We have had beautiful Autumn weather here in Melbourne this week. Our fruit trees are gradually losing their leaves and I've started feeding them into the compost bin.
Here's what else we've been up to -
* Dried all the washing on the line and clothes horses.
* Made a bottle of double strength Miracle Spray.
* Decanted a large batch of homemade laundry liquid into 2 litre bottles and diluted it ready for use. I have a couple of people saving their vinegar bottles for this use. It makes it so much easier to use the smaller bottles than going outside to the large bucket, stirring it, getting my hands all soapy then decanting. If I get enough bottles I should be able to decant it all the next time I make it.
* Picked silverbeet for quite a few meals as well as lettuce from our garden. I also found another 3 feijoas on the ground. You can bet I really enjoyed eating them and will have to wait another 11 - 12 months to taste them again.
* Saved the shower warm up water, washing machine water and drink bottle water to reuse around the house and garden.
* Mended a pair of rubber gloves I use for my cleaning jobs. They developed a small hole that was letting water in ( not good for toilet cleaning ). I turned them inside out and placed a couple of pieces of duct / electrical tape over the hole. So far it's worked really well.
* Gratefully received cherry tomatoes and limes from a couple of friends.
* Turned our landline phone handset off at the power point overnight. It was fully charged anyway and doesn't need to be plugged 24 / 7 to work.
* Dug up the last of the potatoes in our veggie garden. We didn't get as many as expected but are very grateful for the 2.1 kg. We haven't needed to buy potatoes since December last year and this latest lot will last until the end of the month. We can't wait to plant many more next Spring.
* Poured the contents of travel sized shampoo and conditioner bottles into our large ones. These little bottles were from our trip to Tasmania last December.
* Fed lots of weeds, old bread and a very deformed pear to the chickens. They've are a little on the fussy side when it comes to kitchen scraps but they have taken a liking to pears.
* Cooked a double portion of tuna pasta bake which usually serves 8 people. The plan was to eat one meal for the 2 of us that night and put 3 meals ( 6 portions ) into the freezer. I added a couple of finely grated carrots and 3 large silverbeet leaves to make it a more well rounded meal. When I portioned it all out, I ended up with 11 serves, 9 of which went into the freezer. I guess I won't need to cook tuna pasta bake for a while.
* Darren emptied a compost bin into the veggie garden and also placed some around the base of a few fruit trees.
Here are a few photos from our garden
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| Growing kale for the first time |
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| Broccoli almost ready to pick |
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| Drying the washing one rack at a time |
Hi Wendy
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a great week.
We use the kale mixed with spinach for green veg. Also we put it into a stir fry with spinach. It is a bit strong but by mixing it with the spinach it seems to tone it down
Julie
Thankyou for the ideas Julie.
DeleteI am really starting to tighten our budget especially after handing over $1500 for three of us to update our glasses. I only updated my lense as I still love my frames after 3 years. The sales lady looked very disappointed when I said no to the upgrade even though 'it works out to be only an extra $100'. $100 is $100 and better off in my pocket. My daughter has outgrown her frames and Hubby needed prescription safety glasses as well for work.
ReplyDeleteLast night I made chicken and veg soup with (going stale) bread rolls to soak up the yummy broth.
Most afternoons the kids have had Weet-Bix after school.
We purchased about 20l + of so called out of date milk and it has tasted absolutly fresh! What could have been such a waste and disrepect to our farmers was to our benefit.
Hung washing inside in front of the fire to dry on our wet days this past week.
Filled the car up at $1.25/L rather than the $1.50+/L.
Cashed in our Return and earn collection and now have $60 in vouchers. These will be used at Coles.
I am sure there is more but cannot think of them right at the moment.
Have a wonderful Mother's Day tomorrow Wendy.
Victoria
Thankyou. I had a wonderful Mother's Day Victoria.
DeleteA $100 saving is a $100 saving. As you said, better in your pocket than theirs.
Hi Wendy, I have been following your blog for a number of years and am amazed that I am still learning relevant new things! Thanks for the tip regarding the plastic gloves, I am forever getting a hole only in the right glove ?!?!?!!!
ReplyDeleteThankyou so much. Being a lefthander, I usually get a hole in the left glove.
DeleteHi Wendy, your flowers, broccoli and kale all look amazing! All you and your husband do to your garden really shows. It sounds like you had a good week, with many frugal tasks done! Thanks for the inspiration! Cheryl in WA state, USA
ReplyDeleteThankyou for your kind words Cheryl. Being in the garden has really helped us cope with all the lockdowns last year.
DeleteWe are in spring here in California, and finally harvesting a few garden things: radishes, spinach, cilantro, parsley, basil, & mint. We are enjoying using these in our meals, along with lemons from our trees.
ReplyDeleteNothing out of the ordinary this week:
-Continued to list & sell things on eBay. Packaged sales in repurposed mailers, shopping bags, etc.
-Menu planned, and ate from the freezer this week
-Used garden items in menu
-Planned for an upcoming stock vest from work, and ensured it went straight to the mortgage
-Followed up on money owed to us by an old car insurance company
I'm sure you are enjoying the warmer growing weather.
DeleteGood morning Wendy, this year is whizzing by, Mothers Day already! Hope you have a lovely one. I am trying your hint to water down the shampoos, dish detergent etc. Your broccoli looks lovely, mine has holey leaves, how do you keep the pesky caterpillars off? Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteHi Jenny. I'm out everyday checking the broccoli leaves for caterpillars and their eggs. We've also made fake cabbage moths out of ice cream containers and attached them to little poles. I think this helps a bit.
DeleteI was lucky enough to score some nice bargains at Coles this week I bought cat food satchets for 33cents each and pavlova magics were 60 cents with an up 2 year expiry date. Had already bought half price cake mixes so with a few birthdays coming up I am now covered. Turned cut off crusts and stale bread into crumbs. Made apple sauce, stewed apple and turned the scraps into apple flavoured water. Made a huge batch if beef stew and have frozen heaps of portions for advance meals.
ReplyDeleteChecked my receipts when shopping and had bought pears and was charged for granny smith apples which were double the price so money refunded and pears were free. I was also charged double for a perscription at the chemist so that money was refunded.
Have started some cuttings up in pots to fill some blank spots in the garden, adding leaves from our trees into the compost bin and planting some bulbs bought cheap into the garden.
Banked my coin change jar and found a few dollars when cleaning so a little boost to the savings. I do a bit of shopping for my elderly neighbors and as a result i have enough Flybuy credits to get a nice pot from the coles range for free.I also had free offers for a drink, loaf of bread and pack of incontinence aides got to love my Flybuys. Have a great weekend and Mothers Day people. Take care Leanne.
You've had a great week Leanne. I just love beef stew especially in Winter. We love flybuys and save the money to pay for our groceries when on holidays.
DeleteHi Wendy
ReplyDeleteWould you mind sharing what recipe you use to make homemade laundry liquid? I had a look on your blog, but could only find the laundry powder recipe. I love Miracle Spray too. Probably a dumb question, but do you just halve the water in the recipe to make 'double strength' miracle spray? Many thanks, Kelly
Hi Kelly. I don't have a recipe as such for the liquid soap. I did use the powder recipe, added boiling water to dissolve the soap then tap water to fill the 20 litre bucket. As soon as i refine the recipe I'll publish it.
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