Eco Cleaning My Bathroom

There is nothing I dislike more then cleaning as I feel it eats up my precious time where I could be having FUN. But tonight I read a few pages on cleaning with Bicarb, Vinegar, Salt and Eucalyptus oil from one of my Library books. After which The Rambling Expat and I emptied the bathroom and spent one and a half hours scrubbing and wiping over every tile and surface because my lovely but Fussy cousin is arriving from Paris in a few days.

Clean walls and surfaces.

We then replaced all our bathroom stuff. When doing so I realised I have an excess of personal care and beauty products that Couchsurfers and Helpx travellers leave behind as they head towards Asia. I just don't use them up fast enough even though I have stopped purchasing any more personal care and beauty products until I fully run out of an item.

Clutter in Place

After we cleaned, I noticed that The Rambling Expat didn't have the usual asthma attack whilst we cleaned. So Eco Cleaning is good for the environment, pocket and our health too. Yay!

I purchased the green kitchen bowls yesterday from an op shop for $3. They are vintage retro Bessemer made in Australia from 60's/70's and in fantastic condition. I was going to sell them on, but I love them so much I decided to keep them for now. I transferred all of Dolly's hair ties from a small cane basket to the funky containers which will be easier to deal with, in the morning rush of hair styling.

Retro Bessemer

I Love Them.

How do you clean? Do you think it's harder to clean with vinegar and bicarb compared to bleach and spray and wipe?

Sad Fruit & Veg Not Wasted

On the weekend I've been getting into a new habit of checking all my fruit, vegetables, salads and herbs left over from previous week, before I do my weekly shop. Anything looking sad, wilted, soft or browning goes into my blender and becomes a super healthy drink to kick start the day. It's a great habit, it's healthy for me and my family and has been preventing the high volume of waste I used to once have.

This morning I found a few items that needed to be used up, pronto.

• 1 soft pear.
• 1 browning banana my mum had given us.
• 1 small piece of cucumber from our garden.
• 3 wilting snake beans.
• 1 tangelo.

Soft and wilted fruit and veg.

I added a kiwi fruit and ginger that were still fine but add extra flavour, zing and vitamins.

Use it up before it goes to waste.

I blended it all up with half a cup of cold water, poured it in glasses and drank straight away. I like using a blender more then a juicer, as the fibbers are also blended leaving minimal waste. Washing the blender is also simple, just a quick rinse under the tap and I'm done. I'm enjoying my new habit and think it may stay with me for the rest of my life.

Healthy and Delicious.

Chin Chin :-)

Any new good habits in your life?

What About Me!

I have been feeling really quite shitty lately. Grumpy, anxious, tired, sensitive to cluttering noise and in need of time out. Not just for a few minutes but for weeks worth of time out. Not time out from Dolly, but time out from everything else in my life. I wish I had the luxury of working only when I want to, go where I want to and do what I want to, when I want to. I also wish I could click my fingers and my home would be gloriously tidy, clean, harmonious and clutter free. A haven of bliss. I guess it all comes to the life choices I've made and continue making. I could make changes but I'm too tired to think most days. I'm also an amazingly fantastic procrastinator. Jealous?

Everyday feels like I'm part of the rat race at the moment. Day in day out of the sameness. Up, work, cook, eat, bed. Up, work, cook, eat, bed. Up, work, cook, eat, bed. When Fridays come around I get excited that I can live more freely over the weekend and daydream.

Nice pick me ups such as the environmental movies I have been attending Thursday nights this month have been a breath of fresh air for me. Mixing in a social environment of like minded people. Not spending many dollars. Giving a donation to the organisation fundraising on the night. Learning about the ecology of our planet and what to do to protect it has all been a very very nice distraction from bits of my life I don't like. Did any of you end up watching the movie HOME I posted a couple of weeks ago? I thought it was an amazingly beautiful movie. Upsetting yes, but well worth the watch.

Anyway tonight I forced myself to attend alone with my bad feelings and I was surprised that there wasn't an ecological movie. But instead The Movie "1 Giant Leap - What About Me" All about people and the malaise that we feel. It was pumping with great speakers, wonderful visuals and exquisite music from a variety of countries and singers. Absolutely what I needed to try and change my self talk to positive feel good stuff :-) How lucky was I.

