3 days in one is hard because it takes a bit of remembering it's also nice because there are more events so I don't have to see how hoplessly ordinary my life can be.
Count back
Today we drew maps & went for walks, we hung around in parks & juiced oranges for lunch, took eggs to neighbors as we're getting 6 a day now, we played with hermit crabs & none were lost & ate salad for breakfast oh & I accidentally ran over a penny lizard with the wheely bin & trystan was furious with me for not rolling slower & I found the first of my celery seeds germinating.
Yesterday, we were dangerously un-Australian no barbeques or beer or any clothing made of flags or anything green & gold we did eat coleslaw & sausage sandwiches & go to a new beach where there were rock pools with anenomes in them which tryst & I looked at for over an hour & then got wet for an hour before going home we made sponge cake .
Day before
driving lesson with a profesional which was terrifying & very helpful, spent a short time playing with each hermit crab on their own did a little bit of yard work & chassed off a dog which had escaped it's yard & while not attacking our chickens was scaring them badly.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Soup, potato bags & bad news
Hello & good evening.
Today started well, good creating after an early breakfast for both of us followed by some seed planting of spinach & pansies as Trystan is in love with eating them I'm still inclined to grow some lavender to bake with &I'm thinking of buying some whole seed spice or seed for cumin & coriander as well as some other spices.
I'm surprised what a good source of plants ebay is, saffron crocuses at very reasonable prices as well as black sapote & turmeric roots & lots of other goodies all found while I was looking for spices.
I would love to try making my own vanilla & beans are reasonably priced for that as well, I'm just trying to keep my un-nessesary spending to a minimum for a while.
This may or may not be due to my reading "your money or your life" lent to me by jane pickard (growns) which may be helpfull but really seems to be geared more towards people who waste on a lot of trinkets & crap eat a lot of take away & coffee & dress to impress others essentially I think a better understanding of my money may help me but I don't need to worry about how much I spend on bussiness lunches as even if I had them I think I'd be trying to run them in a more sustainable economical & fun way I think potluck business lunches could be fun.
After doing a shop for a surprising amount of food for $80 I felt my potatoes & onions & such were messy & unappealing at best &I keep loosing potatoes to mould or rot so I decided to store the potatoes in a sack in a basket, lacking sacks laying around I quickly knocked together one out of calico which is fine as I got it at $2.50 a metre, while I was at it I made one out of the offcut for the onions to stop them rolling all over the place & loosing skin in my cupboard I think the end result is rather stylish too.
Today started well, good creating after an early breakfast for both of us followed by some seed planting of spinach & pansies as Trystan is in love with eating them I'm still inclined to grow some lavender to bake with &I'm thinking of buying some whole seed spice or seed for cumin & coriander as well as some other spices.
I'm surprised what a good source of plants ebay is, saffron crocuses at very reasonable prices as well as black sapote & turmeric roots & lots of other goodies all found while I was looking for spices.
I would love to try making my own vanilla & beans are reasonably priced for that as well, I'm just trying to keep my un-nessesary spending to a minimum for a while.
This may or may not be due to my reading "your money or your life" lent to me by jane pickard (growns) which may be helpfull but really seems to be geared more towards people who waste on a lot of trinkets & crap eat a lot of take away & coffee & dress to impress others essentially I think a better understanding of my money may help me but I don't need to worry about how much I spend on bussiness lunches as even if I had them I think I'd be trying to run them in a more sustainable economical & fun way I think potluck business lunches could be fun.
After doing a shop for a surprising amount of food for $80 I felt my potatoes & onions & such were messy & unappealing at best &I keep loosing potatoes to mould or rot so I decided to store the potatoes in a sack in a basket, lacking sacks laying around I quickly knocked together one out of calico which is fine as I got it at $2.50 a metre, while I was at it I made one out of the offcut for the onions to stop them rolling all over the place & loosing skin in my cupboard I think the end result is rather stylish too.
Vlad arrived home mid-day in tears to tell me a friend of his had died in a horrific car accident, It really is beyond a pity, having met the man he seemed like a genuinely decent & kind hearted person I only hope his mother & daughter will be alright in time.
With the thought in my mind that soup is comfort food & the fact that I had intended to make it this week I pulled the recipe from nigella lawsons most recent book & pooled it with one from the veganomicon to make yellow capsicum golden squash & corn soup with coconut cream & maple syrup.
For this I used golden squash from my garden & green chilli found growing wild as well as the awesome coconut cream I bought in bulk from santos health foods which is truly the nicest I have ever had.
The soup ended up very tasty although I have always had trouble with the texture of corn that has been blended in any way I think this is well worth another attempt though I don' know what I'll add next time, I think a chick pea cutlet might be a nice addition of protein as well as something to dunk or puddle around in it.
Anyway I really don't know how to finish such a disjointed post, I had a good day on my account productive & satisfying, I don't feel that all is right with the world due to this bad news & I don't really know what to do with myself.
Friday, January 21, 2011
I keep posting late
Tryst has been going to sleep late in spite of being in bed on time &I keep failing to blog on time which annoys me.
Anyway.
Yesterday was good, tryst had his second day at his second preschool & was happy to go & then happy to come home, I'm feeling better about the place now that I'm seeing more of the people in his room & less of the nazi director of the centre.
While he was there I finished of a skirt I've been working on for a few weeks & looked at my shirt fabric to decide what to use first.
My garden is feeling a bit sparse but my seedlings are all trotting along tomatos are allmost all up, silver beet allmost all up 1 spinach of 8 so far & no celery which probably means that they just need more time, once all of this is in the garden will start to look lovely & leafy again, I planted some more peas & a few beans, the jerusalem artichokes I took from my mums house are recovering & I'm planning to plant out more corn & a few more seeds today along with starting some punnets of flowers for tryst.
Not much in the way of interesting cooking to report though I may bake today.
Anyway.
