Getting back to basics

Life has been a bit of a whirlwind lately. Getting the new office setup and putting the inside of my house back together has kept me busy, but has also encouraged me to accept what I've been ignoring for a while - I've let a lot of things slide. 

The garden is a prime example. We had a very dry and hotter than usual summer this year which made growing vegies problematic to say the least. With that in mind, I kept it to just one bed of tomatoes and capsicum and a couple of pumpkin plants that I let run wild. Once they were in, they got very little in the way of tender loving care from me, except [fairly] regular watering.

Even in the midst of that neglect, there's still an abundance of fruit to pick. Rather than see another season end without preserving part of my tomato crop, I got organised.

Tomatoes - Ready to cook

I use a simple method of preserving tomatoes, I cook them, put them through a food mill to remove the skins and the larger seeds, then bottle and process in a water bath. Nothing fancy, no added anything. 

Tomatoes - jars of puree

If all goes well, I'll get another couple of tomato preserving sessions in before the plants need to be removed which will put a few more jars of organically grown, pure tomato puree into the cupboard for 'later'. Not to mention a fulfilling sense of accomplishment, too.

Cheers,

Diane

{Studio Office Renovation} Almost done!

The renovation of an old 'shed' into my new office has been a long, long, and frustrating saga. Several times, I thought I'd secured a builder to do the work but it seems my job wasn't big enough to warrant their skills so, disappointment invariably followed.

It was serendipity that brought a young builder to my notice earlier this year and he jumped at the opportunity. So, nearly a year after stripping the shed and being excited that work was about to begin, I can finally say, "It's done!". Or, at least it's as done as it needs to be to be put to use. Nothing has been done to finish the interior but, after waiting so long, I don't care! Prettying up the inside is a luxury for some other time. Right now, the priority is to get my house back.

The outside is still being painted but here it is:

New studio/office

It's an incredible relief to have this space finished. Now I can separate work and home and hopefully, be better at both. 

Cheers,

Diane

Learning to be Self-Employed

The last 12 months have been an extraordinary learning experience. Even though I've run my online business as a moonlight job for a number of years, in reality I've been a salary earner my whole adult life. Walking away from that apparent security has been tough but incredibly liberating.

I readily admit I squandered a great deal of the first six months of 2013. Some of that time was devoted to 'decompressing' but an awful lot of it was also, although hard to admit, lost to floundering aimlessly.

By the second half of the year I was beginning to get a feel for working for myself and working from home. I started thinking about goals, revisiting dreams, taking stock of my life and making the time to appreciate everything for which I am grateful. It's amazing the impact this change in mindset had on everything around me. 

Unfortunately, the brakes were slammed on some of my plans when I tore the cartilage in my left knee. Thankfully not badly enough to need surgery but it certainly slowed me down considerably. However, this enforced inactivity gave me an opportunity to read and listen to audio books on time management, motivation and similar subjects so the time definitely wasn't wasted.

One of the books that helped get me back on track.

Once I was able to, I started walking in the mornings. My morning stroll takes around 40mins and is sufficient to get the blood circulating but not overtax my still temperamental knee. Other than helping with physical well-being and stress management, I find my morning walk fires up my motivation and imagination. I walk in silence and just let the thoughts wander in and out as they choose. On my return, I know, as I walk through my front gate, I'm ready to tackle anything!

As 2014 begins, that's me, ready to tackle anything!

If you too are self-employed or a small business owner, please feel free to share any hints and tips for beginners.

Cheers,

Diane

Lemons

In older Australian suburbs, lemon trees are (or at least were) a standard feature in most backyards. If you're like me, living in a small town in regional Victoria - you'll have two.

Lemons are, at various times, a bane or a boon. They're a bane when the tree is laden to the point they're falling on the ground and I'm too busy to even bag them to sell at my front gate. They're a boon when I'm making lemon cordial or I need a squeeze of lemon in the raspberry jam.

Ripe lemons ready to pick.

There are lots of other uses for lemons and I'm going to start trying a few. Here are just two of the great ideas I found on www.whydontyoutrythis.com. See the whole post here.

Boost Laundry Detergent

For more powerful cleaning action, pour 1 cup lemon juice into the washer during the wash cycle. The natural bleaching action of the juice will zap stains and remove rust and mineral discolorations from cotton T-shirts and briefs and will leave your clothes smelling fresh. Your clothes will turn out brighter and also come out smelling lemon-fresh.

