Easy Burp Cloths/Bathmats etc

With grandchild #7 on the way I want to help ease the costs for his parents ... in the olden days we would throw an unfolded terry nappy/diaper over our shoulders to catch any milky burps...now they sell burp cloths which looked cheap and nasty to me so I got cracking on these. I bought 2 brightly coloured thin bath towels and cut off the hemmed edges, then I cut each towel into 6 even pieces.

I had lots of oddments of fabric here and bought a few cheery fat quarters, washed and ironed them and placed them right sides together on the towelling squares



Then I stitched around the edges leaving a hand sized gap...I trimmed off the excess fabric and corners, turned the piece back out so that the right sides were showing, stitched that opening closed and then stitched a quarter inch around the edge. Before long I had a dozen individual cloths which will serve a myriad of uses.





I think they measured about 18 x 14 inches and they cost me $17.50 for the whole dozen!

This technique is also how I make bathmats and pet bedding...just bigger sizes and you can use old towels and clothing to save even more money.

Hope all is well, we're muddling along and had a big family get together on Saturday from which I am still recovering! Will get posting again soon as I have a million old family photos I need to add...here's a wee taste thanks to Dad's cousin Marion...my Grandad Gardner with 5 of his 6 siblings, they were photographed by the local paper in response to their call for the oldest group of living siblings, Uncle Fred was too far away to come for the photo but here are Annie, John, Betty, Margaret, Jim and Herbert(grandad)

This is a character reference written for Grandad in 1926 by a local businessman, Mr Carr. The writing around the reference is Uncle Alan's explanation and mention of meeting Mr Carr fifteen years later

Big hugs xxx

A Little Preserving

I been really enjoying making jams, marmalade and chutney again recently, putting away small jars for Christmas gifts and to share with my family.

We had lots of small limes this winter but they are so small and so full of pips that they are no good for juicing so I looked for an Indian lime pickle recipe to try. I came across this beautiful blog and chopped my limes ready for the salt. After three weeks they had released a lot of juice and become quite tender...there is no water added, can you see the level of the juice? There are 20 small limes in here in quarters...

I knew the recipe would be too hot for us so I reduced the chilli to one green one and measured out my spices...

so before I forget what I did....after 17 days of sitting in the salt as shown in a previous post the limes were tender so I assembled the spices etc. I knew the above recipe would be too hot even for me so I used a heaped dessertspoon of red chilli powder, one large green fresh chilli and 3 cloves of garlic, crushed. Subbed in a teaspoon each of cumin seeds, mustard seeds and smoky paprika and 1/2 t turmeric3 tender lime leaves.
Fried off the whole seeds, crushed garlic and chilli, then the dry spices with a splash of water to prevent it sticking. Tip in the whole jar of limes and juice and the leaves and stir to coat well. turn off the heat and then bottle once cold. It was almost too hot to taste but I'll try it again after a week or two in the 'fridge.

It made about 1 and 1/2 jars as the limes had reduced a lot in size. Look at that gorgeous colour!

Cooking time is very short and the recipe produced just over one Bonne Maman jam jar. I left it to sit in the fridge for 2-3 weeks before trying it...it is very hot but delicious...

My next venture was the Blood Orange and Port recipe from my new book, Small Batch Preserving. I used sherry instead of port as that's what I had...it also made just over one jar. I didn't cook the first batch for long enough as I was frightened of it burning so all the pieces of peel floated to the top. This jar is much better and suitable to gift. It's a beautiful colour from the two blood oranges, one lemon and 1/2 cup of sherry...

We had lots of lovely lemons from Mum's neighbour, Steve, so I preserved a few jars of them, just quartered and rubbed in salt and left to cure, tip the jars once a day to cover the fruit. Once ready you rinse off the salt and the pulp and chop the rind to add to salads, couscous and anything else you would like a lemony flavour...

In my last post I showed you the huge pawpaw that our neighbour Nong had grown. Well there was more yesterday, over a kilo and as much as we like it fresh I wanted to make another Indian style chutney and found this lovely recipe from the Australian Women's Weekly magazine. I halved this recipe and just half of one of my habenero chillies(lethal!) and made these 3 jars today...

It's not too hot and has a lovely sweetness to it.
Then I printed a few paper labels to glue on from this gorgeous blogger.

 It's very satisfying to make your own preserves and certainly saves money too especially if you grow your own fruit and I love the bright yellow and orange colours in the pantry.

