Garage Sale

Last weekend I had a garage sale. I had a lot of things that I needed to get rid of and there was too much to put on ebay/gumtree or to just donate to the op shop. So I decided to try and sell some with a garage sale. I had a friend who brought some things over too so we were able to combine our things.

Unfortunately I didn't sell as much as I had hoped, however, I did make some money from it. But most importantly it was a great opportunity to declutter and really go through my things. I have been trying to declutter for a while but it often seems to be too big a job. You also don't notice little bits when there is a lot to go. By having a date set for the garage sale it gave me a deadline for going through my things. I certainly didn't go through everything but I went through lots.

The best thing was that most of the stuff that didn't sell didn't then re-enter the house after the sale finished. We immediately loaded up a car which went straight to the op shop. Another load of kids toys went into my car to give to a friend who works in domestic violence for their clients. A few things did come back into the house but they are things that I will list on ebay/gumtree, etc to sell.

All set up and ready to go!

On the whole it was a worthwhile experience in that it was a good way to clear out a lot of unwanted things and to give me some impetus to keep going. It is an experience that I will not repeat, however, as I will not have that much stuff again that needs to be gotten rid of!

A New Direction

I am excited, nervous and a whole bunch of other things about my life next year. It has been a really amazing couple of weeks in terms of an idea popping into my head, realising that the idea was God's, praying about it and having others pray for me (thanks), talking it over with people to confirm that it was doable.

Just to give a bit of background. I returned to work when B was only 5 months old. It broke my heart to do so but I didn't feel like there was much other option at the time. I took comfort from the fact that he was an easygoing baby and it was only for 2 days a week. It has been difficult but we have muddled along for the last 4 years.

B is now just over 4 and we have been having a lot of clashes recently. We have been butting heads, yelling at each other and he has been saying he doesn't want to go to child care/kinder and just wants to stay home with Mummy. It has been really difficult for both of us and I have been really struggling with his behaviour and my response to it.

A couple of weeks ago after a particularly bad day I was at a loss about what I could do. Then an idea popped into my head of taking next year off work. I almost immediately discounted it as I didn't think it could be done. Then I got THE voice - the one that I have heard before and I know very well. It was the voice that God uses with me when I don't listen the first time!!!!

After that, I realised that I needed to give it some serious thought and prayer. I checked out how much long service leave I have and realised it was a full year at half pay. I then crunched some numbers and worked out that financially it was doable. I sat down with a (practical) friend who confirmed that financially it would work and emotionally for B and I as well.

It was all starting to become a bit more concrete and by this time I was starting to feel a sense of peace about the decision. I spoke to the principal at school to ask if it was possible and her answer was "of course" - another affirmation that I was on the right track. Everybody that I have mentioned it to has been really supportive and thinks it's a great idea.

I know that me being a SAHM next year will not solve all of our problems but I am confident that this is the choice that is right for us and what God wants me to do. I am really looking forward to making B's kinder year a really good one and spending his last year before school together.

As I said at the start I am nervous but mainly excited about what the next year will bring.

When life gives you Lemons make...........

Last week I was lucky enough to be invited to spend a few days with a friend at her family's beach house. We had a great time and it was lovely to get away.

I also came back with a bag full of lemons from the lemon tree in the backyard. Nobody had been at the house in a while so the lemon tree was groaning under the weight of all the lemons.

I am lucky enough to have a lemon tree in my backyard but as I have mentioned before I gave the tree a really massive prune when I moved in 2 years ago and it's only just starting to produce fruit. I use lemons quite a bit in my cooking and B loves to just eat them as is! We have been lucky enough to get a lot from friends and I haven't had to buy too many.

So as I had a few extra lemons I decided that today would be a good chance to do something with them. With the help of the CWA I set about making Lemonade Cordial and Lemon Butter. Yum!!

I'm having trouble uploading photos at the moment so I can't show the photo I took of the finished products :-(

I am only new to preserving and making sauces, jams, etc but am really loving it. I'm looking forward to when my lemon tree is producing a lot more and making more of these goodies. You never know - you may get one as a Christmas gift! I'm also planning to give Preserved Lemons a go. If you have a good recipe I would love you to share!

A Week with Jamie

I have been a bit bad in blogging recently. I knew I hadn't blogged for a while but was amazed to discover my last one was in July!! Big oops!!!

Now that all the important worldwide sporting events are finished I should be able to get back into blogging more regularly, hehe!

A while ago I set myself a funny little challenge to give myself something to look forward to in my cooking for the week. While I was doing my menu plan I decided to cook pork belly on Sunday night. I have discovered a really nice recipe that I have cooked a few times by Jamie Oliver (B loves pork belly!!). Then when I was planning Monday night's dinner I wanted to use Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals book. I purchased this book a while ago and was yet to cook anything from it. After this I realised that I had two nights of Jamie Oliver recipes so thought I would carry it on for the whole week.

So here is how our week panned out:

Sunday: Pork Belly with Roast Vegetables
(I did take a photo but for some reason is won't upload properly)

(Meat-Free) Monday: Cauliflower Curry

Tuesday: Pasta Putanesca

Wednesday: Leftover pasta (I work on Wednesdays so don't have time to cook when I get home)

Thursday: Beef Stew - was a bit ordinary and wouldn't cook it again

Friday: Leftover beef stew (again a work day)

Saturday: Chicken Nuggets (saw Jamie cook these on Oprah years ago and only every have these nuggets)

Well that was my week with Jamie. It started a bit by accident and I found that when I was in it that it added a bit of interest to my cooking for the week. I do enjoy cooking and trying new recipes although sometimes the whole cooking thing gets a bit boring, especially if B is going through a fussy period with his food. This was a way to add a bit of fun to the cooking for a week. I will have to try this with some of my other favourites. A good way to make sure I use my cookbooks too!! After seeing Maggie Beer recently and having purchased verjuice I think she may be my next challenge.