Yesterday was good, tryst had his second day at his second preschool & was happy to go & then happy to come home, I'm feeling better about the place now that I'm seeing more of the people in his room & less of the nazi director of the centre.
While he was there I finished of a skirt I've been working on for a few weeks & looked at my shirt fabric to decide what to use first.
My garden is feeling a bit sparse but my seedlings are all trotting along tomatos are allmost all up, silver beet allmost all up 1 spinach of 8 so far & no celery which probably means that they just need more time, once all of this is in the garden will start to look lovely & leafy again, I planted some more peas & a few beans, the jerusalem artichokes I took from my mums house are recovering & I'm planning to plant out more corn & a few more seeds today along with starting some punnets of flowers for tryst.
Not much in the way of interesting cooking to report though I may bake today.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
I stressed well yesterday
Yesterday was goo for stress thats all I have to say.
I couldn't find the tape or bubble wrap to pack a parasol though on the upside I had good sales.
Tryst wanted to ride his bike to the shops but the process of him learning to steer & peddle is driving me insane, it's crazy stressful & slow & the things I hate when walking are holdups & stress so it's a great combination, it also means I don't even begin to get my walking in as I'm walking at 1 k an hour keeping him from driving into traffic.
An egg was dropped in the chook pen & the chooks ate it, I spent a good chunk of the day stressing about them all turning into serial egg eaters & never getting my monies worth out of them & having to muck around with trying to deter them.
Oh & my brain went doolally after that making me question all sorts of ordinary harmless things in my life.
And an old lady came up to me when I was taking care of my seedlings on my porch and said "Oh you're starting seedlings in toilet rolls & milk cartons I'd just assumed you were leaving rubbish laying around" WTF how rude is that either this woman assumes I live like a pig through our never having any other contact or she's never had an inventive thought or re-used something in her life.
At least I didn't beat myself up when I just made a lasagne for dinner & after all of this tryst was in bed soon enough for me to get 20- mins of sewing in before bed.
I couldn't find the tape or bubble wrap to pack a parasol though on the upside I had good sales.
Tryst wanted to ride his bike to the shops but the process of him learning to steer & peddle is driving me insane, it's crazy stressful & slow & the things I hate when walking are holdups & stress so it's a great combination, it also means I don't even begin to get my walking in as I'm walking at 1 k an hour keeping him from driving into traffic.
An egg was dropped in the chook pen & the chooks ate it, I spent a good chunk of the day stressing about them all turning into serial egg eaters & never getting my monies worth out of them & having to muck around with trying to deter them.
Oh & my brain went doolally after that making me question all sorts of ordinary harmless things in my life.
And an old lady came up to me when I was taking care of my seedlings on my porch and said "Oh you're starting seedlings in toilet rolls & milk cartons I'd just assumed you were leaving rubbish laying around" WTF how rude is that either this woman assumes I live like a pig through our never having any other contact or she's never had an inventive thought or re-used something in her life.
At least I didn't beat myself up when I just made a lasagne for dinner & after all of this tryst was in bed soon enough for me to get 20- mins of sewing in before bed.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
bits & bobs
Post birthday day I am feeling good, I had a lot of bad feelings on my birthday, the kitchen was a huge mess which always makes me twitchy & there was a unbearable amount of waiting around that I had to do capped off wit the car I wanted being sold out from under me.
Yesterday I made a fence to keep my chickens out of my garden while still giving them a third of it to play in, his was in anticipation of my seedlings being ready to go in the ground in a weekish.
Today I saw the first of the seeds coming up at least 3 kinds & now 7 of the 24 eggplants & capsicums, I think I'm giving up on the melons & pumpkins I planted before the rain the pumpkins at least were eaten by chickens but I never saw the melons probably the cold so I'll start a tray of those tomorrow may do the pumpkins the same way & depending on how I feel about rejection & failure I may do a bunch of onions.
WHY CAN'T I GROW ONIONS? I have never had such plant failure as with onions of over 300 seeds I have sprouted 30 maybe & had no onions big enough to eat.
I'm contemplating getting driving lessons spread out over either 2 or 3 months 12 lessons 32 hours worth the first 6 as training & the second 6 as a prep course for the test with 60 hours fit into the 3 months total cost of $604 small price for independence.
I am also trying to reduce or remove the amount of wasted food I produce, it's part me but mostly vlad not being willing to eat the same thing over 2 days leading to me eating it or it being wasted, I'm thinking more pies & bits pasta.
I want to make more rice & pasta but have less carbs after 6.30.
I've been doing at least 2 laps of a 500 metre oval each day with tryst, it's improving his fitness too but I'd love to up it to 6-10 laps plus add 20-30 mins of yoga yay I'll be a fitness jock but hopfully one with more strength & flexibility & about 8 less kilos.
Yesterday I made a fence to keep my chickens out of my garden while still giving them a third of it to play in, his was in anticipation of my seedlings being ready to go in the ground in a weekish.
Today I saw the first of the seeds coming up at least 3 kinds & now 7 of the 24 eggplants & capsicums, I think I'm giving up on the melons & pumpkins I planted before the rain the pumpkins at least were eaten by chickens but I never saw the melons probably the cold so I'll start a tray of those tomorrow may do the pumpkins the same way & depending on how I feel about rejection & failure I may do a bunch of onions.
WHY CAN'T I GROW ONIONS? I have never had such plant failure as with onions of over 300 seeds I have sprouted 30 maybe & had no onions big enough to eat.
I'm contemplating getting driving lessons spread out over either 2 or 3 months 12 lessons 32 hours worth the first 6 as training & the second 6 as a prep course for the test with 60 hours fit into the 3 months total cost of $604 small price for independence.
I am also trying to reduce or remove the amount of wasted food I produce, it's part me but mostly vlad not being willing to eat the same thing over 2 days leading to me eating it or it being wasted, I'm thinking more pies & bits pasta.