Last Friday was the 6th birthday of the wonderful Down to Earth Forums. We had a virtual tea party where we set our our best china etc and drank a cuppa while contemplating what a huge impact it has had on the lives of it's members...here is my photo...Nana Gardner's tea set, mugs from the British Museum, knick-knacks from the op-shops, seedling in odd containers and a hand knitted throw rug. Poor old Twitch has had conjunctivitis in one eye so has been having cream in that eye each day, he is a trooper!

So that's all from me for now, happy to say Mum and Dad are home from their holiday...here's Mum...somewhere in the tropics!

Bye bye for now
xx

Mypost Concession Card/Australia Post

Mum told me about this deal at the weekend....


This only applies to Australian Federal Govt concession card holders and may save a few dollars, perhaps you have family who hold this card even if you don't.

http://auspost.com.au/parcels-mail/m...n-account.html

Australia Post has again increased the cost of mailing a local letter, from 60c to 70c despite big increases last Sept and a $302 million dollar profit last financial year(don't get me started!) BUT if you are a pensioner etc you can apply for a concession account which allows you to buy local only stamps at 60cents when you buy 5 at a time. Along with your mypost concession card comes a booklet of 5 free stamps as well as reduced cost Mail Hold and Mail Redirect.

Unfortunately it doesn't apply to parcels or overseas mail.

Jessica had a party at the local swimming pool on Saturday...

Funny kids!!!

Rhonda at the Down to Earth Blog has been nominated for an award...you can vote via this link

We had a wonderful lunch and fun day out at the casino yesterday, for April the cost to go on the casino bus is an incredible $5: transport, $4 to play with, full/all you can eat buffet carvery lunch (soup/salad/seafood/carvery/desserts/soft drinks/tea/coffee) ... sounds too good to be true...just don't get hooked on the gambling!

Big hallo to Scooz from the forums who wrote me such a lovely note to say she's enjoying reading this blog and I wish you all a wonderful week,

Love from Sue
xx

The Tale of Brown Betty or The Tale of Two Tea Cosies

Did you know that those lovely old round brown teapots actually have a special name and a long history? Old brown teapots just like this one...this 4 cup pot is over 30 yrs old...

While mine is a cheap Chinese replica the first Brown Betty's originate in England and were made from a special brown clay discovered in 1695 which held the heat better than previous clays used. It was in the Victorian era that their lovely roundness was developed to enable the tea to swished around to make it brew better. They had a special glaze known as Rockingham glaze which is nice as we live near Rockingham in WA.
On Monday I told you that I was again using this teapot as I'd run out of teabags and that I was very pleased with the better, stronger tea I'd made in it. However it has been rather cold this week and it became obvious that dear Betty needed a new coat.

I found some lovely very chunky/12ply wools in my stash and measured my teapot...

Using 5mm needles to make it a tight knit for heat retention

Cast on 25 sts
Knit 5 rows; increase once in the middle of Row 5
Change to stocking stitch and starting with a purl row work another 17 rows or as required to fit your teapot.

Row 23 (K3 K2tog) to the end of the row
Work 5 rows in stocking stitch
Row 29 (K1 K2tog) to the end
Work 7 rows in stocking stitch
Row 37 (K2tog) to the end
Row 38 Purl to end
Cast off

You simply make two of these and stitch them together leaving room for Betty's handle and spout, or what-ever your tea-pot is named :D Each half will look like this...

                       

Doesn't she posh now? I added some short pieces of twisted yarn to the second one but you could really go to town with knitted or crocheted embellishments, fancy buttons or perhaps some embroidery ...

I'll put the kettle on.

Billy Connelly's quote, "Never trust a man who when left alone with a tea cosy does not put it on his head!"

Last September was the very first National Wear A Tea Cosy Day and it raised lots of money for charity.

Twitch was very pleased to see some fresh kale in the shopping bag today, he really loves it. I also filled a bag with cauliflower leaves at the shop and have washed them as I expect they have been sprayed with pesticides etc.

My first pet rabbit, Snowy, enjoyed eating rolled oats with used tea-leaves mixed in as well as fresh vegetables, each to his own I suppose. This was in the early 1960's.

Dear Rose is also thinking and drinking tea this week, have a look at her blog here

Bye bye for now,
Sue
xx

A Frugal Weekend

Did all the right frugal things this weekend and loved it!

