Before Shots - The Front Garden

I have just realised how long it's been since I last posted. I really need to get my butt back into gear. All our time is spent on the house and garden at the moment. There are so many things to get done but I am beginning to feel we are making some progress, even if the list grows longer each day.

Here are some before shots of our front yard.

This is from the footpath. We had started to clean up the front (hence the green bin and rake) when I remembered to grab the camera. The trees at the front are mainly lilly pillys but we think they are going to need replacing in order to make a hedge. They have been neglected for too long and there are huge gaps in the branches right where the hedge should be. They are a beautiful variety (not sure of the name yet). The new growth is pink. The two palms are going though.

I am standing on the driveway here. We are trying to coax the box hedge back and I think it is beginning to work. The little grassed bit will eventually be replaced with garden. There is also some lovely old stone edging under the grass that we will rescue and reuse for the garden edging.

This is from the porch. We have a huge front porch that will be lovely and cool in summer as it misses out on the afternoon sun. Not sure what pot plants I can put there though. You can get a better idea of the grass area here. My plan for the front garden is a mix of native and traditional cut flowers. I think I will keep the backyard as the productive area.

Starting on the Back Yard

I have just gone through my photos and realised I don't really have a complete before shot of the back yard - oops.

Here is the best photo I can find (at least it has the area we began work on).

Our backyard is basically edged with weeds that have become trees or shrubs, ten ill-placed pines down one side, a sterile mulberry tree and a camellia. All of which have been left to go nuts. That's just two sides of the yard. The other side has a shed (yeah!) a pergola and a beautiful old frangipani tree that has paving right up to the trunk. There isn't any grass in the middle, just a few weeds and dirt.

The great thing about this is that we can pretty much design the garden ourselves. I am working on a design and I will post it as soon as I can figure out how to.

Yesterday, Mr Berry started on clearing the backyard. There were seven (yes seven) small pines planted along the north-eastern fence (there are still four absolutely huge ones there blocking a lot of the morning sun - they need a professional). Seriously, they were about 70cm apart - who would do that? They were chopped off and mulched. It took just about all day but by nightfall this is what remained:

I don't know if you can see the stumps at the back. Mr Berry only had time to get three of them out. Around the trees was full of Wandering Jew so we needed to do as much weeding as possible before lifting the stumps.

And, all seven trees were turned into this:

Not even a cubic metre of compost. I was sure I would have enough for a hot compost pile. I haven't checked the pile yet to see if it is heating up at all. If it's still cold by lunch time I will pile it into my smaller bin and start it cold composting.

Now that the sun can get to the ground there, we are going to make an interim veggie patch. In the long run I want a mandala garden for the veggies but that will take some time.

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And a big Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there. I am lucky to have my Dad and Miss Berry feels the same way.

Rhonda from Down to Earth wrote a post earlier in the year that reflects my thoughts on Father's Day.

It's true, the boys are often lurking in the background of the blogs and we get glimpses of them now and then. In reality, Mr Berry is the opposite. He is at the forefront of our family, supporting, guiding and following. He is my team member, and makes up for my weaknesses and helps my strengths to grow. Thank you Mr Berry for being a wonderful husband and father. I love you.

A New Oven

So, it turns out our oven is broken and cannot be repaired. The exact phrase was:

"It's over 10 years old so the parts aren't made anymore".

What?

It is stainless steel - it can't be that old. But no, apparently 10 years is over the hill in oven years (perhaps they age similar to dogs).

The current oven is gas, but I think I want an electric one. I have checked out CHOICE and read their reports on ovens and apparently gas is no longer all it's cracked up to be. Electric ovens have improved over the years and an electric oven can have so many cooking options that they can be much more versatile than a gas oven.