Here's a snippet of the doco. There are a few trailers and parts on You Tube and some more on their website. Let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading my posts, giving me company on my journey of change, self discovery and keeping me on track.

When I'm Tired

Yesterday I felt deflated, tired and run down. No everyday is a rosy day and sometimes it all seems hard. And it is hard... to be a grown up, managing a home, organising a child and going to work everyday. Especially when you want to lead a life with minimal take out meals and a reduced ecological footprint - it takes a little bit more of an effort to not be wasteful.

Due to feeling blah and overwhelmed I decided to make a healthy dinner of salad only, instead of following my menu plan. So with a Lebanese cucumber from my garden and a green cucumber from Lesley's garden plot as a salad base, I chopped away and made a scrummy super healthy mood enhancing salad. I included with the 2 cucumbers:

• half an apple, 
• 1 large tomato, 
• 1 carrot, 
• 2 snake beans and
• a tiny bit of grated cheddar heese. 

From my fridge I used some tasty left over olive oil from a jar of feta cheese and a little left over vinegar from a jar of pickled onions. (Don't throw these out when the contents are finished - the oils and vinegars can be tasty and handy to use). The 3 of us really enjoyed the refreshing scrunchy salad and it's a great way to get raw veggies into my family.

Fresh, Quick and Healthy.

Lesley had kindly given me one of her green cucumbers because someone had taken one from my garden plot. It's frustrating and disappointing to have my limited produced taken by botanical garden visitors but that's what happens with gardens in public areas and I knew this would happen so will just need to try and grow more. And hopefully people who visit the gardens will be inspired to grow their own too just as I was.

My Lebanese Cucumber

Here's Dolly's lunch box number 2 for preschools morning tea. Butterfly sandwich with cheddar cheese and vegemite, a snake bean, a bit of chopped up carrot and 2 strawberries gifted from our neighbour Mr T. This term her class will be joining the main school for assemblies to get them into the habit of sitting and listening and integrating. My girl is growing so so so fast. I can't wait for next year where I will cut back my work hours by 2 hours per day so I can spend more time with her. At present she has been fighting me on nearly everything. It's exhausting and makes me feel sad. I never had any trouble or terrible 2's with her but boy-oh-boy is 4 turning her into a rebel (just with me)! I need to see it as her testing her own voice and hopefully she will turn into a leader and not a push over with others.

Morning Tea.

Oh and by the way, the snake was back on my eggplant again!!! He likes me and seems to want to stay living at my plot. I have found out from The Rambling Expats Snake Expert friend that he is definitely a tree snake and non venomous.

Snake in my eggplant. Here to stay?

Are some days hard for you too? What do you do if it's all just too hard?

Dolly's First Lunch Box

My 4 year old Dolly went back to preschool yesterday after a 4 week holiday. She now has to take a lunch box to school each day with a few items to snack on for morning tea. She was sooooooo excited to take a lunch box with her.

Here is what I packed:

• A vegemite and cheese sandwich cut into a mickey mouse shape.
• Half an apple sliced.
• 3 small pieces of blue cheese.
• 1 snake bean.

She ate the sandwich and snake bean. The other items she left untouched. I am determined to not fall prey to all those glossy overpacked kids lunchbox treats. However I have been trying to purchase a bento egg/rice mould. I have been unsuccessful here in my town and have decided to buy a few items from Ebay to use during Dolly's primary school years. The choice is overwhelming and it may take me time to decide what to purchase. I hope to graduate to cute but healthy Bento lunch boxes.

Morning Tea filled Lunchbox.

For myself I took some spag bol to the office for lunch. I included Dolly's sandwich leftover cutouts from her shaped sandwich. Minimal waste, as I challenge myself each day to be resourceful.

Do you pack someone else's lunch or just your own? What do you include?

Snakes, snakes and more snakes.

