day in the garden. 2 garden beds are weeded. The large branch off the silky oak which came down in some wild weather before Christmas has been removed from its resting place on the chook house roof and through the patch of heliconias. It is now cut up and all of the smaller pieces mulched. We tidied up some other piles of branches and mulched lots of that as well. The area near the chook-house looks much tidier as a result and we can actually walk along the path to the avocado and other trees at the back.
Then we turned our attention the the workshop/shed which has really got out of control over the last 6 - 12 months while we have been busy doing things for other people. The metal shelving which came from my Mum's place is now fully assembled and positioned in the corner by the door. All of the tins of paint have been checked and those with next to nothing in them are open and drying out prior to dicarding them. The rest of the tins are sorted and stacked in the shelves under the windows (re-purposed kitchen cupboards from the kitchen renovations last year). We discovered a few things that we had been keeping 'just in case' were really only fit for the bin so out they went. All of the cardboard boxes are flattened and stacked, ready to use for the base of our raised garden bed. A cupboard whcih we had acquired ages ago has been cleaned and we will put that on the verandah tomorrow. It will house all of the equipment and accessories for the BBQ and the top will be where we place the Mr K's (the cat) bed. He likes to be up high so he can survey his domain.
Since we have had the solar panels installed I am trying to use our power at night to maximise the amount which is returned to the grid during the day. So, once it was dark I turned my attention to cooking. I made the quiche, roasted some garlic and also made a muesli slice for snacks during the week. The roasted garlic went into the slow-cooker with the rest of the ingredients to make refried beans. That will simmer overnight and be ready to process in the blender in the morning. I will then freeze it in 500g portions. Some will be used in the nachos and also the Mexican Bean Pie.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Welcome to the Weekend
It is Friday evening and the beginning of a great weekend. Since I work full-time I often feel like the weekend is spent chasing my tail and just getting the bare essentials done ready for the next working week.
Thanks to a public holiday mid-week we have been able to get a bit of a headstart. Most of the grass is mowed, the house is reasonably tidy and the washing is mostly up to date.
This weekend we plan to build a new vegie garden and weed some of the others.
I will do a menu plan, some meal preparation and baking. Of course, there is always the ironing and hopefully I will do some sewing and make a bit more progress on decluttering and tidying my sewing room. I did give Z (younger daughter) some cushions, a large wooden tray and some skirt hangers from that room. There is a large upholstered box couch which will be going to C's house next time we are taking the ute down there.
Perhaps this will be the week when I get things sorted and post some photos on my blog posts. It will liven things up and hopefully add some interest.
Thanks to a public holiday mid-week we have been able to get a bit of a headstart. Most of the grass is mowed, the house is reasonably tidy and the washing is mostly up to date.
This weekend we plan to build a new vegie garden and weed some of the others.
I will do a menu plan, some meal preparation and baking. Of course, there is always the ironing and hopefully I will do some sewing and make a bit more progress on decluttering and tidying my sewing room. I did give Z (younger daughter) some cushions, a large wooden tray and some skirt hangers from that room. There is a large upholstered box couch which will be going to C's house next time we are taking the ute down there.
Perhaps this will be the week when I get things sorted and post some photos on my blog posts. It will liven things up and hopefully add some interest.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Electricity - Good and Bad
Back from my our holiday and two bits of electricity news.
First, the bad news...........
We generally turn off all appliances at the wall when not in use apart from the computer, fridge, freezer and clock radio/alarm. All are necessary apart from the computer, which is just laziness. Before we went away last week for 9 days G turned off all of the computer stuff but did not realise that the small freezer is also plugged into that powerboard!!
So...........we came home to a freezer of thawed food - luckily it was not full, but we have had to throw out the following:
Ice-cream 2 litres
Grapefruit juice 1.5 litres
Chicken stock 1.5 litres
Chicken breast fillets x 3
Banana cake 24 slices
Rice 1 serve
Shepherd's pie 2 serves
Chilli con carne 6 serves
Pumpkin soup 5 serves
Bolognaise sauce 2 serves
Refried beans 4 x 500g
One of my jobs for tomorrow is to put red duct tape on the cord where it plugs in with a reminder tag "DO NOT SWITCH OFF".
The good news is that for the first time since we had our solar panels installed about 10 weeks ago we have had a day of full sunshine and I was here to note that we generated 24kWh today from our 20 panels. I am really pleased as our average daily usage is about 10kWh so this is definitely going to make money over the long term. We knew that after doing our sums and discussions with the solar company but it is fantastic to actually be able to see it on the meter.
First, the bad news...........