Here is my wish list for my oven:

• Non marking stainless steel (for grubby little finger marks)
• External Grill (or super duper internal grill that won't splash fat through the entire oven)
• At least three shelf positions
• Cooking options like fan or different elements on or off
• Self cleaning - but will heating the oven to high temps damage my timber kitchen?
• A side opening door sounds really nice but not at the expense of other things on my list
• A door with a large window so I can see the food without having to open the door during cooking
• Shelves that won't tip when they are half pulled out and have safety stoppers so they won't come all the way out by accident.
• A smokeless grill tray (especially if we go for an internal grill)
• A non-tilting grill tray with stoppers like the oven shelves as well as a grill tray that comes out far enough to reach food at the back of the tray.
• A shield on the front of the grill element to stop burnt fingers

Other things to check:

• The inside dimensions
• Energy Efficiency
• How easy it is to get to the bulb
• Ease of removing shelves for cleaning plus lack of nooks and crannies on the inside of the oven.
• The warranty length
• Service times etc.

So that's my check list for today. Hopefully by the weekend we will have purchased one. I had no idea how much I rely on using an oven.

We've Moved In

Wow, I can't believe it's been a month since I posted last. Time has just flown.

We have moved into our new house and the boxes are unpacked - although some were simply up-ended in the spare room to sort out later.

Miss Berry has settled in now. She was a bit homesick for our old house for the first few weeks but is OK now. She loves the garden and will spend all day running around outside. Our old house was on a slope and there was a flight of stairs from the back door to the garden. I was terrified of her falling down them and couldn't leave her in the backyard for even a second. Now our backyard is much more user friendly and we have a fantastic patio area that has a full view of the yard so I can sit back and have a cup of tea whilst she runs wild.

The gardens are very neglected - which is good. I have some ideas for a garden design and will work on it over the next few months. We have put in an application to council to remove some very large trees that are damaging fences and paths, and once they are out we can clean up the rest of the garden and start thinking about planting productive fruit and veg.

I don't have any photos as yet, I did find the camera but the battery was dead. I think the charger must be in that aforementioned pile in the spare bedroom. That's a job for today.

Cleaning Windows

It has been so long since I've posted. We have been very busy organising the move and de-cluttering everything and this week we have started packing.


We have also decided to save some money and do the move clean (in both houses) ourselves. Usually I get a cleaner in - I'm not keen on the idea of cleaning a house I'm not going to live in. But by doing it ourselves we will be saving a few hundred dollars and we can spend it on getting the garden or chook pen set up.


So, today I am tackling the windows. I use Enjo cleaning products, but a weak vinegar solution for the glass and soapy water for everything else will work just as well. I also like to add a few drops of essential oil to the water. Just pick one that smells nice.


We have old sash-cord windows which means a lot of timber and deep sills. I begin by dusting and sweeping the sills and timber. I also dust the venetians. I then clean the glass - vinegar and water works really well but I use my Enjo window cleaner. All the timber is then wiped clean with a damp cloth and dried off with an old cloth nappy. Don't forget the tops of the window frame and around any curtain rods.


I then move to the venetian blinds. If you dust your venetians regularly, then they won't need much cleaning. It's when the dust builds up that you need soapy water. Because we are moving out, I will clean them with soapy water. I have an Enjo Flexi but you could use a cloth. Whatever you use, it needs to be damp. If you are using a cloth, add a bit of soap to the water (just a little though, you don't want to spend time rinsing suds off.) Dry the venetians with the nappy and you are done.


The bedrooms have continuous curtains on them too so whilst I am cleaning the windows I will pop the curtains in the wash. Once the machine has finished I will hang them straight back up to dry.


Once they are done, leave the blinds open and enjoy the fresh smell of essential oils. Make yourself a cut of tea and sit down and enjoy your hard work.

Plastic - Evil Or Just Misunderstood?

Did anyone watch Addicted to Plastic on the ABC last night? It was a documentary on the problem of waste plastic and what people are doing to solve the problem.


