TODAY....

I cooked and I pondered over whether I can really do this stay at home thing financially. Of course I woke at 3am and started thinking about this so I'm tired and now thinking I may go back to my part time job after all. I have a few weeks to reach a decision and I'm working next Wednesday to help out, so I guess I'll see how I feel after that.

Anyway, back to the cooking......
Yummy, creamy pumpkin soup.
Perfect for me right now.

Dozens of sausage rolls.
Perfect for the kid's after school snacks.

and banana muffins.
Perfect for school snacks.
(sorry no photo)

IF YOU DO NOTHING ELSE FOR YOUR HEALTH......

then please take the time to watch this.

please go here

Take out 1 1/2 hours and watch this amazing clip. It's only online until March 31st and believe me it's worth the time.

WHAT A WEEK!!!

On Monday we were due to drive off on our holiday to visit family & friends in NSW and then go on to the Gold Coast. We booked our accomodation and theme park tickets last year and obviously, as we couldn't predict the future, had no idea that we wouldn't be able to get there due to flooding. We have lost quite a bit of money due to non refundable tickets etc, but we will try and go again in the next couple of years.

Last week was particularly stressful as we tried to find alternate routes and ways to get there but in the end nothing made sense due to having to travel too far, delays and detours or costing too much money (flying). So we cancelled the trip. The kids were pretty upset but realised that we had done everything we could to go on this holiday.

Lachie captained his team to the grand final for under 12's cricket on Wednesday night. It will be held tomorrow and Sunday against the other West under 12 side, either way West wins.

Today was my last day at work, I'm really excited about becoming a full time homemaker and look forward to the challenges I will be facing. First of all, proving that I can save more money being at home than at outside work.

Over the last 2 weeks I have been slowly going through any emails from shops and unsubscribing to them. Online shopping is a real weakness for me and I've decided that if the advertising isn't in my face I won't be tempted to buy. So far it seems to be working, I'm not browsing sales and haven't gone looking for anything to buy.

So that was my week, how was yours?

AT THE OP SHOPS

I went for a look in our local op shops this week and picked up a few things.

2 sweet pyrex dishes that cost $2 each

A set of new flannel sheets for $5 and 2 vintage pillowcases for $1 each

1 vintage cot size sheet for $1 (I love this one as a tablecloth)

A pair of skinny leg jeans and a winter knitted top for Sophie, a total of $5 (yet to be modeled).

I am really happy with my purchases, everything has been washed then dryed out in the sunshine and has been tucked away in their new home.

RANDOM THOUGHTS::AWESOME FOOD::CAT ATTACK

Am I the only one that never seems to stop thinking about reusing, recycling, living simply, self reliance etc etc? Sometimes putting those thoughts into action seems overwhelming as my mind races to too many new projects and ideas. I am a huge list maker and I don't know why I am not writing all of this down as I think it, weird. So today I will be starting a new notebook full of ideas for the future and things to try out and not leave it all up to my brain remembering it all.

Last night for dinner I had the best meal. You see every year I wait for my tomatoes and apples to be ready and eat this amazing food my dad thought up and ate while we were growing up.

I call it Dad's Slop and it's awesome.

Chop 2 large tomatoes, 1/2 onion, 1 granny smith apple and fry in butter (not a Weight Watchers meal).
When it's sloppy and soft add tasty cheese and mix while melting.
Add salt and pepper and serve on toast.

Lastly, does anyone else's cat love tomatoes and asparagus? Seriously, I can't leave either out on the bench or it's gone in minutes.

MONDAY AFTERNOON

My best friend texted me to say that our local Mitre 10 hardware store was closing down and there was a huge sale on. It was tools down for me and I headed down to try and snaffle some preserving lids, clips and rings. When I got there I think the whole town was on a mission, the line up was huge but so were the savings.

Here's what I grabbed:

Size 3 preserving clips x 2 boxes
were $18.99 each - paid $11.39 each

Size 3 preserving lids x 2 boxes
were $9.49 each - paid $5.69 each

Vegetable seedlings x 3 (spinach, beetroot and parsley)
were $3.99 each - paid $2.19 each

Peas, Massey Gem 200gm for green manure
were $2.99 - paid $1.79

Blood & Bone 2.5kg
was $8.38 - paid $5.03

500 worms for worm farm
were $34.99 - paid $20.99

Bacon Avacado
was $56.99 - paid $31.34

All up $99.89 and I saved $72.39

There goes my money I earnt yesterday at the market but I'm happy with what I got and the price I paid. I wish this store wasn't going out of business and I hope the employees will find other work.

MONDAY MORNING

I was up early and itching to get out in the vege patch. A heap of tomatoes were picked along with a lemon, my first from our newish tree and our granny smith and golden delicious apples, once again very new trees.

The eggs were collected and the chook shed cleaned out, vines from the neighbouring property were cut back from our side and spent tomato plants were pulled out to make room for root crops.

We only have a small compost bin and I have been missing my original bins made from pallets that were taken down years ago to make room in the patch. Today I decided to use the very back corner raised bed as a compost bin. The soil in that bed is particularly poor and I haven't had a chance to build it up so it's been sitting there for a while with nothing growing. Speaking of poor soil, 3 other beds are in a real need of building up so today I soaked them throughly, added mulch, soaked again, covered in horse and sheep manure and soaked once again. I will keep these beds moist and turn them over in a couple of weeks.

DOWN TO EARTH

As many of you know I am one of small group of moderators over at the Down To Earth forum. Some may not know that Rhonda Hetzel, the founder of Down To Earth has written a book and not just any book, this book truely has everything you could want to know about living a simple life and will be my go-to guide for many years to come.

I decided to wait until our local book store had Rhonda's book in rather than purchase it online. I seem to buy quite a bit online as I simply can't buy what i want where I live, but I knew this book would be coming in so I decided to shop locally for it. I paid around $8 more for the privilage but I sold 2 bags this week to cover the cost.

I'm going to have an early night and curl up in bed and begin to read this wonderful book.

Thanks for visiting.....

Sue

SUNDAY, THE DAY OF REST

Hardly, we were up early for Clean Up Australia day armed with gloves and bags. Sophie's class from school is learning about community and the kids are getting involved with different activities within the community. Next week they go to Meals On Wheels.
::Sophie with her friend Emily::

I've spent the afternoon baking.
::Bread::

::Muesli Slice::

::Banana and Raspberry Loaf::

Oh, and I now have a new laptop called Betty. Wilma gave up the ghost finally and I'm now finding out how good it is to have speed and Windows 7. I had XP before this and what a difference!