While I was watering my garden plot yesterday I took hold of some of my eggplant branches to inspect a branch that is dying. As I went to grab another branch I noticed a small branch that looked slightly different and pulled my hand away... just in case. I peered closer and yes just there, where I was about to grab was a tiny snake.

The snake was tiny and sweet looking. He was only about 40cm long. But I'm sure if I'd wrapped my hand around him he would not have been pleased with me at all.

3 different snakes in 2 weeks around my garden plot has turned me into slightly over paranoid. I am dreaming and seeing snakes everywhere, as is Dolly who thinks every watering hose looks like a snake.

There's a snake in my eggplants.

Looking straight at me.

The beauty of having seen 3 snakes in 2 weeks is that many are disappearing due to eating the introduced to Australia cane toads. So these are lucky sightings which one day may be not be possible anymore. Cane toads have been increasing in numbers in the Darwin region in the past 4 years, I no longer see goannas and blue tongue lizards in my neighbourhood. This is a terrible thing as the balance of food chain for the local wildlife has changed. We used to have a visiting blue tongue at our front door that we used to hand feed small pieces of meat and fruit, hoping to prevent him from eating a cane toad. He is now gone.

Any snakes in your favourite tramping ground? Are animals disappearing due to ecological disasters in your area?

My shopping for the Week

I've been very careful with not wasting food, menu planning and shopping sensibly. (I threw out half a bowl of cooked white rice). However the prices seem to have increased as I struggle to keep at the $100 mark, and yet my food purchases have decreased in that I don't purchase as much produce anymore. I use my lovely grown produce as much as possible.

Yesterday I picked 4 eggplants, 3 types of spinach, one lebanese cucumber, some lemon balm, chocolate mint, coriander, ginger, 1 chilli and basil. All of these items are incorporated in my meals. I also saw a gorgeous tree snake.

Looking at You.

My grocery shopping for the week was $96.57. 

Here is what I got...

The cereal was on a special of $2 less then usual. The mince on special and then also marked down. The vinegar and bicarb for cleaning of course. I only wanted 2 packets of pasta but it on super special at only $1 so I grabbed 4 instead.

Weeks shopping

This week our planned meals are:

Sunday: French omelet mixed with potato, spinach and fresh herbs. Cucumber, spinach and fresh herb salad.

Monday: Spag bol with eggplant, spinach and fresh herbs.

Tuesday: left over spag bol with spinach salad.

Wednesday: Italian sausage stew cooked with lentils, carrots, broccoli, spinach and herbs.

Thursday: Pasta with fresh herb and nut pesto.

Friday: Left overs from previous 2 nights.

Saturday: Veggie stir fry with rice.

Sunday: Fish cooked with ginger and herbs with side salad.

My neighbour also gave me a bunch of snake beans from the markets he purchased for $1.

As I haven't purchased my office lunch ingredients yet - I will try to do with what I have at home to keep my costs down. Egg and cheese sandwiches maybe :-)

Do You Use Your Library To Save & Learn

As a family we went to the library last weekend and will head there again today. When I get so caught up in life and become over busy I forget how great the public library is.

Libraries save money and prevent cluttering of more purchased books when you're a book lover like me. They are also ecological as the books purchased by the library are for many people to read instead of just one. Now that must be saving millions of trees worldwide!

Because I have a book addiction and hoard them, I would like to stop buying them on a regular basis. Even though they are inexpensive quality second hand books which cost between 50 cents to $3, they clutter up my home and are unnecessary purchases. Therefor to cut back on the book buying means getting my family to the library on a regular basis, and that makes me very happy indeed.

Our libraries also have games, puzzles and a few toys to play onsite. Dolly loves all of these and thrives on the interaction with other children. It's a nice calming place for her to play in and relaxing for us.

These are the great books I got out last weekend: (A lot I know... but I couldn't resist). The ones in Purple are being returned today as they are finished.

Me:

My Books - Dolly crafting on the side.

1. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.
2. Green is Good, Smart Ways to Live Well and Help the Planet by Rebecca Blackburn.
3. The Idiots Guide to Making Natural Soaps by Sally Trew and Zonella Gould (too hard at this stage of my life).
4. The $21 challenge by Fiona Lippey and Jackie Gower from Simply Savings.
5. Pumped 101 Ways to Beat Petrol Prices by Roz Hopkins.
6. 1001 Easy Ways for Earth-Wise Living by Readers Digest.
7. DVD - Hidden (French film)
8. DVD - Come in Spinner (Australian series)

Dolly:

Dolly's lot - including the book she wrote last year.

1. Sophies Misfortunes by Countess de Segur (A French classic translated into English)
2. Living Sustainably - Smart Shopping by Andrew Einspruch.
3. There Once Was a Puffin by Florence Page Jaques and Shari Halpern.
4. The Sea Princess by Katie Chase.
5. Numbers, written by my own Dolly in 2010 when she was 3 and in the library for all to borrow :-)
6. DVD: Rupert and the mystery Isle.

The Rambling Expat:
Didn't borrow anything but he read magazines and newspapers whilst there.

Not all countries are fortunate to have public libraries for all to use. I realise I am fortunate to live in an area that offers such a service. Do you have access and use library services?

Spending Less to Pay for Treats.

I did not spend on groceries in the past week as I had lots of treats planned. I used everything I could from fridge, cupboard and garden in the aim to spend $$$ on Bastille Day and also a day off to be with my daughter.

Here was our meals:

Monday - Garden: Green pawpaw salad with a dressing of garden herbs and spices.
Tuesday - Fridge: Vegetable soup cooked in slow cooker.
Wednesday - Neighbour: Dinner at my neighbours. I took entree of left over vegetable soup.
Thursday - Garden: Bastille Day BBQ. I took a very large bowl of sliced/marinated egg plant to BBQ and share. Yum!
Friday - Spent: 3 take away pizzas with vouchers.
Saturday - Cupboard and Garden: Pasta with a pesto made of many different herbs, egg plants and steamed greens.

Basket was B-Day gift from my partner The Rambling Expat.  

Pesto - Lemon balm, basil, chocolate mint, parsly, Thai coriander, ginger, lemon grass chilli. Parmesan and nuts.

Egg plant, 3 spinaches, asian greens.

My Dolly LOVES Caviar. 5 Star Taste On Shoe String Budget.

I spent roughly, $84:

• $18 for my office lunches, 
• $45 for a special morning tea at work (Bastille Day) of croissants, pain au chocolate French cheese and bread. 
• And the $21 for pizza take away.

I shouted my work colleagues a yummy morning tea and treated Dolly to a super special day of Sushi at one of her favourite restaurants and The Circus. This is one of the happy reasons I am frugal.

I am frugal because I am saving for retirement, cutting back my work hours in 2012, want to purchase a house but also save for those special things in our lives such as the Circus. Saving gets easier day by day as less things tempt me. But I did buy something... Hangs head in shame..... a $39 dual rubbish bin for my kitchen. Was it needed? NO. Was it wanted? YES, YES, YES. YES, YES.

How's your spending getting along? Feel comfortable spending on special outings and treats when you've saved your $$$. Or are you always feeling guilty?

Poo Poo

Some of my plants have been really struggling and I see other people's plots around me prospering. I try and not criticise myself and instead read books and tell myself it's a learning process and this gardening hobby is a hobby for life, I can skill up and grow as I learn bit by bit. I also don't want to blow huge amounts of my pay packet into the garden and I have done well so far restraining myself from buying all the pretty plants.

Being the eco-frugalista that I am, I refuse to fork out big bucks for sh*t from a company hundreds of kilometers away. I was thinking of heading out to the race tracks as I heard they have a manure bin where people can load up their buckets for free. But another gardener told me race horses are usually pumped up with "stuff" to make them excel at their job. So I decided to not go that way as I am not aiming for giant sized vegetables that will give me muscles in very strange places.

Another solution was to head to a property where city folks keep their horse. These are just regular horses owned and loved by individuals. Outside the property gates are bags of manure for only $2 that you just pop into an honesty box. And apparently if there are no bags of manure you can go in and ask if the Poo Fairy will fill a bag for you. Now that is my kind of Fairy. A win win all round. I get cheap sh*t and the horse owners get a few bucks to put towards their horses, it's local and the plants love it.