Keep Insects Out of the Kitchen

You don’t need insecticides or ant traps to ant-proof your kitchen. Just give it the lemon treatment. First squirt some lemon juice on door thresholds and windowsills. Then squeeze lemon juice into any holes or cracks where the ants are getting in. Finally, scatter small slices of lemon peel around the outdoor entrance. The ants will get the message that they aren’t welcome. Lemons are also effective against roaches and fleas: Simply mix the juice of 4 lemons (along with the rinds) with 1/2 gallon (2 liters) water and wash your floors with it; then watch the fleas and roaches flee. They hate the smell.

Can you add any more uses to the list?

Fugalista - Home Baked Cinnamon Rolls

It's no surprise to most of us that cooking and baking from scratch is so much cheaper than buying a similar product ready made.

In the spirit of keeping costs to a minimum while still enjoying the finer things in life, I fired up the oven and baked some cinnamon rolls.

Home Baked Cinnamon Rolls

I found the recipe here and used it as is however, in the future I'll make a lot less icing as I had a heap left over. It wont go to waste though, it's in an air-tight jar in the fridge awaiting the next batch of cinnamon rolls.

I haven't purchased a cinnamon roll for a while but I'm guessing a mass produced commercial one would cost between A$2.50 - $3.00. I'd estimate my total ingredient costs to be not much more than that (Aldi flour, bulk cinnamon, etc.) and in return I produced a dozen good sized rolls. The rolls froze really well, too.

Being frugal isn't about being 'cheap' it's about spending your money (and time) wisely. 

Studio / Office Renovation

As I'm now working from home exclusively, I ran out of excuses for not getting the old dilapidated outbuilding (circa 'around the same time as Stonehenge') on my property spruced up. 

The goal is to use this outbuilding as my office, warehouse and studio. 

Unfortunately, in order to rebuild one has to tear down. And, that my friends has been a herculean task. Partly because I can always find something other than hard work to occupy my time and partly because it really is hard work! 

Luckily, wrecking stuff takes very little skill, just determination and as you can see from these images, I am getting there.

Outbuilding Interior - North/East

Outbuilding Interior - North/West

Outbuilding Interior - West

Now that I can see real progress, I'm getting excited about having a dedicated area in which to work.

What a luxury it will be to be able to shut the door on work at the end of the day rather than being surrounded by it 24/7.

Better get back out there!

Diane

Feet on the ground... Finally!

It's been four months since finishing up my last IT contract and officially relying on my business as my only income. And, it's been one heck of a roller-coaster ride.

Nothing has really turned out the way I planned. No empty nest and it's taken me a distressingly long time to recover from the very hectic and stressful previous year or so.

In order to ensure my health and happiness (and bank balance!) are on the right track again, I'm planning on a Makeover May! I figure the bank balance bit will be the bonus flow on effect of health and happiness, because when you've got those two things working for you, you don't need take-away dinners because you're too exhausted to cook and you don't need retail therapy to distract you, going for a walk or sitting in the garden provide all the distraction you need.

The three key objectives of my Makeover May are:

• One hour walk each day (stress relief and fitness)
• Two litres of filtered water each day
• Three cups (minimum) of vegetables each day.

My goal is to complete each of these objectives every day for the 31 days of May. I'm hoping for lots of beneficial outcomes but my focus and my goal is to add each of these tasks, if you will, to my day.

Should be an interesting month ahead!

Why not plan your own Makeover May?

Diane

A New Phase Beckons...

The last year or so has been stressful, chaotic and crazy-busy. But, a new phase beckons... with two weeks of my work contract remaining and high school finished for my daughter, I'm looking forward to a new phase of my life beginning.

Life, as I currently know it, will end on December 21, 2012. So... the Mayans were right! At least in my case.

The next phase of my life will be as a self-employed business owner. Very scary and yet very exciting! I'm also looking forward to being an empty nester, although there's a good chance of my daughter taking a 'gap year' before heading off to university.

So, while I haven't had as many opportunities to apply patchwork economic theory to my life this year, I have been very focussed on debt reduction - knowing that there was little chance of seeing my work contract extended again was a great motivator!