I would love to hear how you make life interesting when cooking - especially for kids.

Camping

Being a single parent on a very tight budget I do worry that we will not be able to take family holidays. I have been lucky as there are a few families at my church that have holiday houses that I can rent, however, we need to work around when they are available. With that in mind I have decided to embrace camping. I have not been a huge fan of camping in the past, however, my experience is limited and a long time ago. I did not camp as a child. In my late teens/early twenties I camped occasionally with friends and only have memories of being cold, wet and sleeping on the uncomfortable ground. I last camped about 15 years ago when I took a trip through the South-West United States. I took this trip as it was a good way to get to the Grand Canyon and see other more remote parts of the country easily and cheaply.

So I don't have a lot of experience with camping, however, now is the time to start. I have a lot of friends that camp and they tell me that if you are set up correctly then camping is easier than you think and a lot of fun to boot. I have been planning this for a while so have been acquiring some of the things we need along the way. One of my favourite stores, Aldi, often have camping equipment on sale. I have got a camping stretcher (which is also good when I have extra kids for sleepovers), camping plates, bowls and cutlery. Yesterday, they had down sleeping bags for $100 so I snapped one up - they were very popular and not many left by the time I got there. I have a sleeping bag for B that a friend gave us.

But of course the major piece of equipment that we have been missing was a tent. A friend posted on Facebook about "Catch of the Day" during the week. They had Coleman 6 person tents for $60!! I had been planning to look for a tent in the next few months but when I saw this I thought I couldn't pass it up as it was a bargain and made by a reputable company. Well, it has arrived!!!

Front View

It is quite big, however, we will be having stretchers in there (my back would not enable me to sleep on the ground) and I also wanted a tent where there was plenty of room to just be in the tent comfortably during wet weather, etc. I think it will do just fine. It will also be big enough for us to have friends with us too in the future.

Back View

Of course the big test was if I could assemble it myself with some "help" from a 4 year old! I am pleased to say that YES, I CAN!!!!!! I put it up in the carport yesterday successfully. The instructions say that it is able to be assembled in 15 minutes (not the first time though). Now for someone that has limited experience with putting up tents I was expecting it to take quite a while but am pleased to say that it took me 33 minutes. For the first time I think that was quite impressive.

Inside View

As I mentioned we have quite a few friends that camp so initially we will go camping with them as it will be a while until I am fully equipped and also it will make it a lot more enjoyable than just the 2 of us. All my camping friends - let me know if we can join you on your adventures!!!

I would love to hear your tips for camping. What equipment do you think is essential? Do you have any tips to camping with kids? As a novice I am open to any and all advice.

Now if only I can get it back into it's carry bag!!!!

Handmade gifts

I love to give a handmade gift! To me, it says that I really have thought about what to give. I have always had intentions of doing handmade gifts but then let time get away from me and end up just giving a brought one. Now that B is around the number of gifts I need to give has increased. I am really making a conscious effort to be a bit more intentional and thoughtful with gift giving. Also, with handmade gifts I already have a lot of the necessary supplies already on hand so it is also a way to save money.

For the people who work with him regularly (child care staff, swimming teacher, etc) I have over the last few years made either gingerbread or shortbread and packaged them on a plate or in a cup as a small token at Christmas.

This was the gingerbread we made last Christmas

Valentine's Day heart shortbread for his friends.

 We have had a few birthday parties for B's friends lately. As they were for girls whose mother's are a bit crafty I thought that they could get their own sewing kit so that they could learn to sew like B (see this post). I made some bags to keep all their things together. Inside the bags I put some hessian, needles and a selection of wool. They have been very well received with one of the girls getting so into it that her parents had a hard time getting her to stop and go to bed!!

He loves using my stamps to make cards for his friends at Christmas and on their birthdays. However, with my creating of gifts this year B also got into the spirit of it too and made a car for one of his friends!

In addition to home made gifts I have also started to give "experiences" for presents. I got the inspiration from friends who have done that for my Christmas gift in previous years. This included a day at Werribee Zoo this year. So for one of my friend's son who turned 10 B and I took him to the National Sports Museum for the day. Being one of 3 boys they have plenty of toys (including a huge amount of Lego!) and really don't need any more "stuff". So instead I thought we could do something he would enjoy. It was a great day and was really appreciated. For his brother's birthday next month I am taking him to Geelong for a football game. He (and B) both barrack for Geelong so it should be a good day.

I'd love to hear of any suggestions that you have for handmade gifts that you have given to give me extra ideas!

Winter Veggie Progress Report

I haven't posted lately about my vegetable patch. Unfortunately I don't get a huge harvest over winter as my beds do not quite get enough sun during the winter months. Being in a rental property I can't alter the backyard too much (or chop down trees) and already the garden beds take up a bit of space and I don't want to take too much of the backyard away from B's use.

With all of that in mind I have planted some veggies in containers this year to try and get a little more sun and a bit more success over winter.

Here are my potatoes which have self-sown from last years crop. The gift that keeps on giving!!

I have used the tyres from the birthday party to help build the potatoes up to get a bigger and better crop.

Close up of potatoes

Home grown garlic - can't wait!

Broad beans

Broccoli

Silverbeet - one of my favourite crops. It just keeps giving!

My lemon tree is now starting to provide some fruit after my hard pruning last year. I'm so glad as I use quite a lot of lemons in my cooking.

I have also got some leads on community gardens to try and maybe get a plot so I can grow some more produce off-site.

I also really love that when it rains B doesn't complain he just says "our veggies will grow now". It is one of those moments as a parent that you realise you are doing your job! We had a lovely day today out in the garden weeding, rearranging and planting some more seeds.