what can you get for very little.

Lately I have been very thrift and found things for myself and others which cost very little or nothing.

We are still (yes my poor friend does not have a fully functional kitchen yet) working on the kitchen.  Her request was that she has a bigger sink and I have been looking for a bigger one for a while not really finding the right one.  Then can you believe a free one in almost perfect condition came available for FREE and local.  We dashed off and picked it up. (notice the "we" that would be the royal we, when my other half goes for a drive and I organise it!)  So after a quick clean with ajax liquid, didn't want to scratch it, Good as new!!!

Although I did like the white one, my friend is the one using it AND she has requirements that must be considered.  So with this not stretching the budget any further we were able to look for the light and low and behold I found one on ebay with a starting bid of 99 cents.  Normally this pendant is $119 and I was able to get it for $15.50 and again a local pick up again.

So with these new things we will be able to keep working away on the kitchen and having a light for above the table. I like when they are lower over the table which seems to work well.

Now for my find... I haven't been very confident to find clothing in the op shops. I have a quick look but soon get overwhelmed very quickly.  well this changed the other day and I was able to find some for both myself and my Petal.   She has this absolute need for tactile clothing and with this cold weather that we have had lately I could justify 2 furry things.  A vest and a coat.  Perfect for the requirements warm and feels lovely.  (Both are machine washable and just come up lovely).  For myself I always need tops, I never seem to have enough or the right ones and well this one just screamed "take me home".  It was very crushed when I found it and didn't look so very good but after getting it home and cleaning and ironing has come up just right.

I was actually looking for something that I could wear to work but well I couldn't pass it up.  Pretty!  I have a black jacket that works well with this top and still shows it off.  If you look closely you will see my beautiful pendant that I wear with it, a gift from a very VERY dear friend and just looks so lovely.

On a totally different note, I realised today for the first time that I don't have a "comfort food".  I have been racking my brains what I would use for comfort in the form of food.  I have comfort knitting which I do when I am feeling very low or sad.   I have a comfort drink, warm vanilla milk which I have when I need a little pick me up but nothing in particular with food. Being lactose intolerant ice cream is never ever going to work to provide comfort, chocolate I have no really interest in so that too is out.  Hopefully someone can suggest something for me. I know that Tom Yum soup is craved when I am sick with a head cold.  Helps clear the sinus with the lovely hot chilly.

I think I sew or make things or bake!

Op Shopping

We popped in yesterday on the way to the shops, just because I couldn't stand being at home. I have so much study and work to do and needed to get out for a while.  I had class in the morning overloaded and had some frustration and that was that.  We went to a different op shop, I have been many years ago however not since for no good reason. We found a Blake 7 video for $1.00 and I decided it was about time that I introduced them to another show that I had found very enjoyable when I was younger.  

We are having a lovely time with the old tv shows.  The list to date that they are enjoying is:

The Tomorrow People original series
HR Puffenstuff (found a few video's at the op shops in new condition still with the plastic on)
Rocky and Bullwinkle (only on you tube)
The Storyteller
Dr Who current and older series.
Round the Twist
the Magic Roundabout (original) which started everything off. i had a lovely ring tone when my girls were born from this show, haven't been able to get another one. I had a relative from England visiting us and realised straight away what it was, he started laughing at my phone.  So what is next I wonder, always exciting as to what we will find at the op shop.

I think me and the other half have enjoyed it as much as the children. They wait patiently sometimes for the next video from the op shop or impatiently I go searching on ebay for something else.

some time....

Sometimes life takes over and this blog is totally forgotten or maybe just that nagging feeling that something should be said.

My course is almost effectively on hold at the moment. My father-in-law is fighting for his life in hospital at the moment and we are praying that he wins.  We always ask what his quality of life will be like after his stays in hospital however we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

i have been totally horrified with how quickly the demensia has taken hold and just consumed so many part of his memory.  Skills have disappeared.......just so very sad.

I am still massaging and still working on my assignments but the urgency and final exam has gone.  I didn't need this pressure on top of everything else. I know I would have just thrown my hands up in disgust and walked away.

I haven't seen a lot of my friends for so long. I am sad about the distance that occurs when life gets too really hectic.

Ok enough so now on to the good things.

My beautiful amazing fabulous friend gave me tickets to.....

FABULOUS show, the right amount of humour and wit that I needed to draw me into this wonderful world of Paris 1920's.  I enjoyed every moment and would highly recommend if you need a good laugh to go.

I went this time with my sister in law (Louise).  I met her at her home and we swapped unexpected presents before we left. I had an American theme for her, a pink pie dish (I found on Etsy and found it very hard to part with, especially with my Petal who absolutely loves pink) and some American spending money for her special trip next year.

We have been busy collecting things for the garden and designing and having a lovely time.  Lots of work is going to be done soon we have only just started.  So here is the design that we are going to work with....

What do you think?   Do you think it will go well with a French provincial design?  We have a few plants, a couple of olive trees and a pot and things to add to it. I will post more pictures as we go.  I think some lovely herbs would be good to grow around the edge. I keep changing my mind. We are re-using bricks that we have and recycling and trying to keep the cost down to a minimum as garden designs can add up very very quickly.  The circle needs another layer yet but this is just the planning stage.


We need something to take us away from all the stress and nothing like a bit of outside in the Spring Garden to help this.

more op shops

It was a big week, ANOTHER assignment and one I had to resubmit with a few changes.  Thats done so back to it.  The end is in sight and I am no where near ready for it.  I have 3 massages to do this week and I am wondering about the time for the assignments.  Either way I need to do both!  Both are equally important.