We'll need to learn to live on much less than we have been lately but in a somewhat perverse way, I'm looking forward to it. Looking forward to living slowly and mindfully. Looking forward to getting my hands dirty in the garden. Looking forward to using less, buying less and living more.

The future is an uncertain thing, but certainly nothing to be feared.

I intend to, again, share the lessons I learn along the way.

Cheers,

Diane

Small Achievements

It's been another busy week with cold dark starts and long days but... this week I have definitely made progress in realigning my activity with my goals.

My business was a little slower this week which, while a concern, freed up some time and energy for other things like, baking. I baked a loaf of bread for the first time in a very long time. Definitely out of practice but it tasted great and smelled... awesome!

Ready for the oven...

Ready to eat!

 
I also, put the carcase and remaining meat of the organic chicken we roasted to good use by making stock and creating a chicken and vegie soup. I portioned the soup to freeze; ready to take to work for cheap and nourishing lunches.

Chicken and Vegie Soup

Fridays are normally completely dedicated to the business but due to very low volumes this week, I had a day that looked very much like a day off! A rare beast in recent times. To make this miracle complete it was a gorgeous sunny winter day, so I spent a couple of hours in the garden, too.

Today, I will set some more small achievable goals for the coming week. Measurable achievements are not only satisfying, they are motivating, too.

If all goes well, I'll be adding a scrumptious home made apple pie to the list of achievements next week...

Line in the Sand

My concept of 'patchwork economics' has always been about creating a financial 'blanket' that didn't rely solely on one source of revenue or benefit. So, earning money from multiple sources is one aspect of its construction and finding ways to reduce expenditure another.

Over the last eight months, I've been busy. So busy working on the first part of the equation that the second (reducing expenditure) had gone to hell in a hand-cart! 

Working four days a week in an IT company, plus running my online retail party supply business and supporting my daughter in her final year of high school left very little time for art of creative non-spending.

As we move into winter, my vegetable garden is overgrown with weed, stray cherry tomatoes and a self-seeded pumpkin that looks as though it has only produced two stripy green pumpkins. There's more grass in the garden beds than the lawn and the gravel paths are looking quite jungle-ish... The only highlights of my garden are the lawn (because someone else mows it!) and the fruit trees although the Eastern Rosellas have enjoyed most of the apples this season.

Again I'm reminded of the adage about time and money; you usually have a surplus of one or the other. The trouble is (for me at least) it's very hard to ignore the allure of convenience when you're working 60+ hours a week. I've found takeaways have become common place for us. Food I used to always cook from scratch like bread, soups or desserts now come from the supermarket in shiny plastic packaging.

Other than the extraordinary cost financially, I've noticed physical effects, too. We've both put on weight and feel sluggish most of the time.

This then, is my line in the sand. It's time to go cold turkey on convenience. I know I have another seven months of IT work but beyond that, I'm not sure. So, there's no time to waste. I have to get myself back in the swing of spending (and living) consciously. Not just for my financial well-being but physical and probably psychological, too.

Wish me luck!

A Wander Through The Garden

While the sun was shining I took the opportunity to wander around the garden - camera in hand this time instead of a cup of tea! The productive aspects of the garden are developing nicely. Most of the fruit trees are only a few years old so are only just beginning to produce fruit but it looks like this year's crop will be a good one.

This year I'll get the fruit off the apricot trees a little early as last year a large proportion of the crop exploded in the humidity - they were still tasty though.

This is the second year of flowers on the avocado. Fingers crossed for fruit this year.

The birds enjoyed the cherries last year - this year we will! I'll be netting the tree!!!

There are always loads of lemons on the two ancient trees in our yard.

Plenty of blossom on the dwarf Imperial Mandarin.

Nectarines

Hopefully we'll see a nice first crop off the Packham pear.

The strawberries are still producing... this is their fourth year!

If all this potential abundance comes to fruition, it will mean a busy time in the kitchen preserving a wonderful harvest. And, hopefully plenty to give away, too!

Home Made Lemon Cordial

Now that we're half way through spring, we're starting to indulge in cold drinks again. While water is always the best choice in cold drinks... sometimes bubbles and sweetness are needed, too. So this weekend I've made use of a bucket load of lemons from our trees and made lemon cordial. We can then use this cordial to flavour plain old tap water or for a bubbly treat, soda water. 


I used this recipe from www.homemade-gifts-made-easy.com. I'm very pleased with the result and will use it again next time.