We generally turn off all appliances at the wall when not in use apart from the computer, fridge, freezer and clock radio/alarm. All are necessary apart from the computer, which is just laziness. Before we went away last week for 9 days G turned off all of the computer stuff but did not realise that the small freezer is also plugged into that powerboard!!
So...........we came home to a freezer of thawed food - luckily it was not full, but we have had to throw out the following:
Ice-cream 2 litres
Grapefruit juice 1.5 litres
Chicken stock 1.5 litres
Chicken breast fillets x 3
Banana cake 24 slices
Rice 1 serve
Shepherd's pie 2 serves
Chilli con carne 6 serves
Pumpkin soup 5 serves
Bolognaise sauce 2 serves
Refried beans 4 x 500g
One of my jobs for tomorrow is to put red duct tape on the cord where it plugs in with a reminder tag "DO NOT SWITCH OFF".
The good news is that for the first time since we had our solar panels installed about 10 weeks ago we have had a day of full sunshine and I was here to note that we generated 24kWh today from our 20 panels. I am really pleased as our average daily usage is about 10kWh so this is definitely going to make money over the long term. We knew that after doing our sums and discussions with the solar company but it is fantastic to actually be able to see it on the meter.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Blog Takes a Holiday
The title says it all. There may be a hiatus for about 9 days. See you when I get back.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Some Good News
Due to the extreme weather events of the past few days in our corner of the world it has been a bit difficult to focus on anything else, including writing this blog.
It has been a challenge to find much that is good news lately but we do need to try to find some positives in all of this mess.My family are all unscathed from this disaster. Even my mother's unit which seemed at risk was spared by a small margin, thanks to the flood peak being lower than expected.
Mum and I have had a bit of a debriefing session on the telephone and identified some things that we could have planned better and also some things to do which will makeleaving the unit in an emergency situation a bit more streamlined. I intend to implement some of these strategies myself. More details later.
The other project I am planning is to make an index of things in our home. As I have decluttered and sorted our stuff I have realised that I do not always know exactly where things are. Sometimes I have to try wardrobes in 2 or 3 rooms as well as the linen cupboard, pantry or downstairs storage before I can locate a particular item. This a work in progress but I will report back on my progress over time.
It has been a challenge to find much that is good news lately but we do need to try to find some positives in all of this mess.My family are all unscathed from this disaster. Even my mother's unit which seemed at risk was spared by a small margin, thanks to the flood peak being lower than expected.
Mum and I have had a bit of a debriefing session on the telephone and identified some things that we could have planned better and also some things to do which will makeleaving the unit in an emergency situation a bit more streamlined. I intend to implement some of these strategies myself. More details later.
The other project I am planning is to make an index of things in our home. As I have decluttered and sorted our stuff I have realised that I do not always know exactly where things are. Sometimes I have to try wardrobes in 2 or 3 rooms as well as the linen cupboard, pantry or downstairs storage before I can locate a particular item. This a work in progress but I will report back on my progress over time.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
So Upset.............
People have lost their lives. Homes and livelihoods have been destroyed and there is much more devastation to come as the floodwaters make their way through Ipswich and into the Brisbane metropolitan area.
After a extraordinarily torrential downpour this afternoon our yard was more flooded than before, full-sized Besser blocks had been washed metres from where they had been under the gate and the lower end of the driveway was awash. As the rain eased to drizzle I donned a full-length Driza-Bone and set off down the road to see how badly the water was coming over the embankment on the vacant block below us. I was met by a neighbour coming up the road from the other direction and then subjected to a tirade during which I was virtually accused of causing the problem of the water flowing over. It is rushing down the road and then crossing the road and rushing down the mountain but in the process destroying their garden (acreage). It was also suggested that I would be sent a bill for the damage. I was shell-shocked and after the bearer of this news retreated to their own home I just stood by the side of the road in the pouring rain bawling my eyes out.
How thoughtless, rude and callous can one person be?
After a extraordinarily torrential downpour this afternoon our yard was more flooded than before, full-sized Besser blocks had been washed metres from where they had been under the gate and the lower end of the driveway was awash. As the rain eased to drizzle I donned a full-length Driza-Bone and set off down the road to see how badly the water was coming over the embankment on the vacant block below us. I was met by a neighbour coming up the road from the other direction and then subjected to a tirade during which I was virtually accused of causing the problem of the water flowing over. It is rushing down the road and then crossing the road and rushing down the mountain but in the process destroying their garden (acreage). It was also suggested that I would be sent a bill for the damage. I was shell-shocked and after the bearer of this news retreated to their own home I just stood by the side of the road in the pouring rain bawling my eyes out.
How thoughtless, rude and callous can one person be?
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