My Petal is settling into a routine of Occupation Therapy again.  She loves her therapist, my teacher and now her therapist.  I tried to pick the best person that I knew for her.  It seems to be working. I get to see how far she has come in these years and where we are so far behind as well.  It is a roller coaster of a journey. It breaks my heart that most physical tasks are so very difficult for her.  We spent nearly 1 and 1/2 years teaching her to do star jumps.  They are not perfect but quite good now.   Star jumps involve both hand and leg co-ordination. We are doing crawling, using the ipad to do left and right recognition and meditating.  

So what else have we done.  We had Gumbo in the park at Northcote on Friday night, we visited the Radical Grocery shop and bought lots of vegan ingredients and will be using them this week. I will let you know how they go.  We bought some lovely wool for me and I am itching to knit up a scarf to wear with the beautiful blue wool hand spun by Janet.  I left her some purple wool that needs spinning, with the promise of collecting it in a few weeks. Janet insisted that she would teach me how to use the spinning wheel.  I would dearly love to learn so I might be taking her up on the craft and cocktails meetings that she has, AFTER I have finished my study. I am not willing to take anymore on at the moment feeling stretched to breaking point.

My other half has made 2 steps forward and 1 back with my dear friends Kitchen.  Poor love is still without a kitchen and goodness the time is just flying away from us. 

How quickly has this year gone!  

I have a confession to make, we did some op shopping on Saturday to another new shop in our immediate area, one that we have driven past many times and never visited. Well this is our new favourite. I have to confess that I bought ANOTHER pie dish. That would make 4 now. I think I need help.  One is special from Etsy and the rest I have sourced from op shops.  This one is orange made in Australia, pyrex and I promise that I won't buy anymore unless they insist that I take them home or I find a pink one for my Petal. 

Have a lovely weekend, off to get the muffins out of the oven before they burn.  

the challenge of dairy free

We are well on our way to having our household now eating almost dairy free. It has been a little challenging at times.  It is when you get a request like Ice Cream that things become very interesting.  I did not feel inspired to make soy ice cream.  I haven't liked the taste prior to this so I have just ignored making it myself.  Our lovely and talented friend and study buddy from school sent me a wonderful recipe. Something i hadn't considered, coconut milk ice cream.  This immediately sounded very appealing. So last night we set to work making our own recipe and seeing what we could come up.  We used coconut cream, some ripe banana's, some sugar, some vanilla beans and some vanilla paste.  (never have too much vanilla!) and some vanilla essence.

The result was an instant hit with the children and the other half.  i think for myself I just like the flavour of vanilla only (so boring). I did enjoy it... just not my favourite.

I have realised that the children have made the transition to diary free very easily.  For me it is a bit more of a challenge. (I love fresh butter, cheese and yoghurt!)  I am really missing butter especially with  baking.

What treasures will be found.

The last couple of weekends we have been having fun, the children and myself going to op shops.  We have been to a few different ones recently instead of our regular places.  My Petal settles herself in to see what books she can find, my Hurricane instantly looks for building treasures and I have been looking for Pyrex and a top for my other half.

I recently acquired a nice coat and I am very happy with this find.  I stumbled upon it quite by accident and decided that the weather being so cold I could justify this buy.  I have noticed that when I visit that often people have a budget, they won't pay more than $1 for books, they won't pay more than other set prices for things. I don't really do that. i do have a limit to what I will pay but it depends upon the item and the quality and condition.

I found my blue pie dish in pyrex or no it's crown this one.  It was an affordable price so it came home with us.   My Hurricane this time had to have things that were all $10.  Well over my budget for toys and things. I did get talked into a lightsabre, which hasn't left his side since Saturday. It comes to dinner with us, when he is playing on the computer and any time that he thinks would be suitable.  My Petal has been raiding her piggy bank and has been quite happily purchasing what she wants. It is a wonderful new level of freedom for her and she looks at the prices carefully before making her choices.  It's very interesting to see her skills being tested and she looks for small items as well that might be included in the stash but not charged for as they are too small to worry about. These wonderful treasures she is extremely pleased with.  A couple of little tiny pocket dresses and accessories have not been acquired.

When my other half returns from his kitchen adventures the children and myself proudly show him our treasures.  We also make a point of donating some goods whilst we are there.  Some come in, others go out.  I do hold back from donating books now as they are going to the second hand book store that we have recently found.  A great place and they do wonderful swaps there for the children's books.

The kitchen is starting to make better progress now.  We picked up the pressed metal splashback and that has been taken to the place ready for installing.  It;s nice to think that it is starting to come together. It feels like a very long time and I know for my dear friend it has been A VERY LONG time since she had a workable kitchen.  I hope she can hold out a bit longer and then well it will be great once it is done.

Well back to assignments one more done and lots more to go, time is fast running out I have about 10 weeks left before I finish my course and that is just so hard to believe.

A kitchen!

We have been helping our dear dear friend with installing a new (2nd hand) kitchen.  We being not quite the right term.  Mostly my other half has been working very hard on doing this. I helped initially with the demolishing of the existing one. (I am working on behind the scenes)  I found the kitchen on  ebay that would work without too many changes, bid on it and kept the price down as low as I could.    We were working on a tight (VERY) budget and needed to make the most of every cent.  So labour was ours, some small extra's were gifts. We found a lovely pressed tin splash back on sale that is within the budget.

Things are taking time and we try to fit it in whenever we can. We feel very guilty that it's not up and running and our poor friend is having to make do with a makeshift area.  Sometimes plans don't work out exactly and we are also painfully aware that a new baby is coming to the family very VERY soon. More reason to get things done.