Week 4 Round-Up (a wee bit late, but better late than never!)

In the kitchen I made lots of salads, in bulk, to see us through. Lots of potato salads, pasta salad (I tried the pesto pasta salad again, and again it was  a huge hit) and coleslaw, with boiled eggs. I washed, dried and bagged two huge lettuces, sliced up three enormous cucumbers, sliced red, green and yellow capsicum and drained three tins of beetroot. Getting dinner ready was easy - one night I drained a jar of meatballs and warmed them, another night I drained a jar of ugly chicken and we had it cold, and on another night I drained a jar of corned beef and we had it cold with the salads. I love easy meals!

I made a double batch of pizza bases.

I made a jar of coffee syrup. Thomas has taken to having an iced coffee in the morning, and he was buying it from the supermarket and if it wasn't marked down it was over $7  per litre! It costs around $3 to make 2 litres of  coffee syrup, enough to make up 40 iced coffees using 50ml with 200ml of milk. Depending on the cost of your milk, each iced coffee costs around 37 cents! When Nescafe is on sale, I stock up so we always have instant coffee to make coffee syrup.

In the garden, the next round of raspberries are coming on. I've been watering regularly, and watching them. As soon as they are red I'm out, gently pulling them off the canes, before the birds can get them. They get washed, dried and frozen for jam later in the year.

Week 4 was a slow-ish week in the craft room. 

Lots of cutting out of canning mats and towel toppers using really pretty fabric full of pumpkins that was gifted to me a while back, and I learned a new crochet pattern for bowl cosies.

The pattern said they were one hour bowl cosies, it takes me about 2 hours to finish one while I'm watching TV of an evening. I'm using up cotton yarn from the stash, the this first set is going to be multi-coloured! I think they will go into the van, they will be great when we're camping. 

What have you crossed off your gift list this week?

Week three is down! And the present box is filling up quite quickly. 

Last week I worked on dishcloths, bowl cosies and canning mats. These are all great stash busters, using those small amounts of yarn and the odd lengths of fabric. I can see the stash slowly shrinking.

I also worked on Easter decorations and cards. I love to decorate for special occasions, and Easter has always been a favourite, next to Christmas. Everything came out of the shed and had a spruce up, ready to be arranged around the house. 

I worked on happy mail and Easter cards, I posted some to overseas friends this week so they'll get them sooner rather than later. I think the weather in the northern hemisphere is slowing things down a wee bit. 

Bag clips and button jars have all been done and packaged up for gifting. The button jars are recycled jars, and some of them have pin cushion tops. I'll be keeping an eye out for buttons at op shops this year to add to the jars. The bag clips are fun to make and to give, and they're a useful gift that's not too expensive. 

So the bag clips were crossed off the list, and I crossed off three dishcloths. I didn't have bowl cosies on the list, so I've added them in sets of two, I have three people in mind for them. The stash may be shrinking but the gift list is growing!

How are you going with your handmade Christmas? Are you getting things done? Is your present box filling up? 

Week 2 is done and dusted!

I worked on perpetual Christmas gift wrap i.e. cotton canvas Christmas stockings, one for everyone in the family so we can ditch the wrapping paper.  The little stockings were 50 cents each on clearance. I printed some transfers and ironed them on and I love how they turned out. 

In the kitchen I made a huge potato salad, a huge coleslaw and a huge pesto pasta salad and we had them with our dinner each night.

​
Chicken fillets were on sale before Christmas and I stocked up, and froze them. I really want to empty the freezer so out they came and I canned 7 quarts, around 6.5kg, for the pantry.

Worked in the garden. The weeds are loving this humid weather.
Chased birds off the peach tree, even with netting they try to get the fruit.

Worked on the tutorials for the February card retreat.
​Worked on happy mail.
​

​Happy New Year! 

This is the first MIM check-in for a brand new year, and I'm so excited at the thought of a new year of sharing all the wonderful things we make, bake, grow and sew to benefit our families and homes each week.

Because it was the end of the old year and the start of the new, I spent a lot of time cleaning, polishing, dusting, decluttering, tidying things up, sorting things out, straightening shelves and drawers. It sounds silly but I like to start the new year with a clean and tidy home; I feel like it sets the tone of our home for the coming year.