I want to make more rice & pasta but have less carbs after 6.30.
I've been doing at least 2 laps of a 500 metre oval each day with tryst, it's improving his fitness too but I'd love to up it to 6-10 laps plus add 20-30 mins of yoga yay I'll be a fitness jock but hopfully one with more strength & flexibility & about 8 less kilos.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
picnicing, seedlings starting & a brisk walk
I suppose I would have to say today went well, I only just realised I've been hormone crazy all day resulting in hating my body & feeling hopeless.
However Tryst &I still had fun chilling out at home pretending to be baby turtles avoiding discovery by androsacis (sp) we made a picnic & ate in in the park & did a bit of tree climbing with quick walking home.
We arranged some dry grass around the brassicas to help them be as upright as possible, I'm telling you every time I plant brassicas either none grow or they grow & turn in a funny direction & flop all over the ground for feet & feet & then need loads of help.
we started all the seedlings I intended to & I hope they grow, the eggplant/capsicum batch of seedlings I did are starting to come up, I'm trying to strike the balance between cooking or drying them & keeping the soil temp where it needs to be I'm sure I'll get the nack of this in a few years but I do like to learn & gardening is worth learning.
I may or may not list or describe a bunch of clothes & shoes I photographed to sell I know I need to do it, I just put it off badly.
I made a quiche for dinner from our home laid eggs, asparagus & the crab meat tryst so desperately wanted & honestly I would have preferred to save to $12 & have tuna or salmon or just use up the ham & spring onions & do something more traditional.
I'm itching to make my onion pie, I always like it, I just need to convince these boys it's worth trying.
I may do a bit more net working for my store
However Tryst &I still had fun chilling out at home pretending to be baby turtles avoiding discovery by androsacis (sp) we made a picnic & ate in in the park & did a bit of tree climbing with quick walking home.
We arranged some dry grass around the brassicas to help them be as upright as possible, I'm telling you every time I plant brassicas either none grow or they grow & turn in a funny direction & flop all over the ground for feet & feet & then need loads of help.
we started all the seedlings I intended to & I hope they grow, the eggplant/capsicum batch of seedlings I did are starting to come up, I'm trying to strike the balance between cooking or drying them & keeping the soil temp where it needs to be I'm sure I'll get the nack of this in a few years but I do like to learn & gardening is worth learning.
I may or may not list or describe a bunch of clothes & shoes I photographed to sell I know I need to do it, I just put it off badly.
I made a quiche for dinner from our home laid eggs, asparagus & the crab meat tryst so desperately wanted & honestly I would have preferred to save to $12 & have tuna or salmon or just use up the ham & spring onions & do something more traditional.
I'm itching to make my onion pie, I always like it, I just need to convince these boys it's worth trying.
I may do a bit more net working for my store
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Yesterday, the beach & story cds
Another post for yesterday, I've been feeling busy.
Yesterday we were up early & played at being turtles in eggs, afterwhich we mowed the lawn with trystan carting the mowed grass into the yard & me doing the actual pushing of the mower, we went to the beach from 11 till 2 & ate a picnic lunch there before coming home when I have my licence & car I'm going to get really organised & we can go to the beach all day from 10 till Tryst is tired of it.
I'n the afternoon we planted a bunch of potatos that I bought cheaply & which were sprouting in amongst the grass clippings hoping they won't heat up enough to kill the growing bits, it ended up only being a few cms deep over about 9 square metres.
We ended up having just pies for dinner & then going for a walk around the block before bed.
I burnt off the lion the witch & the wardrobe for tryst to see if he'd like to listen to stories in the evening (I find it hard not to call them tapes interesting given the number of people now who don't know what a cassette tape even looks like) Maybe the issue we're going to have here is that tryst is way to much like me when I was a child in that I wanted to stay up & listen at least having him so much like me allows me to be considerate of him & try to find creative ways to help him wind down.
The plan for today is to plant
tomatos seeds
silverbeet seeds
spinach seeds
watercress
celery seeds
& see what else is in my big box of seeds.
All motiveted by the imediate gouging by coles making a bag of apples cost $8 due to a flood even though the apples were picked weeks ago, I'm sick of being a slave to the whims of a profit driven mass corporation (yay I sound teenage) but seriously I don't want to be driven by my actinons & not pay through the nose for a product that hasn't changed & the only thing different is a percieved lack.
Yesterday we were up early & played at being turtles in eggs, afterwhich we mowed the lawn with trystan carting the mowed grass into the yard & me doing the actual pushing of the mower, we went to the beach from 11 till 2 & ate a picnic lunch there before coming home when I have my licence & car I'm going to get really organised & we can go to the beach all day from 10 till Tryst is tired of it.
I'n the afternoon we planted a bunch of potatos that I bought cheaply & which were sprouting in amongst the grass clippings hoping they won't heat up enough to kill the growing bits, it ended up only being a few cms deep over about 9 square metres.
We ended up having just pies for dinner & then going for a walk around the block before bed.
I burnt off the lion the witch & the wardrobe for tryst to see if he'd like to listen to stories in the evening (I find it hard not to call them tapes interesting given the number of people now who don't know what a cassette tape even looks like) Maybe the issue we're going to have here is that tryst is way to much like me when I was a child in that I wanted to stay up & listen at least having him so much like me allows me to be considerate of him & try to find creative ways to help him wind down.
The plan for today is to plant
tomatos seeds
silverbeet seeds
spinach seeds
watercress
celery seeds
& see what else is in my big box of seeds.
All motiveted by the imediate gouging by coles making a bag of apples cost $8 due to a flood even though the apples were picked weeks ago, I'm sick of being a slave to the whims of a profit driven mass corporation (yay I sound teenage) but seriously I don't want to be driven by my actinons & not pay through the nose for a product that hasn't changed & the only thing different is a percieved lack.
