Not much to report this week, Wayne and I have come down with head colds and we are both pretty miserable. But we have plenty of eucalyptus on hand to use in the vaporiser overnight. I also made a roller of thieves oil for him to use during the day;  I keep mine in my bag, on my desk and next to my bed. 

*Tuesday was a gorgeous day, warm and sunny with a light breeze. We spent time in the garden, getting more beds ready for winter. It's almost done!
*Turned the scrapings and scraps from soap making into liquid soap for hand wash.

​*Cut rhubarb from the garden and made rhubarb scones for afternoon tea.
*The sourdough starter has took off, then if fizzled. Right now I'm trying to rescue it as per the advice from Cheapskaters who are all expert sourdough creators. It is amazing and so exciting to watch it. Even more exciting to make pancakes with some of the discard yesterday - they were delicious.
*I made mini stuffed cob loaves for a luncheon I attended. They were a hit.

Made two potatoe bakes. One we ate during the week, the other has gone into the freezer. And yes, I used disposable foil trays, so that if the potato bake goes in a food hamper I don't need to worry about getting a casserole dish back.

​*Spent half an hour every day decluttering somewhere - linen cupboard, our wardrobe, the laundry, the kids' bathroom cupboard, the kitchen dresser, the bookshelves (that one is hard, I don't like parting with books). And dropped the donations off every day too, so there was no temptation to put things back "in case".
*We had rain so no need to water the garden.
*The raspberry canes that were cut back and transplanted last week have new shoots already.

Hello!

Last week was rather busy, with plenty to do all day every day.

*I re-scented the air fresheners, ready for winter when I can't have all the windows wide open all day, every day.

​*I made a double batch of Iced Coffee Syrup

​*I made soap for the bathroom (scented green apple so I coloured it a light green - it smells so nice)

​*Wayne and I worked outside every time we had a few minutes to prepare the garden, yard and verandah for winter.
*Moved the raspberry canes to a bigger garden bed. Not the right time, but they seem to have taken the move well so far. Cut them down, it is the right time to be doing this.
*Moved the strawberries to a bigger bed; again, not the right time but they have settled in well in their new home.
*Made some bookmarks for a friend (she uses them as rewards for her students).
*Cooked all our meals from scratch, including three family sized pasta bakes from 2 cups TVP and 1 jar of mince and 2 jars of my homemade tomato sauce.

​*Made a sympathy card.
*Crocheted a daisy dishcloth for the present box.
*Started sour dough

Oh boy! Who doesn't like something for free! 

Tomorrow, 19th April 2023 Stampin' Up! are offering free shipping on all orders over $65AUD.

If you have been checking the Last Chance products (up to a whopping 60% off!) you'll save even more with the free shipping offer.

Or if you have some basics you need to restock, you'll save on postage and beat the price rise if you order before 2nd May 2023.

BUT it's only for 24 hours so........

If you don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I'd love to help you and I'm happy to tell you about my favourite products and how I use them, just ask!

Visit my Stampin Among the Gum Trees shop to see the Last Chance products and while you're there have a look at the online exclusives - they are divine (and I have a workshop coming up using the stunning Irresistible Blooms) 

https://stampinamongthegumtrees.stampinup.net/​

Good morning!

Make it Monday rolls around fast!

Last week was busy in the kitchen, garden and craft room.

I cooked tomatoes down to a nice, thick, yummy consistency to make tomato sauce. I'll use this during the year to make pasta sauce or tomato soup or cacciatore or anything else that required tomatoes.

I finished work on the Irresistible Blooms workshop, can't wait to get that started.

I planted parsnips and turnips. Before planting I soaked the seeds overnight, then sowed them straight into the garden. Root veggies do not like to be transplanted, and I have much better success when I direct sow these veggies. I made sure the soil was well turned over and nice and loose, and gave them a good drink of compost tea. Then I covered them with the hoops and I'm glad I did, the rain has been constant since they went in the ground and those tiny seeds would most definitely have washed away. 

I crocheted a set of make-up scrubbies for the present box.

I crocheted a daisy dishcloth to replace one that was sold in our store.

I crocheted a pot holder for the present box. 

I finished a dishcloth for the present box.

I crocheted a daisy dishcloth and matching pot holder for the present box.

I crocheted another set of scrunchies for the present box.

I went to card group and made cards using scraps. These have already been bagged up to send to the retirement village. 