I washed and refilled empty canisters and spice jars. 
I made a quadruple batch of taco seasoning.
I made stock with a chicken carcass from Christmas Day and froze it.
Both freezers were sorted and cleaned and the inventory updated.
The pantry was emptied, all the shelves cleaned, everything wiped over before being put back.
I did the end of year shopping. 
The kettle was cleaned with citric acid, now it is sparkling again with not a hint of scale.
The dishwasher and washing machine were cleaned for the first of the month.

​The power head on my vacuum cleaner stopped working, and of course the repair place is closed until the end of the month. And it could cost a lot to repair or replace, and in the meantime I still need a vacuum cleaner. 

Hannah saw an ad for an upright vacuum at Harris Scarfe reduced from $299 to $89.99, so we went to have a look. They only had the display model, so with another 5% off, I came home with a new vacuum cleaner and it is brilliant! The floors are clean and I am one happy homemaker.

​In the craft room, I worked on two prayer keepers and some cards for happy mail.

​Getting ready for Christmas, I started two bottles of vanilla. They will be well brewed by the end of the year.

I crocheted a dish cloth, and then adapted a dishcloth pattern to make face scrubbies.

​In the garden, we cut up the dead fruit trees and put them in the green waste bin. I turned the pots into an empty garden bed, added a layer of compost and dug it into the existing soil over a couple of days. I'll let this sit for a couple of weeks then it can be planted out.

We started picking little lettuce leaves from the seedlings we replanted. 
I picked rhubarb.
I picked raspberries every morning, just a handful, and put them in the freezer for later.

What did you make, bake, grow and sew last week?

Welcome to our last Make it Monday for 2024!

The year has flown by, and I've loved seeing everything you've all been busy creating. All the makes, bakes, grows and sews have been not only beautiful but inspiring and motivating too. 

I've looked forward to Monday morning every week, especially the weeks when I wasn't able to contribute anything. Getting old (and creaky and achy and yes, cranky) is starting to slow me down!

This last week we've had Christmas Day to celebrate, and lots of leftovers to enjoy.

I was able to pick up three leg hams for $5/kg right before Christmas, and already the troops have devoured one! They tell me it was just as good as the expensive ham taste-wise, and I'd say it must've been because it's all gone. It was carved for Christmas lunch, then again for tea. They had it sliced and fried for breakfast, then some was shaved (with the electric knife) for sandwiches, and then it was sliced to have with salad for dinner and some was diced to top pizzas. That bone was clean! 

We cooked a leg of lamb, bought from Costco a few weeks ago for $6.49/kg for our Christmas lunch, and the leftovers were sliced for sandwiches and to have with salads, and some was diced for a sweet lamb curry. The bone is in the freezer to make stock after the New Year. 

I made a huge container of potato salad and a huge container of coleslaw and boiled a dozen eggs so salad meals have been really easy. 

After the garden disaster, I've replanted. I gave in and bought some seedlings with Christmas money: lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, egg plant and 3 capsicums. I'm not sure about the capsicums, they take a long time to produce, but I'm praying they will grow, stay strong and healthy and produce lots of fruit we can use. I know everything else will be fine, just a little later than usual. It's too late to replace the three fruit trees we lost, and I know we will miss the fruit this summer.  Hopefully there will be no more weed spraying on windy days and my garden will be fine. 

I picked a big bunch of rhubarb and stewed it with a little lemon juice and sugar, and another big bunch of rosemary to dry. 

I a kilo of brown sugar to refill the canister.

I made a triple batch of washing powder for me, and a double batch for Hannah. I also made her a double batch of Miracle Spray - that should see her through the year. 

The taco seasoning jar was empty, so out came the spices and it was quickly filled. Under five minutes of my time made 30 tablespoons of taco seasoning.

Craft time has been crocheting dishcloths for the new year. It's a little habit of mine to start the new year with seven new dishcloths, and I move the old ones to the laundry. This year the dishcloths are round, and I've been practicing new patterns (thank you Annabel for the inspiration). I tend to learn one or two and stick to them because I can do them without needing a pattern, so learning new patterns is a good thing for me. 