Friday, January 14, 2011
A good day with yoga & creative play
Yet another good sunny day, my chickens hadn't figured out how to get past my shade clothes fences & I had new female flowers on my pumpkins though at this point I'm almost missing the zucchinis that haven't done much thanks to the wet, We harvested more corn & ate it fresh after breakfast, we've now had a dozen eggs from out chickens & a few have been used, the chickens go into a sexual crouch every time you go near them which I find irrationally annoying though at least the chickens are figuring out how to be wild scratching dust bathing birds.
We spent a good chunk of the morning on mechano & junior engineering construction sets trystan has been making machines to make lizards re-grow their tails faster, to make lizards grow bigger than birds & to make bee's pollinate better, he learns so well, I told him about leaf cutter ants the other day & now he repeats that information back to me & tells me other facts about ants, it's all confirming what I'm reading in this homeschooling book that up till age nine filling children with loads of corresponding information allows for a lot of reference on which to build more knowledge, every time I explain something to him to adds it to his way of explaining the world in a way I never would have thought possible, Now to get him off topics of mating & his having healthy babies around people who don't understand.
I got further in my yoga routine than I ever have before & I'm starting to feel that I'm more flexible & stronger, I even got tryst doing a couple of stretches with me, I'm really feeling good about this as an exercise program although I do wish I could get down to the oval to do 20 minutes of fast walking I just really miss the meditative state I used to get to through that kind of physical action.
The guy came to read the metre today & went off at me going on about how it's an offence to refuse entry to the box at which point I told him I'd rather keep my son safe every day even if it does mean he has to walk 15 more metres once every 3 months at which point he said he'd tell his manager about this, seriously get a grip.
I had a frustrating ebay customer who seems to think express packages from regional NSW should get to victoria in 15 hours & is now threatening to leave negative feedback, sometimes I just want to shake people like this who leave things to the last second & then get antsy at the people doing everything possible.
I cleaned well today my laundry looked so good & neat & so did the kitchen, I mowed the back lawn to the joy of the man thing I'm living with I won't tell him I did it for gardening purposes not so we look good to the neighbors.
I finished up with making vegan chickpea noodle soup which I really enjoyed but tryst was a bit too tired to eat all of after the three walks we took today.
We spent a good chunk of the morning on mechano & junior engineering construction sets trystan has been making machines to make lizards re-grow their tails faster, to make lizards grow bigger than birds & to make bee's pollinate better, he learns so well, I told him about leaf cutter ants the other day & now he repeats that information back to me & tells me other facts about ants, it's all confirming what I'm reading in this homeschooling book that up till age nine filling children with loads of corresponding information allows for a lot of reference on which to build more knowledge, every time I explain something to him to adds it to his way of explaining the world in a way I never would have thought possible, Now to get him off topics of mating & his having healthy babies around people who don't understand.
I got further in my yoga routine than I ever have before & I'm starting to feel that I'm more flexible & stronger, I even got tryst doing a couple of stretches with me, I'm really feeling good about this as an exercise program although I do wish I could get down to the oval to do 20 minutes of fast walking I just really miss the meditative state I used to get to through that kind of physical action.
The guy came to read the metre today & went off at me going on about how it's an offence to refuse entry to the box at which point I told him I'd rather keep my son safe every day even if it does mean he has to walk 15 more metres once every 3 months at which point he said he'd tell his manager about this, seriously get a grip.
I had a frustrating ebay customer who seems to think express packages from regional NSW should get to victoria in 15 hours & is now threatening to leave negative feedback, sometimes I just want to shake people like this who leave things to the last second & then get antsy at the people doing everything possible.
I cleaned well today my laundry looked so good & neat & so did the kitchen, I mowed the back lawn to the joy of the man thing I'm living with I won't tell him I did it for gardening purposes not so we look good to the neighbors.
I finished up with making vegan chickpea noodle soup which I really enjoyed but tryst was a bit too tired to eat all of after the three walks we took today.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Yesterday a clear day
For the first time in weeks we had a full warm day yesterday.
Tryst & I frolicked in the garden & went for walks, we planted out some seeds & he helped my to hang all the washing thats been adding up.
Discovered that all the loose seed I tossed town the side beds because I didn't know what it was had grown & was now making beans & beetroots & daikon radishes, I must buy some more daikon seeds they're crazy good for you & tryst loves pulling them up & I lost most of my seed in the great mouse attack of 2010.
I erected yet another wall to try to keep the chickens out of my garden bed as by the end of bills & food shopping this week there wasn't enough for the wire I was going to use to make frames or the plant pots for my grape & fig.
Tryst & I did some baking & made biscuits which can be nice if a little manic, last week I went to use my kenwood chef only to find that it myteriously wasn't working which is more than a little distressing.
Oh & my back has been hurting for days now, I hate waking up in pain.
Tryst & I frolicked in the garden & went for walks, we planted out some seeds & he helped my to hang all the washing thats been adding up.
Discovered that all the loose seed I tossed town the side beds because I didn't know what it was had grown & was now making beans & beetroots & daikon radishes, I must buy some more daikon seeds they're crazy good for you & tryst loves pulling them up & I lost most of my seed in the great mouse attack of 2010.
I erected yet another wall to try to keep the chickens out of my garden bed as by the end of bills & food shopping this week there wasn't enough for the wire I was going to use to make frames or the plant pots for my grape & fig.
Tryst & I did some baking & made biscuits which can be nice if a little manic, last week I went to use my kenwood chef only to find that it myteriously wasn't working which is more than a little distressing.
Oh & my back has been hurting for days now, I hate waking up in pain.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Go away rain
The rain is sending tryst & I crazy.
We normally go walking 2 or 3 times a day right now we're lucky to get out once, the garden is less than hospitable with the wet chicken poo & grass coming away where I step on it never mind that there's not enough heat to make things grow & my corn is going to end up mouldy, my seedling seem to be growing in spite of mushrooms growing in the pots.