Needed teabags on Friday, got out the packet of loose tea I bought last year when Rhonda encouraged us to give up teabags because of all the extra packaging. I have 9 teapots but only one in the kitchen, an old-fashioned round brown china pot so I dusted that off and put it to work. The tea is so very much better as it's stronger, teabags contain so very little tea really. We also needed bread but a dig through the freezer revealed English muffins and a few odd slices of bread I'd saved for breadcrumbs. Our milkman brought our rye bread last night so we're set for the week.
Saved fuel, time and money!
I've been craving Mexican or Tex-Mex meals for several days now so instead of a $100 meal at Zocala's(which is wonderful btw) I put my thinking cap on...and asked the Down to Earth ladies in the states what makes a great Mexican meal. Chillies obviously but it's the more subtle flavours of oregano and cumin, lemon or lime juice, fresh herbs and cheese of course.
Over night I soaked a bag of lovely dried mixed beans($1.70) and then cooked them in the pressure cooker for 5 mins...not quite done but 2 more minutes finished them to perfection. Hmmm there seems rather a lot now I thought and then whipped up some beanie dip with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, Mexican chilli(a blend of chilli/herbs/spices) and salt. The cooked beans equalled in volume what I would have got from 4 tins of mixed beans.

Next I fried up chopped onion, red capsicum, garlic and half a habenero from my garden, added tomato paste and then a tin of organic chopped tomatoes and a splash of liquid smoke and simmered that for 10 mins before adding about 2 cups of cooked beans. Left that on for 15 mins and then tasted my delicious chilli beans...no need to go out dinner now lol! I cooked some white rice and sliced a chicken breast, rubbed the chicken with the Mexican chilli blend, dried herbs, lime juice and shallow fried that. Served it all up with grated cheese and a little Greek yoghurt in place of sour cream and it was yummmy!

Forgot to take a pic of the served up plates...steamy, spicy beans and tomatoes...

and sizzling chicken...one breast does us for 3-4 meals...

Other frugal achievements this weekend include mowing the lawns myself instead of paying some-one $50-$60 to do that...this is not without it's "issues" as I can rarely start the lawnmower myself , I re-filled it with fuel and washed the filter sponge but have to wait for Joe to pull-start the mean machine. I focussed on making it look like a Wimbledon court and was very pleased with the result.
I also finished this scarf, made completely from wool given to me last year...the simple pattern is here

So all added up I suppose I saved /avoided spending almost $200...do I get to keep that?? More savings for Canada is my way of looking at it.

Frugal Queen and other bloggers are having "make do with what I have July", just using up what they have in their pantries and freezers and while I haven't joined that challenge I keep it in mind and try to adjust to suit what we do have on hand. They have lots of very thrifty and delicious recipes to share too.

So how did you spend the weekend, gardening perhaps, cooking and crafting are just my favourite ways to spend my time.
Love from Sue
xxx

Knitted Rose and Leaves

I've just finished this very basic scarf using some nice mohair wool from the op-shop and wanted to jazz it up a little. I've knit flowers before but only flat ones and I didn't like them as much as this pretty rose. I haven't attached them yet but want to get the pattern down before I forget but I think you can see how sweet they are.

The rose is about 2inches in diameter, knit flat and then rolled to shape the rose. The leaves are about 2 1/2 inches long and crafted by simple increases and decreases.
I've used 8ply wool and UK size 8 or 4mm needles....here is the beauty of any knitting pattern....use thinner needles and a lighter yarn to get smaller pieces and vice versa. It's easy enough to add a few extra stitches too but I wouldn't use fewer stitches making the rose as it won't roll nicely.

Rose:
cast on 25 stitches
work 4 rows in K1.P1 rib.
5th row all knit and increase into each st so that you have 50 sts
6-11 th row work in stocking stitch
Cast off and roll the work to form a rose, use the cast on tail to stitch it closed.

Leaf:
cast on 4 stitches
1st and all odd numbered rows purl to end
2nd row K1, inc into next 2 sts, K1
4th row K2, inc into next 2 sts, K2
6th row K3, inc into next 2 sts, K3
8th row K4, inc into next 2 sts, K4

Work 5 rows stocking stitch

14th row K4, K2tog into back of sts, K2tog, K4
16th row K3, K2tog into back of sts, K2tog, K3
18th row K2, K2tog into back of sts, K2tog, K2
20th row K1, K2tog into back of sts, K2tog, K1
22nd row  K2tog into back of sts, K2tog
Cast off

There are so many uses for these little embellishments, hope you enjoy making some, they're very quick and easy and oh so sweet!