My Little Fairy was hoping to meet the Poo Fairy.

Another eco-frugal thing I did for my garden was head out to a work colleague's home out bush as she had old chicken wire and metal stakes she no longer needed and were gathering dust and rust. I was very thrilled to get my hands on it and can't wait to set some of it up this weekend as I prepare my garden to the wet season. As a bonus Dolly loved her visit out bush and got to ride a mower.

Dolly Driving a Lawn Mower.

How do you enrichen your garden soil?
Do you splurge or keep it cheap?

Funky Smelling Fruit in My Groceries

After the last grocery shopping over spend, I tried very hard to keep the costs down this week but still made some splurges. With dinner out Monday, using up food items in the fridge and freezer and using produce from the garden I was able to get my shopping done on $86.66.

My shopping included some nice deli cheese and salami for a picnic and also junky snacks to avoid those takeaway temptations as we had a week full of activities. It also included all my office lunch ingredients, fruit, snacks and juice.

And.... included was my biggest indulgence. My Special Birthday Treat for myself. The King of Fruits a Durian 2.5 kilos = $16.34 just for me... The Rambling Expat and Dolly dislike Durians, so all the more for me. Total Delicious Bliss.

Do you have Durian in your country, if you do, where are you from?

Have you ever eaten it? Love it? Hate it?

Do you think it smells funky?

Any other favourite fruit which costs the earth in your home town?
Please comment and feel free to ask me questions.

HOME - Time for the Green Revolution.

Last night I went to a fundraising movie for Environmental organisations. It was gold coin donation which means $1 to $2. I happily paid $10 for the 3 of us and was able to watch this devastatingly beautiful movie with a room full of people who care about our earth.

People left content to be part of a group that care, however I will tell you, I left with tears running down my face and my tears have spilled over many times today while I was busy in my office job. I feel helpless and hopeless. And I feel deep sadness for my daughter and her future. But maybe... if we all make steps, then maybe.... there is hope.

I desperately wanted to share this movie with you and am so happy to have found the full movie is on You Tube for FREE viewing. Please, please, please take a couple of hours out of your busy lives to watch this educational movie on our beautiful Earth and pass it on to your email contacts and via your blogs.

This movie has really pulled on my heart. I hope it pulls on you emotions too. Click HERE if you can not view it below.



It's time for us to link arms and fight for our Earth.

Giveaway Winner is "Waiting"

The Winner of My Book Giveaway is Blogger "Waiting". She is a single mum on a man diet, while picking up the pieces and rebuilding on her own with her children.

Thank you for all entering - I wish I could send you all a copy as I found the book to be a useful tool for saving for my home to get out of debt faster.

Thank you to you all for reading, following, entering and commenting. You are all part of my life and I am grateful :-)

Dolly pulling out a winner from the 5 entries.

Don't forget my Giveaway which Ends Soon.

Click Here: HERE :-)

Saving Money By Growing Some of My Own Food

Hello and thanks for visiting my blog. It's wonderful to have readers dropping by. I really appreciate your visit and would love you to feel free to comment in English, French or any other language you feel comfortable to write in.

Gardening is new to me. So it's a learning process as I stumble along and learn by reading, watching, trial and error. I go to my garden plot once a day for 30 to 60 minutes after work and a bit longer over the weekend. I spend time watering the garden and chatting to others, which gives me a healthy active outdoor activity, educational entertainment and social interaction. I will also add I have found it to be meditative in that I am relaxing more and enjoying the sounds of nature around me.

The initial outlay of getting my plot ready is costing me money but those costs will balance out and reduce when I harvest my goodies in the near future and following years. I have purchased a few stakes, irrigation equipment, tressel for my plants to climb, plants and seeds. I still need to purchase a timer and a couple of eggplant plants for my bottom plot. I try to purchase wisely and use recycled where I can.

I estimate I am already saving $5 to $10 a week in grocery shopping by using my very limited bounty. I am no longer buying weekly bags of spinach for a start and I menu plan with my produce in mind. In the past 2 weeks I have harvested eggplants, herbs, spinach and my first 2 Lebanese cucumbers. All has been integrated into my meals.