Too much time inside, the games are getting boring & trystan is restless I want to get out & I missed out on driving lessons.
I know I'm impatient but I wish more was happening in my new store, I know I need to give it more time but I never said patience was my strong point.
Doesn't help that I've been reading more about shrinking your mortgage & saving & I want to get into it.
We normally go walking 2 or 3 times a day right now we're lucky to get out once, the garden is less than hospitable with the wet chicken poo & grass coming away where I step on it never mind that there's not enough heat to make things grow & my corn is going to end up mouldy, my seedling seem to be growing in spite of mushrooms growing in the pots.
Too much time inside, the games are getting boring & trystan is restless I want to get out & I missed out on driving lessons.
I know I'm impatient but I wish more was happening in my new store, I know I need to give it more time but I never said patience was my strong point.
Doesn't help that I've been reading more about shrinking your mortgage & saving & I want to get into it.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Looks like we're running a mini farm here now
Had a good day today I must be a super mum I made bacon & eggs for breakfast I'd forgotten how differently home laid fresh eggs behave
I did a major clean up before I had a visitor come round for a couple of hours to have a chat about Trystan during which he as always showed off his memory skills he's been talking about wanting to be a scientist on day so he can try to make tiny dinosaurs so we can see how they really lived though he would also like to be a pilot still with 4 kids who should also be pilots but if they won't he'll just fly them around.
It's still bloody raining here & I am up to 4 baskets of washing somehow interesting as we're none of us close to running out of clothes but it is wearing to have to plan every walk around the rain.
One of our caterpillars turned into a chrysalis today but it looks like the other one died trying & just turned oozy I can't wait to see what they turn into, the caterpillars we collected off a mandarin tree are flourishing too & the rain at least seems to keep the cabbage moths at bay.
11 of the 21 pumpkin seeds I planted are up but i keep erecting hight flower pot fences to keep the chickens out of it given how it's only been a week at most this is a very good sign to me.
We went out & bought 4 bales of slightly moldy barley straw today which were discounted which is great as I only need them for chicken bedding & the garden, I really enjoyed moving them as it gives me a slight feel for how they are to handle, relevant as I want to to build with them I was surprised a how light they felt a pair of gloves or a lifting tool & I could heft them all day though the look of tryst spilling help a biscuit as he moved it across the garden prompted the comment that we're starting to look like a little farm between our guinea pigs & chickens & corn in the front yard & straw spilling everywhere, I love it & can't wait to get my drivers licence & live on some land.
I've been doing even more looking into housing near mullumbimby which is no easy task as the area seems to have 5 post codes in half an hour which all seem to cross over and around, some of the rents are actually manageable too 320 for 3 bedroom places if I'm 20 minutes out I'd really like trystan to be able to go to the steiner school there as I just love their programs & think any lack of standard curriculum is more than fixable but the schooling in language, crafts & arts are well worth it.
I did some sewing & made a triple re-enforced messenger bag as I never have enough in the right size & I'm trying to save & so won't buy the awsome cool one I found on etsy.
I sill plan to start some tomatos & celery & spinach & more carrots I may have to invest in some seedling pots as we don't use enough toilet rolls to cover what I plant I wish I had a definant on our lease being renewed so I could plant more long term stuff I just don't trust anymore.
The food sopping list is growing & I don't know why too much putting off of important items I guess.
I had a mountain of forms to fill out for trysts new daycare, they want me to imunise him again & I don't know how I'll do it, oh & I can't find his stupid birth certificate again, why do my documents keep going walkabout.
Anyway, ferrets go meh &I'm too sleepy for this
I did a major clean up before I had a visitor come round for a couple of hours to have a chat about Trystan during which he as always showed off his memory skills he's been talking about wanting to be a scientist on day so he can try to make tiny dinosaurs so we can see how they really lived though he would also like to be a pilot still with 4 kids who should also be pilots but if they won't he'll just fly them around.
It's still bloody raining here & I am up to 4 baskets of washing somehow interesting as we're none of us close to running out of clothes but it is wearing to have to plan every walk around the rain.
One of our caterpillars turned into a chrysalis today but it looks like the other one died trying & just turned oozy I can't wait to see what they turn into, the caterpillars we collected off a mandarin tree are flourishing too & the rain at least seems to keep the cabbage moths at bay.
11 of the 21 pumpkin seeds I planted are up but i keep erecting hight flower pot fences to keep the chickens out of it given how it's only been a week at most this is a very good sign to me.
We went out & bought 4 bales of slightly moldy barley straw today which were discounted which is great as I only need them for chicken bedding & the garden, I really enjoyed moving them as it gives me a slight feel for how they are to handle, relevant as I want to to build with them I was surprised a how light they felt a pair of gloves or a lifting tool & I could heft them all day though the look of tryst spilling help a biscuit as he moved it across the garden prompted the comment that we're starting to look like a little farm between our guinea pigs & chickens & corn in the front yard & straw spilling everywhere, I love it & can't wait to get my drivers licence & live on some land.
I've been doing even more looking into housing near mullumbimby which is no easy task as the area seems to have 5 post codes in half an hour which all seem to cross over and around, some of the rents are actually manageable too 320 for 3 bedroom places if I'm 20 minutes out I'd really like trystan to be able to go to the steiner school there as I just love their programs & think any lack of standard curriculum is more than fixable but the schooling in language, crafts & arts are well worth it.
I did some sewing & made a triple re-enforced messenger bag as I never have enough in the right size & I'm trying to save & so won't buy the awsome cool one I found on etsy.
I sill plan to start some tomatos & celery & spinach & more carrots I may have to invest in some seedling pots as we don't use enough toilet rolls to cover what I plant I wish I had a definant on our lease being renewed so I could plant more long term stuff I just don't trust anymore.
The food sopping list is growing & I don't know why too much putting off of important items I guess.