Dear Ole Mum is having day surgery on 2 squamous cell spots, one on her face the other on her forearm...once again that I beg that you take care of your skin while out in the sun. Hope they heal quickly, Mum.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend where-ever you may and Happy Solstice to my Pagan friends.
Love from Sue
xx

Using My Slow Cooker/Crockpot

I've been getting much more use out of my lovely Breville slow cooker(thanks Mum) these days and then Mandy linked me to this great facebook site, My Slow Cooker Recipes . A lot of the recipes use canned soups etc but the techniques can be modified to suit the "cooking from scratch" recipes I prefer to use.
The members are friendly and very helpful and Jenny does a great job of keeping this very large group running smoothly and the recipes clear and easy to follow.

However yesterday a lovely member posted this ridiculously easy pull-apart bread recipe and I was very keen to try it myself using one of Joe's tins of condensed soup, his childhood favourite.

3 1/2 cups of SR Flour
1 tin of condensed soup(that is the kind that you add a tin full of water or milk to to dilute it)
1/4 tin milk
handful of chopped bacon
handful of grated cheese

Mix them altogether and then knead lightly
Break into 6 pieces and place in slow cooker on baking paper or grease well
Bake on high for 1 1/2 to 2 hours with a tea towel over the cooker but under the lid to soak up the steam

It's a keeper!

This week I've also used the slow cooker to make a lovely Vegetable Bake using mainly root vegies and tomatoes and I'm cooking a whole chicken in it this afternoon.

Vegies at the ready...just a couple of tablespoons of water and Worcestershire sauce provided the initial liquid and as the vegies cooked they released their juices...

 



I bottled up my second lot of olives yesterday...I had no idea there were so many and I had to use every jar in the house...

It's cool and very wet here today as we wait for the lady to come and do our Rent Inspection.
Stay warm and dry,
Love from Sue
xxxhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/202013473167734/?hc_location=stream

Picking Olives (Again)

After visiting a friend recently I noted that there many fully laden olives trees growing on street verges in her area. I asked if was OK to pick them as they seemed to be just falling and rotting on the ground and she assured that it was. BUT I was too shy about going by myself for I had the brainwave of inviting Jess and Livvie. I asked Gord on the phone, he turned and asked them if they'd like to help me and I heard loud cheers and "Yes yes yesses."
Then I heard a little voice ask "What are olives?"

I arranged to pick them at 10am the following morning and Gordie sent word that they ready to go at 8.10am lol So off we went. I was too busy picking to remember to take photos, Olivia saw a mouse and I saw a wasp's nest, they wandered off to look at the creek and came dashing when back like startled deer after 2 wild ducks took to the air close to them!

our haul...after we'd also picked limes and lemons from Mum's lovely neighbour's trees...

We filled the bucket to the brim and then decided to visit Ma and Pa. Livvie wondered out loud if they'd be able to get the golf cart out for a ride and I explained that Saturday is Men's Day and the golf course would be very busy and unsafe. Undeterred she plotted to "use my cutest face and then Granddad will say yes! Have you got your cutest face on, Jess?"

On the way we had to wait for a goods train and counted 56 wagons...that took ages and then I noticed a lot of motor cycle riders coming up behind us. I pulled over to watch them go by and the camera had flat batteries so no pics there either! Jessie counted 64 in all.

The batteries were flat because some people had been taking self-portraits...

Granddad was suitably soft when asked about the golf cart and the three of them spent half an hour riding around the big front garden

The girls then decided they'd like to eat some lemons and sugar ...not quite as good an idea as it sounds judging by Liv's face...we oldies laughed our heads off at their antics...

Then home again and I took a couple of garden photos, I can't believe how many beautiful big passion-fruits are growing on the vine now...

 So that was our Saturday along with lots of knitting and football watching on the telly. I even bought fish and chips for the first time in many months.
 I especially enjoyed Frugal Queen's home cooking post last week and dreamed I had made her oven baked scotch eggs...I'd better make that dream come true very soon.

How is your weekend going? Busy or calm? Sunny or wet?
Love from Sue
xx

A Fridge Scrape Soup

Cold day, vegies and leftovers to use up and a fridge that needs a good clean...perfect for fridge scrape soup...I love this name and the freedom it allows, the thrift of using up all the those bits and pieces so there is no waste in the kitchen.

I'll start with gently frying onion, carrots and celery and then add some fresh garlic. What's next? That half a zucchini, those elderly potatoes, soft tomatoes, bits of broccoli, cabbage, the silverbeet that Twitch won't eat, the left-over mushy peas than need longer cooking and that scrap of corned beef from earlier in the week. Quick look in freezer and there's that bag of butter beans from goodness knows when...they can go in near the end! Give everything a good stir round in the oil and then cover with hot water from the kettle, plenty of salt and pepper, Worcestershire sauce or your favourite spice/herb blends. Cook gently until the vegies are tender and clean the fridge now lol
Then you can eat and enjoy your soup!