One person interviewed said that the plastics industry isn't evil and planned to swamp the earth with toxic plastic waste, but rather we all got caught up in post war consumerism. Plastic was marketed as the great time saver. Mum's could have more time to themselves because they wouldn't have to wash up. (More time? Yeah right.) And coming from the frugality of the war time, you can understand the desire to have a life that was very different from the reminders of war.


Since then, our desire to accumulate more stuff has grown exponentially. We want our lives to be 'simpler' and require less work so we look for disposable items, pre-packaged foods and other convenience items which means heaps and heaps of plastic being thrown out each day. Even the idea of a plastic bag that is used once then thrown out (or put in a cupboard to multiply) sounds ridiculous when you consider the alternative of a re-usable fabric or canvas bag that can be washed over and over again if needed.


Throughout the documentary, I kept thinking that the problems we have with plastic is not because of the plastic but rather because of our behaviour and attitude towards plastic. If everything that was plastic was made out of say linen, (imagine for a minute that this linen is rigid and is just like plastic - only linen) our attitude to packaging would be very different. Imagine using a tea towel once then throwing it away.


I think plastic has it's place and can be useful (think of tupperware - mmmm tupperware) but we need to let go of the idea of plastic as a disposable substance. Every time you throw out a piece of plastic remember that plastic will always remain plastic - and it has to go somewhere, forever. Now that doesn't sound very disposable.


So, what can we do about it?


I understand that changing the way you think as well as unconscious habits can be extremely difficult, but with some effort on our part there are things we can do.

• Stop excessive buying. Plastic is in everything so the first step is to reduce spending. If you buy less new stuff and repair what you have or search out second hand items, then less plastic will be thrown out and some of the plastic that is out there will remain out of land fill for longer.


• If you do buy something new, choose products that have minimal plastic packaging. The most obvious items would have to be fruit and vegetables that are in a plastic tray and then wrapped in plastic. What's with that? Other things to consider are individual serves of snacks and biscuits. Try to avoid other purchases such as clothing that is wrapped in plastic sleeves.


• When you buy a plastic product that will be thrown out, choose a product that is made from a recyclable plastic. All councils have different plastics they will take for recycling but you can usually check what they are from your local council website (most plastics have a little number on them - that's how you can tell what's what).

Are you getting a theme from the above points? Yep it's Reduce, Reuse, Recylce. A simple but very effective way to solve a lot of our waste issues, not just for plastic.

So why not start reducing the amount of plastic you use today. Say no to a plastic bag. Better yet, keep a plastic bag from home in your handbag or car. That way you will always have a bag with you and you will be keeping one more plastic bag from being tossed away.

If you missed Addicted to Plastic you can check it out on ABC's iView.

Good News. We Have Bought a House!

The contracts were signed last night and it is now official. In six weeks we will have the keys to our house.

Ok, so this is not our new (or old) house. I found it on flikr by *Susie* and thought it was so cute. I'd buy it.

Searching for the right house has taken us a while and it was disappointing when we missed out on the last house. But, as we all know, the right house will come along and this one ticks a lot more boxes than any of the others.

It is beautifully old and still has a lot of the original features. It has had a renovation at the back so it has an internal laundry (yeah!) and the toilets are inside (even more yeah!). It is very livable so we won't be living in squalor and we will be able to cope with it as it is for a few years without any problems. But it has been a rental for a while so there is a lot of cosmetic work needed - which is great. We can put our own personal eco-stamp on the house and garden. The garden is basically non existent except for a super large old frangipani (how nice is the backyard going to smell?) and last night I dreamt of garden designs and the things we will need to do to improve the soil as well as all the fruit trees I will plant.

I am also a little bit shocked that it has actually happened and I don't think I will really believe it until we get the keys. After all, anything can happen in six weeks for this to fall through (the main one being the bank failing to get it's but into gear - they are still taking a huge amount of time to get anything done).

So, now I have to start thinking about packing. Actually no, I am going to ignore that for a week and just enjoy dreaming of what my new garden is going to look like.