I had a mountain of forms to fill out for trysts new daycare, they want me to imunise him again & I don't know how I'll do it, oh & I can't find his stupid birth certificate again, why do my documents keep going walkabout.
Anyway, ferrets go meh &I'm too sleepy for this
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Too much rain
We're really getting sick of this rain.
Today everytime we got ready to go out it started raining when we were 30 metres from home although on the upside we did find some interesting critters & we still leave for our caterpillars, Trystan found a millipede & I was repeating what I told him about insects & the gigantic ones that existed 300ish million years ago & why they died out but he ended up in hysterics when it left as he'd been hoping to feed it an orange.
We did a lot of play with lego which was tolerable partially because I'd put down a sheet to make clean up easier & partially because we found such fun bits to play with today, Just to break up the lego we made snickerdoodles which on trysts request were a family of snakes instead of little round balls & then we played with lego more in the afternoon before he requested a rest & a movie.
I made lentil soup with tarragon which was fantastic & so much better than any lentil soup I'd ever tried before.
I did some photographing after bed last night & am hoping to upload after I finish with this.
Oh & trystan found his 3rd egg & it has been placed ceremonially in the carton with the other two for a special purpose as yet un-concocted.
Oh & I've been reading the well trained mind which is a book on home education as while I don't think I have the stamina for home educating my son I do intend to bulk out his education given that public education fails to educate gifted children, I'm still trying to find out what the rentals are like for 30 minute around mullumbimby given that their steiner school looks promising a the very least.
Today everytime we got ready to go out it started raining when we were 30 metres from home although on the upside we did find some interesting critters & we still leave for our caterpillars, Trystan found a millipede & I was repeating what I told him about insects & the gigantic ones that existed 300ish million years ago & why they died out but he ended up in hysterics when it left as he'd been hoping to feed it an orange.
We did a lot of play with lego which was tolerable partially because I'd put down a sheet to make clean up easier & partially because we found such fun bits to play with today, Just to break up the lego we made snickerdoodles which on trysts request were a family of snakes instead of little round balls & then we played with lego more in the afternoon before he requested a rest & a movie.
I made lentil soup with tarragon which was fantastic & so much better than any lentil soup I'd ever tried before.
I did some photographing after bed last night & am hoping to upload after I finish with this.
Oh & trystan found his 3rd egg & it has been placed ceremonially in the carton with the other two for a special purpose as yet un-concocted.
Oh & I've been reading the well trained mind which is a book on home education as while I don't think I have the stamina for home educating my son I do intend to bulk out his education given that public education fails to educate gifted children, I'm still trying to find out what the rentals are like for 30 minute around mullumbimby given that their steiner school looks promising a the very least.
Saturday
Yay I missed my saturday post.
Saturday was actually lovelly apart from rain tryst & I spent several hours reading & playing with brio trains bulked out with going on short walks only to be rained on.
Saturday was actually lovelly apart from rain tryst & I spent several hours reading & playing with brio trains bulked out with going on short walks only to be rained on.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Purple potatos, an egg & trystans chicken love
An uneventful day for the most part, still drying up after the rain & feeling all springy due to not being trapped in the house.
We did a spot of gardening in the morning & read books in the morning until we went outside to find that Trystan's chickens had laid their first egg, as far as he's concerned all his love & care has been rewarded & has been placing in a specially labeled egg carton.
He doted over them all morning which led me to trying to find out if we have a local tip shop to buy nest box bits only to find out the only likely place was closed on Friday so I couldn't find out what they had or if I needed to call someone else, Oh & I'd really like to find a second hand bike & learn to ride one it's so much less scary than trying to get my car licence.
I managed to dye some more solid colours & photograph my highlights over lowlights roving, hoping to get more photo-ed & listed tomorrow.
Looking for a good place for chickens to lay tryst stumbled across a section they'd dug into & had unearthed a potato which led to us doing a bit of bandicooting revealing a half dozen purple potatos along with a few dutch creams we had them for dinner with pretty green peas, I do so love green & purple together.
I have a shopping list a mile long some of hardware store & feedstore things & even more for ingredients, I was given nigella lawsons newest book & I've been flicking through the veganomicon, I will shortly have my own copy of falling cloudberries & I have a list a mile long of things I'd love to try, I'm getting exited my garden is at the brink of producing loads of food & I'm getting into the swing of summer in this new house, what slows me down cooking? my son has child tastes which can be worked around but more of an issue the man I live with doesn't like beans or pulses of any kind or anything tomato based which are base ingredients in so much low cost/vegan/vegetarian/wholefood cooking it is a pain.
I really want to work on my driving hours, it scare the hell out of me but I an see how usefull it will be to be able to choose to live out of town or be able to go to the beach with tryst without waiting for help or be able to go to markets as a seller & a patron, all crazy exiting, I so want a panel van I just think they have character & style.
We did a spot of gardening in the morning & read books in the morning until we went outside to find that Trystan's chickens had laid their first egg, as far as he's concerned all his love & care has been rewarded & has been placing in a specially labeled egg carton.
He doted over them all morning which led me to trying to find out if we have a local tip shop to buy nest box bits only to find out the only likely place was closed on Friday so I couldn't find out what they had or if I needed to call someone else, Oh & I'd really like to find a second hand bike & learn to ride one it's so much less scary than trying to get my car licence.
I managed to dye some more solid colours & photograph my highlights over lowlights roving, hoping to get more photo-ed & listed tomorrow.
Looking for a good place for chickens to lay tryst stumbled across a section they'd dug into & had unearthed a potato which led to us doing a bit of bandicooting revealing a half dozen purple potatos along with a few dutch creams we had them for dinner with pretty green peas, I do so love green & purple together.
