Thankyou for being patient while I took some time off from blog writing. I've spent lots of time in the garden when the weather allowed. In between almost constant rain here in Melbourne, I've managed to pull out hundreds, if not thousands of weeds that seem to pop up when I'm not looking.
Our Summer veggie garden was planted late September but with cooler temperatures and little sun, it has really struggled. I will need to replant many seeds.
Darren and I enjoyed a 10 day holiday to Queensland early this month. We stayed in Mooloolaba, Townsville and Magnetic Island. Jessica and her boyfriend came up to Townsville for a holiday with us. The sun was out, the temperature was warm and we managed to get a bit of color in our skin. The day we left Townsville the temperature there was 30 degrees. We came home to wet Melbourne with a top temperature that day of 14 degrees. Such a contrast.
Here are some of the frugal things we've done over the last couple of months -
* Collected 3 - 4 eggs each week from our laying chicken.
* Repaired our air fryer. The is a nut that loosens on a fan blades every few months or so.
* Cleaned our ovens with kitchen detergent, magic erasers and water. I soaked the racks in the laundry sink with laundry powder and hot water. With a little bit of scrubbing everything came up sparkling.
* Cleaned the kettle with citric acid.
* Gratefully received the gift of a Bolar blade roast from a friend. I'm planning on cooking it in the slow cooker as a roast meal. Any leftovers will be made into a big pot of Massaman beef curry.
* Picked oranges, mandarins and lemons from Megan's trees.
* Portioned an opened jar of tomato paste into ice cube trays and froze for future use.
* Replanted volunteer flower seedlings into empty spaces in our flower beds.
* Gratefully received the gift of flower and veggie seeds from a blog reader.
* We went to the Melbourne Show with our family back in September. I had my eye on a few show bags with home and grocery items in them. A few hours later they were heavily discounted ( last day of the show ) so I bought a few of them.
* Cut open and scraped out a large hair conditioner bottle.
* Cut up a few pairs of old socks to use as garden ties.
* Took some cuttings and dug up a couple of volunteer seedlings from Mum and Dad's garden and transplanted them into our garden.
* Fed weeds, bread crusts, snails, grass clippings and veggie garden waste to our chickens.
* Made a bulk batch of chocolate brownies for the freezer.
* Made 11 jars of apricot jam using fruit from our tree that I froze back in January.
* Baked wholemeal bread with extra goodness every 2 weeks.
* Saved the washing machine rinse water and shower warm up water.
* Shopped the Black Friday sales to get the last of the Christmas presents on my list.
* Did not purchase one single Christmas decoration, wrapping paper, seasonal décor or other paper products. This is the first year I haven't needed or wanted anything new so it's kind of a big deal in our home. Usually I shop the sales, clearance racks and op shops to get the bargains, but I was determined to keep my money in my purse.
* Picked lettuce and silverbeet from the garden.
* Baked whole orange cakes using gifted oranges and eggs from our chickens. I doubled the recipe and baked them in different sizes for snacks, morning tea and for when I need to bring a plate somewhere. Some cakes were kept fresh and the rest went into the freezer.
* Cooked chicken curry, spag bol and Massaman beef curry in bulk and froze into single and double serves.
* Made a bulk batch of cookie / biscuit dough for the freezer.
LINKS -
Wholemeal bread with extra goodness
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| Our view on Magnetic Island |
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| Our view from the pool |
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| On our rooftop terrace |
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| Mooloolaba. The beach is just 200 metres away |
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| On Magnetic Island |
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| Trying out the electric scooters |
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| Jessica and I |
Great to see you back Wendy! Amanda
ReplyDeleteThankyou Amanda.
DeleteToday I took my final summer tomatoes that I picked while they were still green a few weeks ago. The last of them have ripened, so I canned tomato sauce and got 3 pint jars. https://pin.it/5rKWz9w That makes 34 pints of sauce I got from my tomatoes in addition to lots of pints of salsa and lots of tomatoes we enjoyed eating fresh. I got apples 3 pounds (1.36 K) for 99 cents two weeks ago so I bought 51 pounds (23K). I canned quarts of apple pie filling (10), applesauce (4 quarts) and dehydrated 21 pounds (9.5 K) of apple slices. Then I took some of the peelings and am making apple scrap vinegar. Our chooks also enjoyed apple peelings. I was given about 10K (22 pounds) of red onions so I have my dehydrator trays full and will get those finished in the next 2 days. We are getting into winter here and making sure we have everything buttoned down for the cold season so we can limit trips out to the store and not notice any variation in our food selections.
