Positive thinking

The power of positive thinking

So much is going on in our house at the moment, Sam’s started kindy, Ricky is crawling full steam, Justin’s working & slowly building his own business, and I’m trying to keep up with my new life.

It is becoming very clear that this little house is fitting us less & less every day.

We could make changes to the house to help but do we spend that money on this house?

I can’t bring myself to plant my fruit trees in the ground because I can’t see myself living here forever & why have the trees come to fruit then move & have to wait another 5 years for new trees to fruit.

We don’t feel a part of this community it’s not a fit for us if that makes sense!

Do we sell this house buy a bigger house for whatever we get for this one?

My research shows that we could only get an older house that would need a lot of money to make it liveable.

Or build a house & land package for a higher price but with everything new in the house it would even out in the end.

Sam’s school is up the hill were we wanted to live but it’s out of our price range so by moving to the foot of the hill I’ll save time & fuel everyday for the next 14 years!

This is one of the thing’s being discussed in our house at the moment.

SO....

We are just going to keep looking at different ideas, different houses for sale in different areas, research building packages etc:

Make no plans, make no time frames...

& think positively....

Because that’s when something will hit us, we will both be happy with it & it will fit us & our family.

The power of positive thinking has helped us before

So here’s thinking good thing’s J

In The Garden

How Many Ladybirds do u See?

My Ever Growing Sunflower

MY URBAN HOMESTEAD

My Non Trademark Dream of an “URBAN HOMESTEAD”

I have a dream for the vegetable patch to continue the way it is,

my fruit trees to flourish,

to get chickens to produce my eggs,

collect water that falls from my roof,

solar panels to lower my power bills and preserve as much food for my family as I possibly can.

I live in the middle of the city in an URBAN area OMG I have dreams to be an

URBAN HOMESTEADER

Kristi (TM)

http://www.thecrunchychicken.com/2011/02/urban-homesteaders-blog-like-pirate-day.html

Homemaker

1940’s Housewife or Homemaker

I often refer to myself as a 1940’s housewife with modern perks.

I did a little search online about the 1940’s housewife & have changed my mind, I now prefer the turn “Homemaker.”

They basically mean the same thing but the times have changed.

Though it is not expected of me in my home I have MADE it my job to run my household. I care for my family, our home and now have school runs to take care of for our 4 year old & will be actively participating within the school this year i.e. kindergarten helper, canteen etc; I do the washing, any mending, cooking, shopping, the gardening while also starting to produce our own food. I create cosy corners to sit & share a cup-a-tea with friends. I handle all aspects of the family income & look for ways to stretch every dollar.

The 1940’s housewife did all this but had to look good doing it, had to put her husband above all even the children & look as if she was happy to do so. So even if she had a bad day it was not her place to complain. Her home represented the type of housewife she was, it would be unforgivable for a guest to enter a dirty bathroom to wash their hands & trip over a towel to get to the sink. I bet 71 years ago they would have yearned to say much like I do often now “the bathroom is down the hall, just excuse the mess”

So some things have changed, some things remain the same but I now refer to myself as a Homemaker and am proud to do so.

Which are you?

On my mind.

On my mind

On my mind today is GRAY WATER.

The lawns were cut yesterday & it became very clear that I’m very laxed when it comes to moving the gray water pip.




green

 

brown





 



We don’t water the back lawn it only gets the gray water & since I now make my own washing liquid that is environmentally friendly it doesn’t do any harm to the lawn.

I have a lot more washing to do today so I must be on the ball & move it every load:)

for more on my mind stop by : http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/

My secret shame!

I have a secret..

Please don’t tell anyone...

I really do endorse the real thing....

But every so often.....

I have to make......

A

Packet cake!

It’s my secret shame!

My Laundry

My Laundry

This is my little laundry

It is located at the end of the hallway

I have had to become very organised within this space due to its size, my hubby squashed a flat pack cupboard between the washing machine & the wall that has the light switch on it!

It stores all our soaps, shampoo, conditioner, tooth etc: All the washing liquid, cleaning cloths etc:

Including the vacuum cleaner!

The laundry sink is where the nappy bucket sits, soaking bibs & face washers, away from little hands, as well as the container I soak my dish cloths in.

The water very rarely drains down the sink from the washing machine as we have a grey water pipe attached to the washing machine running through the drain in the floor leading outside onto the lawn.

There is a child safe mirror on the wall that was put there when I ran family day care, alongside hooks that their hand towels used to hang on, Sam loves to use this when using her dress ups.