I have a shopping list a mile long some of hardware store & feedstore things & even more for ingredients, I was given nigella lawsons newest book & I've been flicking through the veganomicon, I will shortly have my own copy of falling cloudberries & I have a list a mile long of things I'd love to try, I'm getting exited my garden is at the brink of producing loads of food & I'm getting into the swing of summer in this new house, what slows me down cooking? my son has child tastes which can be worked around but more of an issue the man I live with doesn't like beans or pulses of any kind or anything tomato based which are base ingredients in so much low cost/vegan/vegetarian/wholefood cooking it is a pain.
I really want to work on my driving hours, it scare the hell out of me but I an see how usefull it will be to be able to choose to live out of town or be able to go to the beach with tryst without waiting for help or be able to go to markets as a seller & a patron, all crazy exiting, I so want a panel van I just think they have character & style.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
seed box, rice, yoga
Evening net go-ers.
Today went really well considering that there was torrential (I do not lie) rain all day & we couldn't do any of or normal post office/park/random nature walks, Instead we did some drawing & Trystan helped me to pack up some of his toys, we raided my shell collection looking for nice new shells for his hermit crabs & we started some seedlings at Trystans request this is when I realised my seed box may be a tad out of hand.
I am led to believe that most normal people would have maybe 30 packets of seed, I however probably have closer to 300, I see exiting heritage varieties & I want to try it all, I have 30 kinds of tomatoes, 11 beans, 4 peas, 3 parsnips (one home saved) 14 eggplants, 17 capsicums 5 corn & the list goes on there are things I'm sure I have that I can't find like spinach kale & endive & things I didn't know I bough which I thought I'd just considered, I don't currently have the yard space for this though in all fairness I did at my last home which I rented for 3 years, there I had of 50square metres of garden beds with space to play in between.
Our planting went well although I am concerned about germination in this slight chill & I am disappointed that I didn't get the tomato anything started one because of the rain & chill & two because of trying to think up good 4 year old activities.
We did some yarn dying working on coordinating solids to go with the finished blends & photographed the 7 I have ready which are now up on etsy & facebook. I really want to sell some more so I can buy more wool to play with, I have some fleece ready for photographing once the sun is up & shiny.
I used the chicken from yesterdays dinner & made awesome rice to with it recipe as follows
1 chopped onion
6 cloves of garlic
tsp of paprika
tsp of coriander mush
half a tsp of crushed coriander seeds
1 cup of stock
1 cup of water
1 cup of jasmine rice
Add it to the pot in that order & it ends up fantastically flavoursome & full of body.
Chicken carcass is now ready to be frozen & souped.
After all of this I am proud to say that I'm getting tryst back into his normal sleeping pattern, It always makes me happy to get him washed & brushed & happily picture booked chapter booked & asleep before 9 it's better for both of us.
What does tomorrow hold? I really don't know I don't have a huge amount of cold wet weather activities in the front of my mind but I'll have to come up with some, I really don't like it which I can't get outside to play oh & for future reference I want nice outdoor furniture with drag inside-able cushions so I can sit on a chair occasionally or eat on a table like a civilised lady of old.
new yarn
Today went really well considering that there was torrential (I do not lie) rain all day & we couldn't do any of or normal post office/park/random nature walks, Instead we did some drawing & Trystan helped me to pack up some of his toys, we raided my shell collection looking for nice new shells for his hermit crabs & we started some seedlings at Trystans request this is when I realised my seed box may be a tad out of hand.
I am led to believe that most normal people would have maybe 30 packets of seed, I however probably have closer to 300, I see exiting heritage varieties & I want to try it all, I have 30 kinds of tomatoes, 11 beans, 4 peas, 3 parsnips (one home saved) 14 eggplants, 17 capsicums 5 corn & the list goes on there are things I'm sure I have that I can't find like spinach kale & endive & things I didn't know I bough which I thought I'd just considered, I don't currently have the yard space for this though in all fairness I did at my last home which I rented for 3 years, there I had of 50square metres of garden beds with space to play in between.
Our planting went well although I am concerned about germination in this slight chill & I am disappointed that I didn't get the tomato anything started one because of the rain & chill & two because of trying to think up good 4 year old activities.
We did some yarn dying working on coordinating solids to go with the finished blends & photographed the 7 I have ready which are now up on etsy & facebook. I really want to sell some more so I can buy more wool to play with, I have some fleece ready for photographing once the sun is up & shiny.
I used the chicken from yesterdays dinner & made awesome rice to with it recipe as follows
1 chopped onion
6 cloves of garlic
tsp of paprika
tsp of coriander mush
half a tsp of crushed coriander seeds
1 cup of stock
1 cup of water
1 cup of jasmine rice
Add it to the pot in that order & it ends up fantastically flavoursome & full of body.
Chicken carcass is now ready to be frozen & souped.
After all of this I am proud to say that I'm getting tryst back into his normal sleeping pattern, It always makes me happy to get him washed & brushed & happily picture booked chapter booked & asleep before 9 it's better for both of us.
What does tomorrow hold? I really don't know I don't have a huge amount of cold wet weather activities in the front of my mind but I'll have to come up with some, I really don't like it which I can't get outside to play oh & for future reference I want nice outdoor furniture with drag inside-able cushions so I can sit on a chair occasionally or eat on a table like a civilised lady of old.
new yarn
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
bread
I set my alarm to quarter to 8 so I could be up & tea-ed before anyone else, It felt fantastic.
One of the first things my son suggested we do was make bread, since I bought 25 kilos of flour not long ago & have fresh yeast for this very purpose I saw no issue with it & we had a nice morning of kneading & rising while we aired our bedding & changed all the sheets in the house, bread has turned out yet again to be of good texture & taste I just want to try to get it a little higher, I see buying loaf pans in my future.
I between we made a bee out of some pods & leaves we found it has compound eyes & everything (he's so fantastic).
As well as feeding chickens & doing normal garden stuff, we went & collected some more leaves for our caterpillars which were eating so loudly that we could hear them during breakfast.