I've done the yearly shopping. There was a dispute about the price of tomato soup at Coles, but after me showing them the photo I took as proof of the shelf price, and then waiting about 10 minutes for someone to go and check it, they finally let me have it at $1.10 a can rather than $1.30. It may not seem much but that extra 20c a can is an extra $19.20 on my grocery bill, or a 19% increase in the price. Check your prices and check the shelf price, then pay attention at the register!

And as is usual for this time of year the windows have all been washed inside and out; the curtains in the bedrooms and bathrooms have been washed; the carpet was cleaned a few weeks ago; the outside of the house has been de-cobwebbed and bug sprayed; the pantry has been emptied and cleaned and everything put back in order; kitchen drawers have been emptied and wiped out and the lower cabinets have been emptied and wiped out and everything put back in it's rightful place.  Does anyone else do a major clean and tidy to start the new year? 

What did you make, bake, grow and sew this last week of 2024?

Two Christmas cakes made, wrapped and in the cupboard, with fruit soaking to make two more.
All our meals except one were cooked from scratch, using ingredients in the pantry. The other was Saturday night, and AJ shouted us Indian takeaway and it was delicious, with leftovers for Sunday lunch.
I defrosted the outside freezer and did a stock take. Made a list of what to thaw and can, and started with the chicken.


Made breadcrumbs from the bread ends in the freezer.


Darned some of Wayne's woollen work socks. I use stranded cotton to darn, it's softer on the foot, but nice and strong so it doesn't wear out. And it's easier to find than darning wool and easier than stranding wool out for darning.


Most of last week was spent preparing for my Christmas craft workshop yesterday. Lots of cutting and die cutting, counting, making card bases and putting kits together, then packing the workshop in a box parcels, ready to post them off today. And then tidying up the craft room, it was a mess!


I picked lots of rosemary from the garden, and there's more ready to pick. I've just been hanging it to dry, although the weather has been a bit humid, so it may take a while.


I picked more rhubarb. This warm, wet weather is just what it likes and it is really taking off.


A surprise when I was turning over one of the beds, a whole lot of potatoes! Some were a good size, so they're in the pantry. The rest I'll dry off and then chit to replant.


What did you make, bake, grow and sew this week?

Good morning everyone.

Monday sure does roll around fast.

Last week was a short working week for us. We were away for four days, and it was lovely to be able to switch off and just be. 

Here are last week's attempts at making, baking, growing and sewing.

Making
I have finished the Christmas cards I send. Woo hoo! 
Five more happy mail cards were made and sent.
I'm really happy with the way the little ornaments I made for the Christmas tree turned out, so I made more, packed them in sets and sold them at a little market stall I had, just to see if they'd sell. I made five sets of six and all five sold. Another woo hoo!, I will be adding these to our shop this week.
I crocheted a market bag and three dishcloths for a gift exchange (thank you Keren for the inspiration with the market bag!).

​Baking
All our meals were cooked from scratch, using ingredients on hand. 
I finished the pantry stocktake and made a plan to restock it before the end of the year. 
ANZAC Slice, again. This was to take away with us, as it travels and stores well.
Two Christmas cakes were made, wrapped and put away for Christmas. This week I'll do some more, and maybe a pudding if time permits.
Not baking, but I made a big batch of meatball pasta bake for a pot luck dinner we attended on Saturday night. The pot was scraped clean!

Growing
More weeding. 
More renovating pots ready to replant.
I cut more rhubarb, it is growing really well at the moment.
I thinned the strawberries, and spread out the runners. 

Sewing
I mended a pair of jeans and put a new waistband on a pair of track pants for AJ. 
I darned a hole in one of my socks. I love these socks, so I'll mend them until I can't. 

What did you make, bake, grow and sew last week?

Good morning!

I had a very, very slow start to my week. It took until Wednesday afternoon before I started to feel even slightly better, but by Friday I'd improved so much I was able to sweep and mop and clean the bathrooms. I even managed to cook dinner on Friday night, with a lot of help.

Being so unwell for two weeks that I not only didn't want to do anything but just couldn't do anything, made me very grateful for the days I can do things, and for a meal plan and a freezer full of meals, and for a pantry that is stocked enough that shopping wasn't a priority. And I'm thankful for kids who didn’t mind picking up milk and bread as needed. 

So one of my goals for the coming week will be to stocktake and check the gaps, and then fill them. I'm feeling a need to get the pantry as stocked as it can be, right now!