Eggplants.

I use the eggplants in lasagna, ratatouille, stir fry, pasta sauce.

Have you tried your hand at growing anything to reduce your bills, reduce your carbon footprint and leading a healthier life?

Eating Out.

Roughly 3 years ago we cut back our restaurant eating to about once a week, then once a month. In the past year we've brought that down to about once every 4 months with a small takeaway to share every once in a while. Tonight we ate at the Casino buffet restaurant with my mum because it's my birthday. And I had no problems eating like the glutton I am.

Costs for the 4 or us:

• The Rambling Expat & I = $34.95 - 20% ($27.85 each) Monday nights = $55.70
• My mum with a senior citizen card = $26.85
• Dolly = free.

Total = $82.55


After we paid I realised we had free loyalty cards that would have given us a further $5 discount each if swiped. Kicking myself for not thinking beforehand.

This is what I ate from the - all you can eat buffet:
(Poor photos, as I was embarrassed taking photos of my plates)

Mussles, prawns, yabbies, blue nipper crab and baby octopus.

Mash potato, beef strogonoff, pumpkin, pork & pepperoni, steamed green beans, ousso bucco and potato gratin.

Green Asian vegetables & green beans, baramundi, nile perch wrapped in banana leaf,  roast beef, roast pork.

I shared a slice of cake with Dolly. (She ate seafood and 2 bowls of ice cream with sprinkles!)

It was a good evening and I ate well, but after this I went and wasted my hard earned money. And I mean BIG TIME!!!!! I hit the Casino games with a gifted card they gave me with $20 for the pokies. Well the $20 went very quickly and so I played just a lone $5 note...  and then another lone $5 and then I pulled out a $20 note!!!!! And that was wasted too... in the hope tonight would be my lucky night. After that I bolted out of there before I wasted another cent on a dream..

Have you ever gotten carried away by the dream, colours, sounds and glimmer of hope, only to waste your hard to come by cash?

Giveaway not Eco but it's Frugal

As most of you know I am a messy and chaotic person. And somewhat disorganised. Anyway I really wanted to do a Eco Magazine giveaway, however it seems they are sitting in the car that is parked in the street. And since it's a few minutes after midnight and I'm in my nightie I really don't feel like walking out there and search the car. I'll do the Eco Mags next weekend.

So instead I will giveaway One copy of my favourite paperback books on paying off your mortgage faster using frugal ways. Your Mortgage And How To Pay It Off in Five Years was one of the 1st books I began reading when I started on my frugal journey. The pages are starting to yellow (I live in the tropics) but they are all firmly intact. I learnt so much from this little gem and think you will too.

I think this book is useful for home owners paying off the mortgage but also renters who could learn some tips on how to make your money work harder by the way you spend it and use it. It's an easy book to read and Anita reads like a true friend.

All you have to do is write a tip or story on how you save/d money to pay/paid off your mortgage or rent. Dolly will pick out one random number out of a bowl and that will be the winner. I'm not techie enough yet for one of those random generators yet. So get your tips and stories in and lets share the savings. You have until the end of Wednesday 06 July 2011 and it's open to everyone in every country.

This is in celebration of hitting over 60 followers, also having a readership from non blogspot folks and because I just turned 41, 29 minutes ago...

Thank you to all of you for keeping me on track, giving great advice and support and allowing me to view a piece of your life. I really look forward to all your great tips and stories.

A Happy Yess $50

I completed my laundry, watered my 2 plots, had my market stall and menu planned. But I'm too knackered to do my food shopping, that will have to wait until Monday or Tuesday night.

So.. at The Happy Yess market I made $50 after taking out;

• $150 float, 
• $12 stall fee, 
• $25 stock costs 
• $7 for 24 coat hangers and 
• $8 lebanese food from a fellow stall holder for The Rambling Expat, Dolly and myself. 

This is less then last time, however I set up too late, missing the 1st influx of willing customers who found nothing at my stall to tempt them. And this is still a hobby. Me playing around, dreaming of the "what if's..."

Clothes Rack, Bookshelf and Card Table.