I finally found some socks I needed to send out to a customer & I wound another 10 skeins & dyed 3 more, I am so happy with yarns I'm producing, Trystan even did 100grams for himself & his imaginary pet foxes.
In the afternoon we walked to the post office to send business stuff & send off some forms for TAFE & after that we went to the park for 2 hours still getting home in time to get dinner on the table before 7 eating at the table really does work better that the coffee table or anywhere else which is to be expected I really must do it more often though I may make a point of working in some lessons in table manners over the next few months.
Getting tryst to sleep was a case of 2 thing books, 2 bear & chook books, the mitten, & two chapters of olga da polga I definantly need to start reading at quarter to 8 which is his bedtime so I can get out of there before 9 I just start to feel too tired after then.
I'm hoping tomorrow to start some tomato seedlings, I loved the tomato jam I made last year & I don't feel like I can affortd to go nuts with decent store bought tomatos ignoring that they are pale imitations of home grown.
I may start the beds they'll be in if this rain doesn't keep up, oh & I need to get my worm farm together, fancy making a 14 page guide to keeping worms but not including the assembly instructions :p
Hope the world is well.
One of the first things my son suggested we do was make bread, since I bought 25 kilos of flour not long ago & have fresh yeast for this very purpose I saw no issue with it & we had a nice morning of kneading & rising while we aired our bedding & changed all the sheets in the house, bread has turned out yet again to be of good texture & taste I just want to try to get it a little higher, I see buying loaf pans in my future.
I between we made a bee out of some pods & leaves we found it has compound eyes & everything (he's so fantastic).
I finally found some socks I needed to send out to a customer & I wound another 10 skeins & dyed 3 more, I am so happy with yarns I'm producing, Trystan even did 100grams for himself & his imaginary pet foxes.
In the afternoon we walked to the post office to send business stuff & send off some forms for TAFE & after that we went to the park for 2 hours still getting home in time to get dinner on the table before 7 eating at the table really does work better that the coffee table or anywhere else which is to be expected I really must do it more often though I may make a point of working in some lessons in table manners over the next few months.
Getting tryst to sleep was a case of 2 thing books, 2 bear & chook books, the mitten, & two chapters of olga da polga I definantly need to start reading at quarter to 8 which is his bedtime so I can get out of there before 9 I just start to feel too tired after then.
I'm hoping tomorrow to start some tomato seedlings, I loved the tomato jam I made last year & I don't feel like I can affortd to go nuts with decent store bought tomatos ignoring that they are pale imitations of home grown.
I may start the beds they'll be in if this rain doesn't keep up, oh & I need to get my worm farm together, fancy making a 14 page guide to keeping worms but not including the assembly instructions :p
Hope the world is well.
Monday, January 3, 2011
hello all
Hello, my name is Rae & I am an almost 23 year old mummy to a gifted but occasionally odd 4 year old boy, I am about to start studying at Tafe in a cert 4 of applied fashion design & technology which as much as I don't like fashion is the more technical side of a sewing course I have wanted to do for several years.
I have intended for several years to run a business selling hand crafted clothing which is practical & stylish in an alternative way but at an equally practical price which I feel is a little lacking in some clothing lines.
At present I run an ebay business & a newer business selling hand dyed fibre & yarn on etsy.
links feel free to drop in & spread the word, it all goes into my home fund.
http://stores.shop.ebay.co
http://www.etsy.com/shop/r
Over the last 3 years I have been gardening in earnest gradually expanding & experimenting with new foods though every year something different comes along & messes with my crops, I read a lot about gardening & permaculture but never use it as much as I'd like but hey there's always time.
In the past few months since moving I have been de-chemicalling myself by ceasing to use commercial shampoos & scrubs & instead use the oil cleansing method & vinegar & bicarb to clean my hair, I also try to eat more wholefoods & am changing my eating habits slowly.
I read a lot about building with the goal in mind to build my own house, I was entranced for the longest time by mudbrick but I came to the conclusion that strawbale made more sense for many reasons not least that my back wouldn't be up to hauling 8 kilo bricks times a few thousand post making them.
Having had goats in past I'd like to have some again but fully utilise their potential, I would like to produce my own dairy products.
So end goal for me is my own house on a block of land with goats, chickens, maybe a cow every few years pigs, grain crops, fibre crops, orchard & vegetable gardens.
This blog is in theory going to cover the food I grow & cook, the day to day things my family does & my bussiness in a smaller part.
Hope to share with all of you.
I have intended for several years to run a business selling hand crafted clothing which is practical & stylish in an alternative way but at an equally practical price which I feel is a little lacking in some clothing lines.
At present I run an ebay business & a newer business selling hand dyed fibre & yarn on etsy.
links feel free to drop in & spread the word, it all goes into my home fund.
http://stores.shop.ebay.co
http://www.etsy.com/shop/r
Over the last 3 years I have been gardening in earnest gradually expanding & experimenting with new foods though every year something different comes along & messes with my crops, I read a lot about gardening & permaculture but never use it as much as I'd like but hey there's always time.
In the past few months since moving I have been de-chemicalling myself by ceasing to use commercial shampoos & scrubs & instead use the oil cleansing method & vinegar & bicarb to clean my hair, I also try to eat more wholefoods & am changing my eating habits slowly.
I read a lot about building with the goal in mind to build my own house, I was entranced for the longest time by mudbrick but I came to the conclusion that strawbale made more sense for many reasons not least that my back wouldn't be up to hauling 8 kilo bricks times a few thousand post making them.
Having had goats in past I'd like to have some again but fully utilise their potential, I would like to produce my own dairy products.
So end goal for me is my own house on a block of land with goats, chickens, maybe a cow every few years pigs, grain crops, fibre crops, orchard & vegetable gardens.
This blog is in theory going to cover the food I grow & cook, the day to day things my family does & my bussiness in a smaller part.
Hope to share with all of you.
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