And, if it ever stops raining I am sure we will have many, many walks. This house is just around the corner from where we live now.

I have just noticed that this is post number 95. Perhaps I should work on a giveaway for my 100th post? I will think about what I can put together. Giveaways are so much fun.

Permaculture St George

After months of searching, I finally found the details for a local permaculture group (turns out I had the wrong name, duh).

So tonight I went to my first meeting. I had a great time and went home with lots of food for though as well as an aloe vera cutting and some cos lettuce seeds. They meet each month and membership seems to also include some other bonuses such as LETS membership.

Here is the web site if you are interested and live in the southern Sydney area:

http://permaculturestgeorge.ning.com/


On the weather front - it is freezing. Who would have thought the beginning of winter could be so cold. Was it like this last winter? Each summer I believe it will never again be cold and each winter I believe it will never again be hot.

On the way home tonight the car registered the outside temperature as 9oC and this morning Miss Berry's room was 13oC. I think I might make more of a note of the temperature in this blog so I can look back next year and compare the temps. It has also been pretty windy. We haven't had any rain for a week or so and the wind has really dried everything out - I must water this weekend.

Thankfully we don't get frosts in this area. Although the veggies have slowed down I can still plant throughout the winter without worrying about frost damage.

What Is Simple Living?

"Living simply isn't about self-imposed poverty; it's about consciously deciding what is important in life and reducing our needs to those of greatest importance."

- Linda Cockburn, Living the Good Life

I am reading Linda's book Living the Good Life at the moment and am finding it very motivating. I would recommend it to anyone interested in living sustainably. You can also check out her blog here.

There are a some ideas from Linda's book I wanted to mention today about living simply. I must admit the term 'simple living' is not something I usually say out loud. I find it has a certain cringe factor about it. A lot of people seem to have no idea what it means and end up giving me a sympathetic poor you attitude that assumes we are living simply because we can not do otherwise. I find people fail to realise the environmental impact of living a high consumerism lifestyle, as well as the health impact of fast, convenience foods. Even as I try to explain to them why we have made these decisions, they have already turned off - I can tell they do not understand.

I no longer try to explain our lifestyle choices to people. Friends can read about it here (and some do - hi Diana) and other friends are happy to remain oblivious and label us as hippies. That's ok, our choice to live simply was not made so we can broadcast to the world how great we are. There is no need for us to tell everyone about it, but for those that are interested I have always struggled to describe our way of life in a few sentences.

To me, simple living encompasses so many aspects - the environment, our health, saving money, reducing consumerism (and waste), the family and the list goes on. It is empowering because we are not being caught up in the flow of today's society that demands that happiness must come with excess packaging and a huge credit card debt.

But going against society's norm is challenging. It is hard to stick to your guns when advertising is screaming at you wherever you turn. When socialising with friends generally comes with a price tag. There are days when I really do feel like I am swimming against the tide - perhaps one of those really strong rips you avoid when you go to the beach. That no matter how hard we try, advertising will suck us under and back into the evil underworld of shiny plastic things. So why do we keep struggling?

Linda says "living simply or sustainably, whatever term you use, may mean that from the outside looking in, you may be labelled poor. This is a construct of our society, which builds its successful-person model on income, what products they choose to spend it on, how they 'wear' it, what house they live in and what they drive."

And yet, those of us that embrace simple living know that whilst it is the opposite of what society deems successful, it is far from poor. And that is what I sometimes have a hard time conveying to others. There is absolutely no need to feel sorry for people living simply. In fact I sometimes feel sorry for those who don't. But after reading Linda's book, I think I have found how to describe what we do and why we do it to people.

Linda describes simple living as "not about giving things up, forsaking them, frugality, denial, stinginess, deprivation or lack. It's about taking things up: self-determination, freedom, autonomy and abundant living."

What do you think best describes simple living? I'd love to hear your ideas on how or if you describe living simply to others and what responses you get.