There was this ugly mini cloths line attached to the wall when we brought this house & at the time I hated it but now we have children I use it most days, it currently dry’s bibs & face washers.

poison cupboard

Above the sink is a poison cupboard that has little stackable storage containers containing batteries in one, odds & ends in another, “everything has a place & everything in its place” makes this laundry work.

The bin sits nicely on the washing machine

I DREAM of the day where I can have a laundry with a door , a bench for folding with cupboards underneath, a store cupboard for loo paper, tissues etc: a stock cupboard for food, deep freezer ooooh & a dirty cloths basket for every member of the family I could keep going but I won’t.

SO....

What’s your laundry like?

In The Garden

Lesson well learnt

Patience is a virtue



Baby Capsicum Branch Snapped off before it's time



Call it what you want

next time I'm taking

the scissors

The spoils of a Ruined Crop :-(

In The Garden

It's starting to look like a veggie patch.

It's growing well

In some cases up the fence! The baby butternuts will need some where to rest their sweet yummy heads while they grow so I’ll have to do some re-arranging.

There is grass everywhere, it’s a case of spot the onions!

Lettuce being smothered,

Tomatoes fighting the butternut.

This batch of corn is doing so much better than the last lot.

Tomatoes popping up everywhere.

The grape vine was rooted to the ground Justin had to rip it out for me; it needs to be growing along something.

 So clearly I have some work to do.

From the pantry (Zucchini Slice)

Zucchini Slice

Most people have a Zucchini slice recipe, i have used the same one for years until last year a good friend of mine gave me hers. I have slightly modified it a little and it has become a good stand-by meal that can be handy for lunches the following day...



From This!



Recipe

375g Zucchini

1 Large Onion

3 Rashers of Bacon (I saute First)

1 Cup of Grated Cheddar Cheese

1 Cup of Self Raising flour

1/2 cup of oil (I don't add the oil)

5 Eggs

Salt and pepper

Execution

~ Great unpeeled Zucchini coarsely, Finely chop onion and bacon.

~ Combine Zucchini, Onion, Bacon, Cheese, Sifted Flour, Oil and Lightly beaten eggs season with salt and pepper to taste.

~ Pour into well greased Lamington Tin 16cm x 26cm

~ Bake in a Moderate oven (180˚ for 30 - 40 Min's or until Browned

Serves 4 - 6



To This!



My secret shame!

My secret shame!

Can I tell you something?

Only those closest to me know this...

I have a compulsion....

I have to.....

Without delay......

 Do the dishes as soon as we are finished dinner!

I CAN’T STAND TO LET THEM STAND!

Dark photo

It's my secret shame! 

Take the tour (Kitchen)

My Kitchen

Let me give you a tour around our kitchen

There is a photo of me on the bench of when i was pregnant with Sam.

We put a flat pack cupboard under the bench for storage with Sam’s play dough equipment, spare home corner stuff & my bread maker etc:

Yes i dump stuff on the fridge !

My hubby put a shelf above the fridge for my cook books. All though I have them sitting by the couch at the moment, I like to do something while I watch T.V in the evenings, like looking for ideas.

A white board in front of the fridge if we run out of something we write it up on the board so it helps with the shopping list.

The dining room adjacent to the kitchen

The store cupboard & deep freezer

The basket on top of the cupboard holds new rubbish bags, tissues, toot roll, paper towels, as storage in this home is limited.

This is where it can get crazy when this room is used for more than one thing at a time & you can end up side steeping your way through.

Dish cloths, I love the idea of reusable dish cloths & I’m not fab at knitting so I use white baby flannels. I used to buy a packet of dish cloths a week, using a new one every day but they ended up in land fill so this was my solution. I have a small container full of water & a small splash of bleach  sitting in the laundry sink that the used dish cloths soak in till I put on my kitchen washing.

Last of all my house rules at the entry to the kitchen

I love the last one the best!

Yes our kitchen is small but it does the job & given the state of some Australians homes at the current time I’m very appreciative of my little kitchen.

Thanks for going with me on my little tour.

Next the Laundry J

Celebrations

Nearly 16 years ago this month i met my Partner & only 4 years ago we were married. 4 years ago today!

We invited a very few friends & family to our daughters christening where we surprised them by getting married. 

 My Husband was very cheeky today, he had some flowers delivered to me along with a teddy bear for Sam for her christening. I had gone most of the day thinking "well we did say no pressies" but to my surprise and believe me it was a surprise he swept in and blew me over. Thx J