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.