An End to the Mouse Saga

I told you about our little mouse here.

By Saturday we still hadn't caught the bugger. He was still eating the bait off the traps without setting them off so we headed down to the new and super big Bunnings store to get more traps.

We bought three different types.

The three traps at the top are the new ones. The plastic grey one on the bottom was the original one we used - it didn't work.

So, we set them all with peanut butter that night (he seemed to like peanut butter the most). And went to bed with our fingers crossed.

Sunday morning we woke to find our little friend had been caught in the nice humane keep-him-alive trap.

Great.

He was such a tiny little thing and whilst we were happy for him the be caught and killed in one of the other traps, now that he was caught alive we couldn't bring ourselves to kill him.

So Mr Berry bundled Miss Berry and the mouse (not together - the mouse was in a bucket. Miss Berry wouldn't fit in the bucket so we put her in her car seat) in the car and set off for Oatley Park. A nice large recreational park with lots of bushland. He and Miss Berry let the mouse go on the edge of the bush and they were happily watching the little thing scamper away.

All of a sudden the mouse changed direction and headed out onto the grassed area of the park and before you could say 'oh look at that little mouse' a bird swooped down and took him.

Mr Berry was speechless.

Miss Berry said 'Where did the mouse go?'

I don't think I need to say any more.

Simple Scones

I wrote about making scones the other day and here is the recipe I use.


Makes approx 12 scones.

2 cups self raising flour

pinch salt (for a flavour enhancer, not for taste)

30g cold butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup cold milk

1/3 cup water

extra milk for glazing

Preheat oven to 210 oC. Prepare your baking tray (I use baking paper but you could grease if you want to).

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Scones need lots of air so this step is important. Add the chopped butter and rub in lightly using your fingertips -it will end up looking like fine breadcrumbs. Only use the tips of your fingers. You shouldn't have any flour on the palms of your hands and you should be using a light touch.

Make a well in the centre and add most of the combined milk and water. Mix with a flat bladed knife to a soft dough, add more of the milk/water if you need to.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead the dough very briefly and lightly. Your aim is to just make the dough smooth and not sticky. It shouldn't take any longer than about 30 seconds.

Roll out dough to 2cm thick (or so). Cut the dough into rounds about 5cm in diameter. You can buy scone cutters but I just use a small drinking glass. Flour the edge of the cutter first. Don't re-knead the left over dough but press it together and lightly re-roll to cut more rounds. You don't want to over work the dough or you'll end up with tough scones. Place the cut rounds onto the baking tray so that they just touch and glaze them with the extra milk.

Bake for about 10 mins or until they are golden. To check they are cooked, break one open - it shouldn't be doughy in the middle. If you want soft scones wrap them in a clean tea towel (my preference) otherwise, put them on a wire rack to cool slightly.

Serve warm with jam and whipped or dollop cream.

I Hate Mieces to Pieces

image by tomsaint11

Yesterday I was sitting down having a nice quiet lunch when out of the corner of my eye I spot a little brown mouse run into the dining room then run back out into the hallway (and I assume back into the kitchen). I did what any respectable eco warrior would do. I jumped up on my chair and did what I like to call the two step chicken dance - I jumped from one foot to the other whilst waving my arms like a chicken.

I then called my Dad.

Luckily, Dad was only ten minutes away and had time to drop in. Now I am all for wildlife - providing said wildlife doesn't enter my domain. Once they enter the house that's it. Miss Berry was miraculously still asleep so Dad went to the local hardware for some mouse traps. Apparently soft paste-like foods is better than cheese so we set the traps with peanut butter and waited.

This morning my eco warrior surfaced again and I sent Mr Berry into the kitchen to check the traps. No mouse, and no peanut butter.

I mean no peanut butter. I think the mouse had licked the traps clean. At least we have a smart mouse.