The 'hard work' - squeezing lemons.

Simmering the sugar syrup and lemon zest .

The finished product!

No artificial colours, flavours or sweeteners and no added preservatives, just sugar, water and lemon juice. And, cheap! Just $2.19 for 2kg of 'plain label' sugar!!!


If you have access to some lemons, give it a go.


Now I'm looking forward to the raspberry crop so I can try making raspberry cordial. Recipe recommendations gratefully accepted!

Freezers, Doorways and Silver Linings

My freezer died.

Yes, I know... it's something we'll all have to deal with at some time in our lives. But, the freezer is the appliance that we probably take for granted the most - until it dies. And, of course, they never seem to cark it when they're empty.


So, in the midst of my freezer grief I had to decide if:

• I'd live without one (tempting until I remembered the wonderful berry sorbets we made last summer)
• Get a chest freezer (better for tall people)
• Get an identical upright freezer to match the fridge (and then, no doubt, watch the fridge die a year later)
• Get a fridge and freezer in one unit and retire the old fridge to the shed for parties (this was the winner).

After parting with a hefty sum of money, I took delivery of a space-age, stainless steel, side by side, fridge/freezer. Totally gorgeous and swish and... too big to fit through the doorway into the lean-to kitchen. 


Apparently when they were building houses 130 years ago they didn't consider refrigerators... who knew?!


So, after much squishing, squeezing and a decent dose of lateral thinking the delivery guy and I gave up. Now we're back to the fridge and freezer being tucked away in what is currently the dining room, waiting for the time that the room is renovated and becomes the kitchen. Which is exactly where the fridge and freezer were before the temporary kitchen was constructed.


The silver lining though, is this: I am now fully committed to getting the next stage of the renovations started. That means, saving in earnest AND expanding my means. The most shocking bit of all? I'm actually excited about it!!!

Creative Projects - Knitted Patchwork Blanket

This project has turned into a MONSTER. My original intention was to make a throw rug until... it needed another column for balance, another shade to add depth and texture and cream strips to add definition. Now, it's closer in size to a bedspread!

Created from pure wool, it will be very cosy - on a couch or a bed. Riley likes it already and I haven't finished putting it together yet!

De-cluttering – One Area Done – 17 to go!

Remember the out of control book case I wrote about in De-cluttering, still...? Well here it is. 

Not perfect, but considerably tidier.

It took hours to sort through all the old papers, magazines, photos and junk that had been shoved into any and all available spaces on the bookshelf. There was a sizable box load that got dumped into the recycling bin, too.

De-cluttering really is seriously cathartic. Choosing to let go of stuff that no longer serves you is empowering. I’ve always had a problem throwing out photographs. Not sure why, but there you go! During this sort out I found a couple of envelopes of photos from a long, LONG time ago... and a heap of them were truly awful. Blurry, over(or under)-exposed, chopped off heads... why was I keeping them? I’ve given it a lot of thought and I still can’t come up with a good reason. Actually, I can’t even come up with a bad reason. So, into the bin they went. Talk about liberating!!!

Now the question is, what’s next on the de-clutter schedule?

Global Warming in My Backyard

Around the middle of July, three or 4 blossoms appeared on one of my apricot trees. That’s blossom in mid-winter! I guess this could be dismissed as a freak occurrence and I did dismiss it as such, until I was looking at the tree the other day and noticed that fruit had set.

Global Warming - Winter apricots!

It’s easy to dismiss the so-called debate in the mainstream media about our changing climate but as a gardener, it’s pretty clear to me that something is going on with our weather and it’s probably not going to end well.

The real questions we need to ask ourselves are: “How much will it change, and how much will we need to adapt the way we live and grow our food in order to prosper under the new conditions?”

Rambunctious Raspberries

Who knew raspberries were trying to take over the planet? Not me... I had no idea my raspberries would turn into triffids and attempt to take over my entire yard.

To be honest, I was completely naive to the tenacity of raspberries. Their cousins, the blackberries, seem to get all the publicity on that score. So it was a bit of a shock to find that raspberry shoots were appearing outside the area I’d allotted them. And, that the area itself had become a tangle of old canes, rampant grass and the odd self seeded flat leaf parsley.

Cleaning up this area quickly became a priority task and I’m on the clock, because spring is not far away.