I harvested volunteered potatoes from the garden. Potatoes were $3.50/kg last week so this is a big saving.

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

Good morning!

Another slow week, but I am slowly getting my energy back thank goodness. This being a slug is so annoying when I see things I want to get done and just don't have the energy. 

A friend blessed me with two overflowing supermarket bags of beautiful Danish cotton yarn and some other yarns. I was so excited, as soon as she opened the first bag my mind was going 100 miles an hour thinking of ways to use it up. It is so soft, and straight away I thought of face wipes and out came the crochet hooks and I started working on a pattern. It crochets up so nicely. It will make beautiful trim for face washers, towels and kitchen towels too.

And then the wool is so soft, that it is perfect for fingerless gloves. I have a project I'm working on to knit up pairs of finglerless gloves for charity. They're quick and easy to knit up and I know from experience warm fingers work better, and just make you feel better. 

This will be my Easter weekend project, I'm hoping to get a few pairs knitted up.

Bought baked beans to restock the pantry.

Bought mince from Costco for $9.99/kg and canned it for the pantry. There are now another 15 pints waiting to be washed and dated before adding to the shelf.

Processed a whole pumpkin into pumpkin soup and canned it for shelf stable winter soup. Hannah brought me a HUGE pumpkin! It was enormous!

Wayne cut it up for me, and I peeled it ready to can for pumpkin soup. It made 16 pints and three quarts! I'm set for pumpkin soup for the winter. Total cost $3 for the pumpkin, the potatoes and onions were from the garden, and the stock was from the freezer.

This list is two weeks worth of making, baking and growing. I didn't get to the sewing, it's still waiting patiently for me, and I've kept it on my to-do list for this week.

I finished two dishcloths for the present box.

​I worked on cards for my stash and for upcoming workshops.

​I bundled up another box of cards for the nursing home and gave them to a friend to deliver.

I worked on some presentation boxes to add to the present box for Easter and a friend's birthday.

​I made a batch of blueberry jam.

​I made breadcrumbs while the dehydrator was running, to fill it up. No point running it with empty shelves.

I've been picking tomatoes and freezing them. When there is enough I'll make sauce and relish.

I made a boiled fruit cake.

I've been practicing making puff pastry.

I've been dehydrating zucchini almost every day.

I started seeds for the winter garden. 

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

Last week I concentrated on knitting and crochet, making dishcloths with matching scrubbies. I love to give them as sets, tied together with a ribbon that I try to make a useful length. I like every part of my gift to be useful, including the wrapping, so I try to make it either a gift bag or paper that can be reused in some way, or a tea towel or a length of fabric, I've even used silk scarves I picked up at the op shop and lengths of lace.

​On Sunday we pulled out the cucumbers and zucchini. The cukes were almost finished, but I was sad to pull out the zucchini, they just keep producing. There is enough on the shelf and in the freezer for two years - I reached my goal - so pulling them out to replant winter veg doesn't make me feel so guilty.

I made some cards for the nursing home and to add to my stash.

​I did a bulk cooking day and cooked two briskets in the slow cooker, and two legs of lamb. They were then all sliced and put in gravy and frozen. Next job is to take them out of the freezer containers and vac seal them for easy roast dinners and beef and gravy rolls. 

I'm still organising the craft room. Every time I think it's finished, I find something else that can be organised. It's getting there though. 

​I have a stash of bookmarks started, some for Joy's school, and some for the present box. 

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

I'm in the middle of a major craft room shift, so there are things everywhere while we get power sorted and move furniture. I've also been decluttering, again. 

Here's the during pics (the after pics will be next week).

​I etched some glasses and embellished some can holders for an engagement gift.

​The garden is still producing tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, strawberries, raspberries, lemons, rosemary and mint so we had lots of cucumber salad, and tzatziki.

I grated zucchini and made zucchini fritters.

I hung more mint and rosemary to dry.

I made breadcrumbs from crusts saved in the freezer.

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

This past week was a bit slow on the creative front.

The tomatoes were starting to ripen, so I picked them as they just started to turn red and brought them inside to finish off. It was a race between me and the birds, and we need those tomatoes.
​
I separated the rhubarb crowns and repotted them to grow more rhubarb plants. This is the first time I've done this, my mother used to always do this for me. I was praying the whole time that the crowns will grow and become new plants for our garden.
​
We brought in the last of the over-wintered pumpkins, it is the biggest of them, ready to process. This will become soup, puree for baking, some pieces for roasting and if there's any left it will be dehydrated and powdered. The seeds will be saved to hopefully become more pumpkins next year. 