Since Friday I've done a few things, some needed to be done, some I just wanted to do. Here's the list.

Making
Worked on Christmas cards, writing them and addressing them as they were finished. 
Worked on the kits for the Christmas Craft Bonanza.
Made some Christmas ornaments for this year's family room Christmas tree. 
All these things I could do sitting down, they didn’t require me to talk, and there was minimal moving around and those all combined to keep the coughing down.

Baking
ANZAC Slice for lunchboxes and snacks. This seems to be our current favourite morning tea snack. I've been using coconut oil instead of butter to make it (butter is so expensive) and it's working really well, still a nice moist slice that holds together, and it tastes the same to me.

Soaking fruit for the Christmas cakes and puddings. I restocked the dried fruits after last year's Christmas baking, and I've been using it all year to make fruit cakes, so this lot won't be as expensive, with mixed dried fruit going up by $1/kilo. I'll start to look for cheaper dried fruit now to restock the shelf.

Pizza bases for the freezer. If I'm going to do a batch, I may as well quadruple it and get some into the freezer. Beats making a mess four times, and only takes about 5 minutes longer. This time I weighed out the dough into 270g balls, double wrapped them in clingwrap and then into ziplock bags and into the freezer. We'll use these up over the next month so they will be fine like this. 

Growing
Picked rhubarb from the garden and pickled it. We love this with cheese and crackers. 
Picked rosemary from the garden and put it in the oven after baking the pizzas on Thursday night. I think this will become rosemary salt. 
Picked lemons from the garden, zested them then juiced them. I put the lemon shells in a bowl of water and used them to clean the microwave, then they went into the dishwasher to clean and deodorise it - waste not, want not. 
Weeded the pots and gave them all a compost tea drink.

Sewing
When I had the energy I sat at the sewing machine to get some kitchen towels and a few other things finished, some for Christmas, and some for a little market stall I have coming up. It was only a few minutes here and there before I ran out of oomph, but it all adds up to getting things done.

What did you make, bake, grow and sew last week?

Good morning!

Not a lot made by me for the last 10 days, but things were still done and everyone still ate.

The boys took over meals. Some they cooked from scratch, some they took out of the freezer. They also took over the cleaning. It was done, and I didn't have to do it so I'm one happy mum.

We had a lot of rain, good for the garden, the weeds are loving it.

There are new mandarins on the tree and little peaches on the peach tree. One pear tree has teeny tiny pears on it and the other one is coming into blossom. The apple trees looked beautiful until the wind blew and it rained. The lavender out the front is looking beautiful too.
Oh, and the rhubarb is growing well, even the one Lacey keeps digging up.

The raspberries are all full of lovely leaves, they look alive again, after looking like dead sticks all winter. I can't wait for those berries!

It's time to plant more seeds for succession planting - tomatoes, lettuce, bok choy, cabbage to keep the summer staples rolling on. 

No sewing last week, but the pile is growing!

What did you make, bake, grow and sew last week?

​Good morning!

The sun was shining, but it's clouded over in the last half hour. There's still a breeze though, so I'm praying that clothesline full of wet washing will dry before it rains. 

Last week was rather busy and looking back, lots of things were accomplished.

Making
I made nine card kits for a shoebox swap.
I put together nine little gifts for friends.
I made five happy mail cards and sent them out.
I crocheted two dishcloths for a gift. 

Baking
I volunteered to take morning and afternoon tea for the weekend. I made banana bread, date muffins, vanilla cupcakes and ANZAC slice and doubled each recipe so I could leave some for Wayne and the boys and to freeze for this week's lunchboxes. 

I made tortillas for a meal, and froze some.

Sewing
Every day something was cut out and pinned ready to sew this week. There are pot holders, jar openers, dusters, a couple of aprons and hanging tea towels. I will be doing a little market in a few weeks, so I'm building up stocks to have a nice variety of things for folk to buy.

Growing
The rhubarb that Lacey keeps digging up is growing again. This rhubarb is indestructible. I just stood and smiled when I saw it standing tall, well about 20cm high, in the pot. 

The second pear tree is full of blossom; I'm hoping for at least a couple of pears this year. 

The raspberries have woken up and are full of leaves and standing tall in the berry bed. Looking forward to lots of lovely fresh raspberries this summer.