One of the first things I did was remove some of the smaller shoots and put them in pots. The plan is to sell them from my garden gate once they’re nicely established.

The next task was to put down a heavy mat to stop any grass or weeds reappearing - I’m guessing it won’t stop the raspberries. I used thick layers of wet newspaper to smother the grass and weeds then put a thick layer of mulch over the top.

Newly mulched raspberry patch

The area looks a lot neater now and I’m pretty sure I’ll still get a good crop of lovely bright red, juicy raspberries this season; perfect for the fresh jam that goes so well with lovely light scones, still warm from the oven. Something to look forward to!

De-cluttering... still...

The de-cluttering is still under way. It really is a BIG task and it’s SO easy to get distracted, procrastinate or simply find something else to do... anything else! The major motivation though, is that I know it will be so much easier to keep the house tidy once all the superfluous stuff is gone. The other motivation is that clearing out the unnecessary means  there'll be more room available for the important stuff; like pantry supplies and other stockpile items.

There’s even a chance my life in general might be a bit more orderly, too! At least that’s what the experts say. I could certainly do with a good dose of ‘orderly’!!!

Here's the next project: One of my bookcases.

Before
Stay tuned for the 'after' picture...

The next choice is: donate the items worth donating or try to recoup some money by selling them on eBay or a garage (yard) sale. I’m not exactly sure which way to go yet so the ‘good’ stuff is being boxed up. The less than ‘good’ stuff is being donated immediately and the junk is going out in the garbage.


The big trick will be making sure we don't end up in the same situation in a year's time!

Self-Reliance

Self-reliance is about finding ways to live life without always looking to outside sources for what you need. I prefer the term self-reliance to self-sufficiency because it really is impractical to be truly self-sufficient. Not many of us are in the position to provide for ALL of our needs. It’s one thing to make your own laundry powder but can you also produce the raw ingredients to make that product? Probably not, but in order to be self-sufficient, that’s what you’d need to do.

However, by purchasing the raw ingredients I can make my own laundry powder and not only cut out the  extra ‘nasties’ in the ingredient list but also the corporate layer that makes the most profit from the laundry powder. Meaning it costs me a whole lot less. Less money going into the coffers of the corporate world means more money in mine. Making your own laundry powder is just one example of how being self-reliant can also save you money.

When you choose to use your own time and skills to provide for your family, you’ll save more money and experience a greater sense of accomplishment.  And, it’s not rocket science. Often the most important skill you need to begin your self-reliance journey is the willingness to ‘give it a go’.

Each success; yeast doughnuts from scratch or a plant grown from cutting or seed builds your confidence. Each task you accomplish enables you to take greater control of your money and your life.

The important thing to remember is that being self-reliant takes time and not everyone has a lot, so choose one thing that you believe you can do for yourself, do it regularly and then build on that. That’s what ‘Patchwork Economics’ is all about, finding small changes you can make so you can create a new financial fabric for your life.

Here’s the recipe I use for home-made laundry powder.

Laundry Powder Recipe

4 cups grated laundry soap (Velvet) or homemade soap

2 cups borax

2 cups washing soda

Mix all ingredients together.

Use just two tablespoons of this powder for each wash. Suitable for both top and front loading machines as this mix is low suds.

I use my kitchen whiz to grate the soap and mix the ingredients – quick and easy.

Learning to Love Legumes

If you’re like me, your stockpile contains an assortment of dried beans. It’s easy to see why, they are cheap, easy to store and nutritious. Trouble is, they’ll go to waste if you don’t actually eat them!

Which is a timely reminder of the number one rule of stockpiling: Only store what you normally eat. There’s no point in stockpiling either dried beans or tins of baked beans if you don’t like them and/or don’t normally eat them.

So, if you’re new to legumes (beans) then now is a great time to learn to love them. Start small and work your way up. Don’t try to get your family to eat beans for breakfast, lunch and dinner right from the start. Try adding small amounts of beans to meals you already make, then as your family becomes accustomed to them, you can get a little more adventurous.

Beans are the friend of the frugalista because they are also a great filler for a variety of dishes, for example, you can super charge a basic vegetable soup by adding beans or you can flesh out a meat dish like lasagne by adding red lentils to the meat sauce. These are frugal ways of increasing the volume of the dish for very little cost.

Are beans a big part of your diet? Do you have a favourite bean based recipe?