A Hassle free dinner party.

This time of year it's hard to see everyone you want to, and not get exhausted.  We had some friends over for a dinner party yesterday and it was hassle free (relatively), most of the work was done before hand.   My instructions assume you can cook, so if you are a novice, this is not for you.

 

 

The menu was:

• Pretzels to nibble
• Oysters 3 ways
• Rainbow trout and prawns with chat potatoes and fennel salad
• Rosewater panna cotta and strawberries.

10 TIPS FOR HASSLE FREE TRAVELLING

I've travel a lot, interstate and overseas for work and pleasure, as has my husband, and my son - well don't get me started with his itchy feet.  Here are my top tips that I ADHERE TO RELIGIOUSLY for a hassle free trip, be it ship or plane.

 

 

1. Plan as if every form of transport is going to be delayed, a half hour changeover at an airport is NOT enough - no matter what the travel agent says.
2. Read the conditions of your ticket before you go - what can you carry on, what amount of luggage etc.  Don't forget to check the electric voltage too, in case you need an adaptor.
3. Get to the airport early and expect problems - delays and hassles are the norm, so don't get stressed by them, expect them.  I'm always delighted when things do go to plan.
4. Pack a change of underwear, sox and t shirt in your carry on - bags get lost often, so better to have a quick change with you.
5. Pack all and any medication in your carry on - see (4) above! And this applies to cruises too!
6. Never pack anything in checked luggage you cannot bear to lose - I can give you a list of stolen items and bags from us and others.  This means cameras and laptops have to go in carry on luggage.  Lock all luggage, including carry-ons, don't expect them to stop thieves however.
7. Take Sards wonder soap for spot clothes washing.
8. Take a couple of blow up coathangers - you can wash a t-shirt and it will dry overnight in aircon with these. Available at most airports or luggage shops.
9. Pack a large Chux  - doubles as a  towel and is handy as anything, actually pack 2!
10. Send a copy of your documents - including passport and credit card photos to someone in the family you trust and can contact easily in case all is stolen.

Above all, enjoy your trip.

 

PS. One last thing, I leave all my good jewellery, including my engagement ring at home, where it is fully insured, and just take nice costume jewellery with me.  We have had jewellery we bought overseas stolen on two occasions now despite being careful!

 

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Our first crop of ginger

Well, here it is, my first ginger crop!

 

 

And here are a few tips about growing it:

• Plant your ginger in early spring, not too deep below the ground.
• It needs lots of sun.
• Water well in summer, do not let it dry out.
• Dig it up when the leaves suddenly turn yellow around the edges and fall over - don't worry, you will know it when you see it.
• Re plant at least one small piece for next year.
• Store, peeled, in the fridge in a jar full of vodka.  ( I know it is a waste of good vodka!)  This is the only way it will keep for a long time without deteriorating.

Enjoy!

I'm culling my wardrobe

Being on holidays does have more benefits than a great tan!  As we were away for several weeks, my lovely nephew jumped in to live at our place for a while and look after the house etc.  This meant he needed some space in the wardrobe, so I moved a lot of my clothes into the spare room wardrobe. 

 

Now I have heard a lot about the reverse coat hanger method of working out what clothes you do and don't need.  In this method you reverse all the clothes in your wardrobe, and as you use something it goes in the right way, after a period of time you toss out everything that is in reverse. 

 



Time to toss out some of these clothes!



 

Good advise, but I have gone one step further.  NOTHING is coming back into the bedroom wardrobe unless it has been worn!  After just 3 weeks I have decided some things must go now!  It's drastic I know, but it does seem to work.  If you just do not wear some things, what is the use of having them?  Why do we keep them?

 

The problem: the Pareto Principle, or the 80-20 Rule.   This means that 80% of the output is determined by 20% of the input.   So,  80% of what you wear come from 20% of your wardrobe!

 

 

 

Chez worms has gone upmarket

I made my first worm farm in August, 2013, and it grew to a two story condo!  All was going well in the condo until all the rain we recently had in Sydney.  The polystyrene almost disintegrated!  The worms were wet and all was not well.  Coincidentally the local council sent me a notice about a 1/2 price worm farm - I was in!  It cost me around $35 delivered, is made of sturdy plastic and the worms love it.

A fantastic holiday

We went on our first cruise!  Wow, what a great time we had, we had picked the perfect cruise for us.  It was relaxing, wonderful food, (not fattening), and ended up in Honolulu - even better!

 

We left Sydney on a wet day unfortunately, but Sydney never lets you down in the picture department!

 

 

 

Loved the ship, maybe the martini bar just a bit too much!  But the pools and the art on the ship were fabulous.  These are just a few of the art installations:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the favourite stops on the trip was Tahiti

 

 



 

But you just cannot beat Hawaii

 

 

 

 



 

Oh well, have to get back to reality now, and I will update my Genealogy and recipie blogs this week

(promise), while I dream of the next cruise.

 

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Thanks for the Inspiration.

I just wanted to thank Melissa Michaels for her wonderful blog.  Its a real inspiration and has got me started on re-vamping my house to suite my retired lifestyle more.  Her blog is called The Inspired Room (linked here) and she is the first person whom I have found had a similar de-clutter method to me.  Such a nice feeling to find a like minded soul!

Melissa calls it the "A bag a day" method, I just call it the garbage bag fill!  You can read about my method in my blog post 5 steps to redecorate an exiting home.  Last week I went through my "good" wardrobe of clothes.  Mostly they are outfits I have worn to work functions, race days, sponsorship dinners etc. and I won't be wearing them again.  In fact, I have not worn them for 2 years.  So I started another bag(s) for the Op shop!

