Hello friends. My blogging break is over and I had lots of time to rest and relax at home over December and January. I took 3 1/2 weeks off from my cleaning work and it was absolute bliss to just stay home and potter around the garden.
Our December was busy with lots of end of year functions to attend. Darren was in our church's Christmas Eve play and Kurt was one of the backstage crew. Darren's brother came down from NSW just before Christmas for a visit and we caught up with him a couple of times.
Our grandchildren received a blow up pool and slide set for Christmas from their great grandparents in Tasmania. The pool lives in our backyard so the family came over for swims when the weather finally warmed up a little and it stopped raining. We enjoyed lots of bbqs here and at Megan and Kurt's place. There were lots of cuddles with our granddaughter Naomi who is now 4 1/2 months old and testing out her vocal chords and trying to roll over. She's a sweet little girl with a big smile that lights up the room.
Our oldest daughter Jessica came over for a few visits and took every opportunity to hold Naomi and play cars with Luka and Bryson.
My frugal list below is written in order of when I completed each task. I did get quite a few things done so I'll share my December / January list over this week and next week.
* I planted heaps of beans, corn, zucchini and potatoes in our veggie garden.
* I've picked silverbeet to add to a few meals as our green veggie.
* Over the last 4 months I've been using a small, lightweight handbag from Kmart. It's been great and very comfortable to wear, but unfortunately the strap came off at one end. Thankfully the material is soft enough to repair so I was able to stitch it back on and reinforce the other end too.
* I mended and cleaned 2 pairs of sneakers. Hopefully I can get another 6 months out of my cleaning sneakers. The other pair just needed a clean and the laces washed.
* I upcycled quite a few retail store gift bags so they can be used for birthdays. It's been years since I bought wrapping paper for birthday presents.
* I made almost 1 kilo of rice flour for shortbread biscuit making. I did this by putting uncooked white rice into a coffee grinder and ground it until it was floury with a little bit of texture.
* I've picked about 5 kilos of beans, lots of lettuce, a few tomatoes here and there, lots of potatoes, lemons, strawberries, zucchinis, raspberries, apricots and a few plums ( the wind and birds got the rest ). Carrots are about the only vegetable I regularly buy at the fruit and veg shop.
* Recharged the vacuum, handheld vacuum ( dust buster ), Darren's shaver and phones when the Sun is shining.
* I made a big jar of dried seasoned bread crumbs from saved breads crusts I dried in the oven. I use these for coating chicken drumsticks and salmon patties. They are also great in rissoles, hamburger patties and as a topping in potato bakes etc.
* I made up 2 big batches of brown sugar as needed when I was doing some baking.
* I made cranberry hootycreek biscuits and choc chip biscuits. Lots of the biscuit dough was also frozen for future baking.
* I made up a half batch of yoghurt from scratch.
* Darren picked blackberries at a couple of locations. As soon as he has enough berries frozen I'll be making jam for him.
* I made wholemeal bread with extra goodness to have as toast for our breakfast every morning. I also make rolls for Darren to use in his lunch for work.
* I shopped the Boxing Day sales and got some fantastic deals on presents for this year and the next. All the presents have been allocated in my present book and all were budgeted for. In fact, I'm coming in well under budget for this year.
* Darren and I went to the movies using points he'd accumulated at Village cinemas. We rarely go to the movies so this was a wonderful treat.
LINKS -
Wholemeal Bread With Extra Goodness
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| Bread making day |
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| Upcycling store bags |
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| A well earned morning tea |
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| One of many bean hauls from the garden |
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| Christmas Day with our family |
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| Cuddles with Naomi |
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| Australia Day photo |
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| Making rice flour. |
Nice to have you back Wendy! Your family Christmas photo is just beautiful! Your bread baking looks amazing! xxx
ReplyDeleteLovely to have you back and delighted that you had a well deserved break Wendy. Beautiful photos of your family. God bless you all.
ReplyDeleteFrom one Wendy G to another! That is a lovely family photo.
ReplyDeleteGreat to see you back Wendy. Love the photos. Happy family times! Such a pretty cup and tray. May I ask why you use rice flour in your shortbread recipe?
ReplyDeleteGreat to have an update , i missed your posts . We have a grandson at the same stage , such a joy . We are also blessed with a 2 year old grandaughter , sharing life with them in fantastic .
ReplyDeleteAs we all know each day is a blessing .
I have been collecting lots of tomatos , peaches , appricots , silverbeet from the garden preserving and sharing our bounty .
I so enjoy your posts i find them very encouraging, gave a great week .
What lovely photos of your family, Wendy. Produce from your garden sounds wonderful. We've got very little in our veg garden at moment due to it being so hot and having had too much rain. Your frugal list is always inspiring to me. Tonight, I wanted to make quiche for dinner but had no pastry. Instead, I cut circles from some wraps I had in freezer and used these instead to make mini quiches. I cut the leftover pieces from the wraps up and baked these in oven. These turned into crunchy little crackers that we can have with dip. No waste!
ReplyDeleteAt same time I baked the quiches and these crackers, I make some homemade granola with ingredients in my pantry. Full oven!
Have a lovely week, Wendy.
Meg
It's fun to read all you have been doing. May I ask about the recipe for the shortbread made out of rice flour?
ReplyDeleteGood morning Wendy. Best wishes for 2024 and thank you for sharing your lovely photos. This just reminded me that we didn’t get our annual grandchildren/ grandparent photo this year. We’ll have to aim for an Easter one Due to the ravages of Covid many in our family we’re out of action,including my husband and myself with our first dose! It was 3 weeks before we met our new baby girl, but everyone is going along nicely now and we are able to help with toddler minding etc.I made an effort to get into town last week for new jeans, shirt and undies that should last a few years and the discount prices worth it. Our mild summer weather has definitely saved money on power. Have a good week.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that you are back to blogging again. I love you blog. You inspire me and motivate me with all that you do. You have a beautiful family.
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