​The weather was mild early in the week, so it was nice to work outside. I started to get the yard and verandah ready for winter. I know it's not even autumn yet, but there are a few chores on the list to get done before the weather turns. Better to start early and get them done easily than wait and have to rush them. 

I let two more zucchini get big, and found one I missed amongst all the leaves and it was huge, so they were grated and dehydrated. My goal of enough for two years on the shelf is about halfway. 

Most of the "makes" this week were cards. It was my turn to demonstrate a new card at our monthly card making group, so I played with my idea and created a few different versions of the card for the ladies to make.

And I started working on the samples for the card class in March.

And because I will be doing card classes here, we are rearranging and moving the craft room!

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

Looking back, last week was busy, but it didn't seem to be. Perhaps loving what you're doing makes chores seem like fun and you don't think of it as work, I know I don't. 

The really hot summer weather finally arrived, so I doubled the salads and we ate potato salad, coleslaw and pasta salad for four days. I also made a double batch of fish cakes, cream cheese patties and quick rice patties; half went into the freezer and we had the rest with the salad and in wraps for lunch.

I picked rhubarb from the garden and made rhubarb and apple crumble and an apple crumble using apples from last season that were in the freezer. 

​Brisket was on sale for $13.99/kg so I bought two big pieces. One went straight into the freezer and one went into the slow cooker. I used this to make Mexican style pulled beef and a roast beef and gravy dinner, and pulled beef in gravy for subs for quick dinners. 

I had one red tomato, finally, I was so excited I called out for Hannah to come see, it looked perfect. Then when I went to pick it, the back half was eaten by a bug! But I have been picking cucumbers and zucchini. 

I let some zucchini stay in the garden to get big, then grated them, drained them and put them into the dehydrator, and made zucchini pickle. I'm hoping to get enough for two years, to have some as a back-up on the shelf, just in case next year isn't a good year for zucchini.

​We have been eating the cucumbers as tzatziki, and cucumber salad, and just to munch on, with the hot weather finally they are so cool as a snack. 

I picked lots of mint and dehydrated it. 

I picked lots of rosemary and have it hanging to dry - the kitchen smells wonderful. 

The second flush of raspberries are starting, and the strawberries are just beautiful. I've picked a bowlful most days, and what we're not eating I'm freezing to make jam. 

I had more oranges, so I made whole orange cake and more marmalade. 

The greengrocer had potatoes on sale for $1/kg, a bargain price, so 20kg came home and I am working on them, getting them canned for winter. 

I've been working on Bonnie's Make Do and Mend challenge and the mending pile is down to one shirt that needs buttons, but my button jar doesn't have the same or enough of any others the same so I'll keep looking. It's so nice to not have a pile of mending taunting me.   

I packed up three big parcels of cards to send to the nursing homes and CWA.

I took the plunge and joined Stampin' Up as a demonstrator a few weeks ago. Why? Well because the deal is too good to pass up - pay $169 for $315 worth of product that I chose, with free delivery. I use so much cardstock that buying it for almost half price was too good to pass up. Then talking about it with Wayne, we decided that I'll start doing some cardmaking workshops - a new "career path" for me - or really a way to pay for the products I use to make the cards I donate. So if you are in Melbourne, and would be interested in attending a card making workshop, let me know. I'm in the planning stage to get started in March right now. And if you love cardmaking and quality supplies, this offer to join Stampin' Up and pay $169 for $315 worth of product is available until 28th February, and there is no ongoing commitment or requirement to buy more (unless you want to of course) - if you want to know more, let me know and I'll do my best to help you. 

And finally, this isn't a make, bake, sew or grow, but something that's been hanging over our heads for a few months - AMRA Vic has finally found a venue for their annual exhibition, seeing as Caulfield Racecourse cancelled their booking for this year due to renovations. Poor Wayne has been going spare, along with everyone else on the committee, trying to find somewhere big enough, with the right facilities for unloading/loading, and catering, and parking and public transport for visitors, that they could afford. Some of them were just stupidly ridiculous prices - $60,000 a day for what is just a big empty hall was the worst. Anyway now they have a venue they can go ahead and plan the exhibition. How does this affect me? Well that weekend I'll be working in the exhibitor's coffee lounge, and we'll have houseguests staying with us for the week of the exhibition, and now I can plan because August will be here before I know it!

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