It's been a week of surviving hot ( and at times humid ) weather. Our veggie garden is suffering a little and the tomato plants died off every quickly. Thankfully they still have fruit on them and I'll be picking any remaining this coming week.
I've done very little baking or cooking due to the heat and some nights our meals were bits and pieces from the fridge with homemade potato salad. Sometimes these simple meals are appreciated more than a fancy meal.
Here's how we saved money this week -
* I sold an unwanted item on Marketplace. The money from this was put into the gift fund.
* I picked a handful or two of raspberries almost every day. I have enough berries in the freezer to make another batch of jam shortly.
* I made up a bottle of surface spray for the kitchen using cooled boiled water and a couple of squirts of dishwashing liquid ( the cheapest Aldi brand ).
* I used our air fryer to crisp up a homemade garlic bread. The garlic bread came from the freezer. I defrosted it in the microwave for 40 seconds, then placed it back in the foil with the top open. It only needed 2 minutes in the air fryer. This is far quicker and cheaper than using the oven.
* I picked quite a few tomatoes and 2 ears of corn from our garden. I've frozen 2 x 1.5 kilos of tomatoes to be turned into tomato relish when the weather cools down. I already have a couple of people lining up to buy some relish.
* We've had a few super hot, humid days over the last week or two. On these days we cannot use our evap cooling. So to make our split system air conditioning work better throughout the house, we use a couple of electric fans ( pedestal and box ) to push the cold air from one end of the house to the other. We also close off the 2 spare bedrooms, spare bathroom and toilet and the laundry. This has been quite effective and saves us from buying and using another $3000 air conditioning system.
* We fed grass, weeds, lettuce and silverbeet to our chicken.
* We used the solar lanterns at night to light up our loungeroom. With it being so sunny lately, the lanterns last all night. By morning they give off a soft glow.
* I cleaned the dishwasher filters with kitchen detergent. I also cleaned the dishwasher with bi carb and vinegar and ran it on a long, hot cycle.
* We gratefully received 2 small hams from a friend. They were 1 day out of their best before date so Darren sliced them up and froze it into 2 and 4 slice packets for lunches and dinners.
* We charged up a shaver, handheld fan, 2 in 1 vacuum, phones, dust buster hand vacuum and an iPad during the day when the Sun was shining to make the most of our solar panels.
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| Ripening tomatoes from our garden. |
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| Drying the washing outside |
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| Pears almost ready to pick. |
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| Part of our back garden. |
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| Cleaning dishwasher filters |
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| Afternoon tea at Jessica's home ( our daughter ). |
A nice week Wendy. My tomato plants died off early also but still had an ok crop. I like the way you clean the dishwasher filter! Afternoon tea at Jessicas looks lovely! I hope we have seen the last of the warm weather.xxx
ReplyDeleteI spent this morning wizzing the excess over ripe tomatoes from the garden in to food processor. This was then put into containers and frozen to use for any tomato based recipes.
ReplyDeleteHello Wendy, this is my first comment on your blog (I have read it from the beginning and use many of your tips/ideas - thank you). We keep our house in the Midlands, UK cool by leaving the blinds/curtains closed all day and if there is any wind then we open one window either side of the house and let it blow through, windows are left open during the night as it is always much cooler then. Our summers seem to be getting much hotter so may have to look at supplementary items. Jan in Castle Gresley
ReplyDeleteWendy what do your solar lights look like that you use inside? Some of the ones I have seen aren’t very bright.
ReplyDeleteJanine
Hi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteit's lovely to have you back blogging. I enjoy reading what you have been doing each week and I always find ideas that I can use.
We have ceiling fans in most rooms and use these unless it is really hot and then have to use the AC.
Our garden has been affected by the hot weather and we have put shade cloth and beach umbrellas over our pear tree and tomato plants to protect them.
I have been making extra serves of our evening meal to freeze for later. Twice this week we had meals from the freezer that saved us money and time. Do you have a chest freezer? I am amazed at how many different items you freeze as I find that I run out of room.
We have been picking apricots, apples, pears, figs, peaches, plums and mulberries from our trees. Our quince, other pear variety and dragonfruit will be ripe soon. Fruit is so expensive and growing our own saves us money each week. What variety is your pear tree? We have a Williams & a Conference.
Our four lovely hens have been laying enough eggs for our own use and two dozen to sell to friends each fortnight.
I picked a 3.3kg Kent pumpkin from a plant that came up in our compost heap.
Jessica's china is very pretty. Afternoon tea is such a nice treat to have with family and friends. It isn't expensive when the baked goodies are home made. I have made your Lemon Slice & Whole Orange Cake for afternoon tea and both were much appreciated. My favourite treat with a cup of tea is a scone with jam & cream but I can be tempted by my daughter's home made Melting Moments or Monte Carlo biscuits.
Have an enjoyable week,
Maria.
Thank you for sharing another fruitful week with us, Wendy. I am in the process of trying to save for my own home. It's proving to be quite difficult, however I find so much encouragement from your posts. They are a gentle reminder to be more mindful of my spending and that small habits add up.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, you are inspirational. I’m going to get a pedestal fan, great idea. When it’s hot, I cook on a portable induction hot plate or the air fryer outside or use our solar oven (insulated box lined with foil that we can cook in) . Our tomatoes are almost finished too. The weather is mad in Adelaide. I even noticed a self sown sweet pea blooming this morning and I was just thinking that St Patrick’s day is coming up, the traditional day for planting sweet pea seeds!
ReplyDeleteGood morning Wendy! We are fortunate it takes several hot days in a row to make our house really hot but as we’re not used to high humidity it does suck all the energy out of me. I think one of our best investments was a good quality ceiling fan. I also close the blinds before the sun hits the windows. I’ve been wondering if an air fryer would be good value as there is only the two of us most of the time now, and eat mostly vegetarian? Always love the garden photos! Have a lovely week.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't save any money this week: we booked flight to Athens (Greece) from Belgium, we went to the supermarket every single day, dd1 suddenly needed supplies for a 1-day internship, dd2 lost her buspass and needed to be picked up (pass was found by a schoolmate and returned to her), a motorist ran into my car while I had right of way (my insurance will pay, it's just a hassle; the motorist didn't have any injuries).
ReplyDeleteReading your blog inspires me to do better!
I love your afternoon tea spread and it is all so pretty. How lovely to spend time like that with your daughter. You had me at your garden, it is magnificent! Love, Bridget
ReplyDelete