Dolly made $7 on a soft toy and a pair of outgrown shoes. She spent $2 on gingerbread men another stall holder was selling. Leaving her $5 to divide into 3 equal parts. As this would prove difficult I slipped an extra 10 cents into her pile of coins. And this is what my 4 year old did on her own with a brain foggy with exhaustion. (Proud Mama here.)

Dolly Positioning her Money.

$1.70 placed into each container;

• short term (spending, lollies, toys), 
• medium short term (horse?), 
• long term (home?).

And this is my $50 :-)

Let the Good Times Roll

• $25 will go into our travel fund (Borneo?)
• $25 into my garden plot jar as I need to purchase a timer for water irrigation.

I really wanted to try and squeeze another market in somewhere else last month but felt too shy. However another stall holder has given me her number and we may go together and cheer each other on. I just have to go and spend my $25 "stock money" on another op shopping spree to prepare my next stall.

Did you sell or swap anything this month?
What do you get your kids to do with their money?

"Animal, Vegetable, Miracle"

Can't wait to read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Going to get my hands on it next weekend.

Already have a few books to read from the library and my own from op shops. Plus all the loveley blogs to read too.

I have my Happy Yess Market stall today... So lots to do. I will blog my Giveaway when I have:

• Completed my laundry.
• Charged my camera.
• watered my 2 plots.
• Had my stall (2pm to 6pm).
• Finished my menu planning.
• Completed my weekly shop. 

Sundays can get so crazy busy. I live a Hurried Life. Mondays is always back to work. However I'm eating out tomorrow night because I will turn 41!  How did that happen? This year has zoomed... And I still feel 16 most of the time. And, I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.



Are you leading a Hurried Life to?

We Got Down & Dirty and Sowed Some Seeds

Gardening has been my project this year to get my shopping costs down, be more sustainable and have local organic produce.

While I garden The Rambling Expat usually tinkers at home or goes fishing for pleasure and food. However on this day he donned his fishing clothes and joined me to get my bottom plot more fertile for planting while Dolly played in the gardens around us.

The Rambling Expat Serious as Always.

We started off with an extremely thick layer of wood chip which I had been watering everyday for 2 months to aid the breakdown. We covered this with a 5cm compost soil.

Original Wood Chip

Raking with Style

We watered the soil and added a thick layer of mulch and we watered some more.

Mulched

We set up 2 tressels on each side of the plot. We planted a passionfruit plant at one side and 3 cucumber seedlings on the other. We also planted 3 capsicum seedlings, 1 chilli seedling and a lone pumpkin seed. Now I water and wait with impatience for the millimeter by millimeter growth.

A few days latter I went shopping at the dump shop... twice. The girl likes the shop if the product is good and the price is right :-)

Home Made Bike at the Dump Shop

Human Power Mowers at the Dump Shop.

I purchased a cage without a base ($2.50) to protect my pumpkin seed that has been growing beautifully. I purchased an old wooden clothes rack ($2.50) to protect the cucumbers and chillis. A lady came by and donated a few tomato seedlings for my garden plot. So I placed an old wooden table base ($5 - from the dump shop) to protect them from THIS. Those cheeky birds LOVE to dig up lovely rich garden beds and seedlings.

Your Trash = My Treasure

Once my seedlings are established and less vulnerable I will use the rack and base as tressels to allow my climbing plants to grow upwards. It's a slow work in progress as I learn the skill of gardening little step by little step.

And not long after Dolly and I made a lovely scarecrow to give our plot some extra girl power.

(I've been searching for a blog on a family in USA that decided to grow their own, buy local and become more sustainable. They wrote a book of their years experience. Do you know it? Can you point me in the right direction? I remember they showed their bountiful harvests in lovely photo's. I want to borrow the book at my library and I know they have 2 copies but because I can't remember the title I can't find it and neither can the staff. I think the family consisted of a mum, dad and 1 daughter.)

Thanks to Lisa's comment I found the book title I was after - and my public library has 2 copies!!! Can't wait to read it. Take a look. HERE. Have you read it? Did you find it informative, entertaining or not for you?