We reset the traps (still with peanut butter) and I am going out for the day. If he manages to take the peanut butter again I might try cream cheese. I think the cold is solidifying the peanut butter allowing it to come off the trap in one go.

So, the moral of this story is that it doesn't matter how old you are, Dad's can fix anything (well, almost anything).


Edited to Add: I just checked the traps and one of them has been licked clean. Little Bugger. This means war!

Last Minute Morning Tea

Today I was on morning tea duty at Playgroup and as always I was my usual organised self and did not get around to baking a cake yesterday. I really didn't want to buy a cake, not only are they really expensive but they also aren't very nice.

So, this morning I cooked 2 batches of scones and served them still warm with strawberry jam and cream for morning tea.

I was amazed (and a little shocked) at the response from the other Mums. Everyone seemed really impressed that I had scones for morning tea. In particular, they were surprised that I actually made the scones instead of buying them at Baker's Delight. (at $4ish each?) They were surprised in a good way - I received a lot of thank yous.

The thing is, I see scones as a last minute thing - the sort of things you cook when unexpected guests drop in or when you don't have time to bake a cake. I also think they are super yummy - as did the other Mums.

I guess it just goes to show that most people are not living simply. People do not take the time to bake, even though scones take about 10 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to cook. For less than the cost of 2 packets of biscuits, we had a lovely homemade morning tea that was super yummy and not full of sugar and preservatives. And even though it was a morning tea that is one of the quickest, cheapest things you can make, it was a special treat at Playgroup.

I think that is a little sad.

Perfect Rice

I have been searching for the perfect rice recipe and I think I have found it. It is from Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food Cookbook.

Serves 4 (I think it is more like 6 serves)

• 350g basmati rice
• sea salt

Put a large saucepan of salted water on a high heat and bring to the boil.
Rinse rice in a colander under running water til water runs clear (this takes about 1 min).
Add rice to saucepan and wait til the grains start dancing around.
From that point boil for 5 minutes.
Drain rice in colander
Pour 2.5cm of water into the saucepan and bring it to the boil then turn down to a simmer.
Cover the rice in the colander with foil or a lid
Place colander on top of the saucepan of simmering water and let the rice steam for 8-10 minutes.
Remove from the heat and serve.
The rice will stay warm for about 20 minutes with the foil left on the colander.

We'll Keep on Looking - and Saving

We didn't get the house.


We decided that it would be too risky for us at the moment to buy at auction. One bank (one of the big 4) has still yet to look at our application for a pre-approval - it has taken them 4 weeks so far. With the banks taking so long at the moment to give pre-approvals we had absolutely no confidence in them getting the loan organised in time for settlement. The house sold for $20,000.00 more than our upper limit anyway, so even if we had our finance sorted out we wouldn't have won the auction.


I do feel empowered in the decisions we made during this exercise. Even though I loved the house (it was perfect) we (or should I say I) was able to make rational decisions about the price we were willing to pay, the loan options we wanted as well as the ultimate decision about risk concerning the auction. I understand some people will pay anything and take any loan they can get in order to buy a particular house. That then leaves them with a lovely house, but with huge debt that they really can't afford to repay. I have heard stories of people living off their credit cards because their mortgage repayments are so high. They then roll the credit card debt into their mortgage as the house increases in value so they can start the cycle again.


This was exactly the situation we do not want to get into. Last year we made the decision to live off one income so we could give Miss Berry what we believe is the most important thing - time and attention that comes from having one parent stay at home. This means that we not only have to rent for longer whilst we save for a deposit, but also that we need a bigger deposit so that our mortgage repayments are low enough to maintain our current lifestyle on one income.


Although it will take longer to get our own house, I am happy with our decision. It has made it a lot easier to stay on budget and i think it's because the decision was ours. If we had been forced into this it would be a lot harder.

So we will keep on saving and I will keep on looking. I am sure the right house will come at the right time. There are after all, a lot of houses in our area. Surely some of them will be perfect?