Do you make soups at home, are you game to try a fridge scrape soup this weekend?

This blogger made several different versions which may inspire you!

Thrifty, warming and delicious.

Enjoy your weekend,
Sue
xx

PS I didn't know it was Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Day when I started cooking this morning, he is such an inspiration to us all

Neck Pillow Tutorial

As you may know we're off to Canada again this year. That's the great news. The not-great news is that we'll be in transit for over 50 hours non-stop on the way there! We've never had neck pillows before so I asked friends what they thought of them and they gave them a big thumbs up, Natalie suggested I make my own so I looked on-line and saw how very simple they are. Mum has an inflatable one so I used that to make my pattern from newspaper...draw around your template if you can borrow one, add 1/4 inch seam allowance...

fold the pattern and the fabric and pin the pattern to the fabric on the fold....this ensures both sides are the same...cut two pieces...

Pin back and front together with right sides facing...

Genius struck at this point and I cut the clip off an old lanyard so that I can attach it to my carry-on bag...

stitch the sides together using very small stitches for extra strength, I went over the lanyard 3 times to secure it firmly...leave a space as big as your hand to turn it right side out and stuff it very firmly...

  I took time out to introduce Twitch to a toy beaver, he couldn't have cared less!

Stitch up the opening and stand back and admire...

It was sheer chance and luck that my fabric pattern is the same on both legs/sides but something to consider when you pin the pattern to the fabric. This gorgeous material is a reproduction of one in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, I love the Edwardian look of it.

I used polyester stuffing but instead of buying toy stuffing I buy a pillow for $5 from Spotlight and get much more for much less! So we now each have a comfy neck pillow for $0 as I already had all the things I used, they were on sale for $14 each at the shopping centre and covered with some nasty nylon/synthetic material.
I saw that some people had made smaller ones for their children who tend to nod off on car drives, lovely idea.

We have a 12 hour wait at San Francisco airport for the flight to Montreal. I've checked on-line for information about the airport and they offer showers for $8 each and then we'll have to find a quiet corner to rest on the lightweight shawls I plan to carry. I do feel better for having a plan and pillow now lol! I also hope that we will see the Golden Gate Bridge from the plane.

Thank you all for your kind wishes for Jessie yesterday. Lynda thank you too for your thoughts about my "diary"...it really is my gift to my family and I do hope they will look at in years to come and know they were much loved and also see a little about me that perhaps they had forgotten or never knew.

Bye bye for now,
Love from Sue
xx

If you're unable to get something to draw around to make your pattern I will post one to you!

Instant Porridge

While shopping recently I spotted a box of 6 sachets of a luxury brand name Instant Porridge for $1 in the sad basket at Dewson's.
Joe really enjoyed them for breakfast but at the regular price of $6 for 6 serves it was not going to be a regular purchase. I had a light-bulb moment and realised I could make it myself, saved the ingredients list off the box and got the food processor out...

To make around 7 serves for less than a dollar you'll need....

2 cups of rolled oats(not the instant kind)
1/3 cup of dried fruit, perhaps roughly chopped apricots and sultanas or some dates and pears for example
1T mixed seeds
1T raw sugar
1t cocoa powder(optional)
1t ground cinnamon (also optional but very nice)

Start off processing them, seeds and fruit first and then everything else until you mix is quite powdery. Store it in a airtight container, this much just filled a 500mls canning jar.

To serve...
Mix 1/3 a cup of your porridge blend with 1/2 a cup of cold milk or water,
Microwave for about 2 minutes and stir well...that's it!
 It shouldn't need any sweetener on it but you could always leave out the sugar and serve it with honey or maple syrup.

If you'd prefer you could soak the blend in 1/2 a cup of boiling water for 2-3 minutes and stir well, serve with a little cold milk.

By making your own it cuts back on the amount of packaging you buy.

(and I don't like porridge at all, it's right up there with Heinz tinned spaghetti lol The reason I don't like it is because on ONE occasion my dear old Grandad cooked it for Ian(4) and I(8) and he left a few lumps in it.....oh dear, this Princess could not eat Lumpy Porridge and so her Little Bro' wouldn't eat it either! Sorry Grandad xx)

The rain is coming back this week and it's shopping today, what an event that is...to buy the very best and most for the least amount of money is a challenge I actually enjoy.
Rose has posted a lovely spicy soup recipe at the forum with red lentils and chick peas and lots of healthy aromatics so I'm keen to try that.
Take care, especially if you are driving,
Love Sue
xxx