I have decided that I will try to sell some of them however, on the website Gumtree, as some of them are designer labels.  I figure even if I get a small amount of money for them, I know it is going to someone who really wants the outfits and will appreciate them.  Then I can buy something I want. 

If you want some inspiration, just take a look at Melissa's new book Love the Home you Have, which will be out soon.

8 Tips for growing tomatoes

(and basil, in Sydney)

 

1. The worm condo

If you want good tomatoes, you need a worm condominium! For an easy way to set one up, just go the ABC Gardening how to build a worm farm.  There are two reasons for the worm condo, firstly it will give you worm juice for weekly fertilizing, secondly the worm castings are perfect for soil preparation.

2. Soil recipe

I have only 3cm of soil then solid sandstone, so I had to import soil.  I got a mixture of soil, manure and  compost.  If your soil does not have much in the way of organic matter, just add compost and manure.   To this I add the following before I plant my tomatoes:

• Crushed egg shells that have been saved, put through the microwave to dry them out, then pulverized in the blender.  This adds calcium into the soil, and stops blossom rot.
• As much worm castings as I have available. 
• A handfull of lime.
• Any ground coffee I have saved and frozen in the freezer.
• Any compost I may have around.

And... I usually plant a winter crop of peas, as these will fix nitrogen into the soil for your tomatoes to use.

3. The seaweed dip

When you buy tomato seedlings, water them and sit them in the shade until the sun has gone down before you plant them out.  Fill a container - an old ice cream container is good - with a very weak solution of water and seaweed extract.  It should look like very weak tea.  As you plant out your seedlings, dip the roots into the solution first.  This seems to give them a better start than just watering in seaweed solution.  Once they are all planted out, water the seedlings with what is leftover.

Just another thing about planting - vary your tomato varieties each year and you will soon find out which ones suite your area better, and always plant basil as a companion.  A few seeds will soon come up once the sun hits them.

4. Prune for larger fruit

You must prune out the laterals if you would like good sized fruit!  This year I let one of the cherry tomatoes go on its own, with no pruning as an experiment.  Yes we had lots of fruit, but they were tiny, and mostly skin and seeds.  Not much use those!   For a good tutorial on laterals, just look here.

Another point about pruning- if the leaves look a bit old and dry, just cut them off.  I also cut off the first couple of leaf stems at the bottom of the bush as this helps stop viruses from the soil.

5. Weekly lunches

I feed my tomatoes with a week solution of worm juice and either seaweed solution or tomatoe food every week.  When I say feed, I mean not just the soil, mostly it goes on the leaves.  This seems to keep the pests away as well as keep the tomatoes happy.

6. Dust after rain

Sydney is a major fruit fly area, so after a good rain you must dust with tomatoe dust to keep them away.  There is no other way I have found unfortunately.  This means that tomatoes must be washed very well before eating.

7. Three square meals a day mulch

I use Lucerne to mulch my vegies, and on the tomatoes it goes on about 3 times during the season.  Lucerne mulch will break down and add to the soil, feeding the worms along the way.  Other mulches will tend to take nutrients out of the soil, so be very careful what you use.

Master bedroom makeover part 1

So, it was my husbands birthday and we were having a family party outside - a BBQ actually.  Two rooms everyone was going to see were my bathroom and my bedroom.  We re-did our bathroom a few years ago, and it needs no work other than a clean - tick!  My bedroom is OK but very drab, so PICK A ROOM - done, its the master bedroom first.

 

Here is the before photos:

 

The bed cover in a pale blue is a keeper, the bedside draws will have to stay, but there must be something I can do with them.  No real cushions!

 

 

 

The chest of drawers is a 1940's op shop find, and I do love it, but the bottom handle needs fixing and the top is quite cluttered.  The gold mirror is also rather out of place, it needs something too.

 

 

 

The 1940'2 club chair is part of a set, is a great colour and will be staying.  Same with the curtains, although they need a wash I think.

 

 

 

So, for a quick fix, I started looking for cushions for the bed, and maybe a big picture across the top.  No time for a bed-head, I only have a few days, and little money.  I first looked at what was needed, and decided:

1. White background, in fact a bit of white.
2. Some colour, mostly blue, green, maybe a pop of another colour.
3. At least one cushion that would pull it together at the front.

I found just what I needed at Target and ordered it all online.  Here is the result:

 

I particularly love the Aloha cushion, as it ties in with the wall colour (which is a blue, although not obvious here).  The floral cushions behind it, fit the white with colour bill.

 

 

 

The picture behind the bed will need a little bit of re positioning, but will be fine for the day. It works well with the wall and picks up the red in the cushions nicely.  The cream throw at the bottom of the bed came from the living room (remember, reuse what you already have!)

 

 

 

The cushions still look good on the chair in the room as well.

 

 

So, for $59 (as everything was on sale) I got a quick fix for the bedroom, stage 1 complete, on to stage 2.  My plan is:

 

1. Fix the chest of draw handle
2. clean the curtains
3. find a rug for the bottom of the bed
4. find something blue for the bedside chest of draws.
5. Repaint the doors.

Maybe that will be the finish, if there ever is a finish.

 

5 steps to a new decor

I have been retired for nearly 2 years now, and I do like my house, but it has been lacking in style.  I finally realised its because it's a bit too formal, and now we live a more relaxed lifestyle.  So, this year I am setting myself a challenge to declutter and change the décor to a more "Hamptons" look.  Without spending a lot of money!