ReplyDeleteWe ordered and received free delivery of chicken feed and deep litter from our local feed store, which saved us gas and muscle aches to pick it up and lift it into and out of our van to get it home.
The winter will find us working inside and we are grateful to have supplies/materials already on hand to keep us busy!
Gardenpat in Ohio
Wow, you have been so busy and you are well prepared for Winter. Thankyou for adding the kilo equivalent. It really helps to understand how much you have bought / canned.
DeleteOur Winters are mild here - no snow. But it's always best to be prepared no matter what.
Hi Wendy, thank you for your inspiring post. I have been reading your blog only recently and love what you have to say. I live in Tasmania so I can relate to your weather happenings across the strait. I have made your miracle spray and have converted by mum and sister to use this in housekeeping. Thank you for your simple ways of saving money - I haven't started Christmas shopping yet, but I am inspired by not buying into the hype with unnecessary house decor, wrapping paper etc. I hope you and your family have a truly wonderful Christmas. Gill
ReplyDeleteThankyou for your lovely comment Gill. We have family in Devonport so we are very familiar with Tassie weather. Such a beautiful state to live in even if it's a bit on the cold side.
DeleteI love Christmas decor, but we have no need to buy any this year. I have enough wrapping paper for the next few years. I upcycle gift bags and have an abundance of them. Christmas cards I make from scratch or upcycle ones from last year.
Welcome back Wendy.
ReplyDeleteWow that’s a long list of frugal activity. I’ve missed reading about blog.
Mooloolaba is one our favourite spots. We celebrated Hubby’s 50th there and thoroughly enjoyed it. Such a relaxing place.
We have been saving for some work to be done around our home. It has been difficult to get tradesmen, so we just keep saving and hope it all happens early next year.
Have you noticed any reduction in electricity costs by using your air fryer instead of your oven? I’m keen to save on electricity over summer to help accommodate some air conditioning.
I’m trying not to buy any Christmas decorations as well…..I have plenty of wrapping and cards. I do like to buy a nice bauble or something for the tree but will do this after Christmas in the sales.
Have a lovely week.
Rachel :)
It's lovely to have you back Wendy. Magnetic Island looks like paradise! I'm glad that you had a nice stay in beautiful surroundings. A break from routine does us all good sometimes.
ReplyDeleteIt's lovely that you enjoyed your warm, sunny holiday, Wendy. Great photos!
ReplyDeleteWe will be heading off on our annual island holiday soon and there seems heaps to do before then.
I am trying to save $ over Xmas so have been knitting washcloths, sewing little drawstring bags, buying half price treats (like scorched almonds) and I've planned a homemade xmas lunch too so can buy bits and pieces for that if I see things come up on special. .
We've been picking spring onion, zucchini and little cucumbers from our garden. I harvested our potatoes too but we didn't get a bumper crop. Never mind!
I always enjoy reading your frugal lists, Wendy, so nice to see your new post today.
Meg
Glad you were able to have holiday and glad you're back.
ReplyDeleteHello Wendy. It is so good to see your name and wisdom again. Life putzes on. Christmas loom sand and I am still unsure how to approach the day. I am. holding bag on buying decor etc.There are so many things.
ReplyDeleteGod bless
Love your blog and glad to see your latest post. Sounds and looks like you had a great vacation, the photos are lovely. Hilogene in Az
ReplyDeleteLovely to have you back and good to see you enjoying your well deserved holiday.
ReplyDeleteAnne T
Welcome back!
ReplyDeleteHi Wendy, it's so nice to see you back. I just wanted to personally thank you for your thermos suggestion. I finally gave it a go and it works a treat. I used to boil the kettle and walk away and then reboil it again and walk away far too many times every day. Now I fill the thermos, job done. Making a coffee or tea takes seconds now that the hot water is always ready to go. Not only is it a power/money saving tip, it's a really convenient time saving tip.
ReplyDeleteMay I ask how you went slicing your soap with the cheese cutter you bought? Was it successful? I used to use a knife in a bread slicing tray and then I started using a (new) paint scraper type tool to cut it but there has to be an easier way and I am wondering if the thin cheese cutter wire is it? Margie