Buy No Veg Challenge.

It's the last day of July and we are still on track.

No veg were bought during July and the only fruit I bought was 4 bananas to take to work.  Pretty good aye?
And though I was going to buy a chook to cook I didn't so no meat was bought either.
How good am I!!

I must get Hubby onto culling a few chooks though so I don't need to buy one.

We have sweet potato, cabbages, broccoli, carrots, potatoes, capsicum, beetroot, onions, chillies, assorted lettuce, spinach ready to pick.  Caulies are finished, we didn't have many of those but enough for us.
Peas and broad beans are in flower.  They seem to be taking a long time and I don't have as many plants in as last year.  Not sure why as I love raw peas.  Not many actually get cooked.  Still have garlic and pumpkins in the shed.  L. brings us out a bag of onions sometimes which is good as otherwise I might have to limit my use of them.  I add onions to most stuff that I cook so the more I have the more I can add.

August is covered but I need to start thinking of Spring planting.

And I need to make sure I shut the gate to the back paddock because if the cows get in then we won't have much left.  I left it open a few days ago so am very lucky that they didn't notice.

Dam Visitor

A  welcome one not an unwanted one. 
We have had them before and always wonder where they are from as we are a long way from anywhere pelican friendly.

Even though I was sneaking up on it real sneaky like I still managed to make too much noise and scared it away.

Some People Aren't Nice...3

We believe that the TOSSA was on his, her, their way home from a party around the corner..  Some people told us they had the noise of people passing their place late that night.

The party was at the cops house, around the corner and up the road from us   Not an uncommon thing, or so we have been told.

We are going to speak to him about it but he allows them to ride quad bikes all around the place so we aren't expecting much.

Some People Aren't Nice...2

Hubby went into town and when he gets back here he comes inside and says that the TOSSA from last night had taken some glasses with him and smashed them on the road just up from our place.

We went and picked up the bigger pieces and I brushed up the smaller bits but it shows that the damage last night was intentional.  He is a TOSSA!  ( T and Hubby say I should spell that with er but I like the way it looks with the A so no spelling police needed, thanks)

Some People Aren't Nice...

They are mean and stupid.

I have been decluttering and I had a couple of tables of stuff outside our front fence with a sign saying, *free, help yourself*   The tables were up near the fence, not near the road.  I bring the sign in out of the way before dark. 

There is no footpath but there is plenty of room for anyone or anything to get past.

So why did some idiot have to walk past late last night and flip a table over.  The table with plates, cups, glasses on.  I went out this morning and it's all smashed.  Why would someone do that?
Hubby said he heard a noise and heard people talking as they walked past but they were way past our place when he went outside.  It wasn't until this morning that he knew what the noise was.
He says they must have been drunk.  Drunk?  So that makes it OK to do something mean like that?
Well, it's not OK and I am quite cross about it.

If drinking makes you do stupid, mean things then don't drink.  If you are just a tossa that likes doing mean and stupid things then...I won't say what I think they should do but I think we would all have our own thoughts on it.

This table was too close to our fence to have been accidentally crashed into.

I know the idea of having the tables out there with the *free* sign is a good one...there is another car out there now and the people have taken a few things.  Maybe I will just have to bring them in every night.

I Netted To Do This Last Week...

This is what happens when I don't do what I need to before I need to.







The parrots are a pretty bird and I do like watching them
but if I am not going to shoo(t) them then I need to
prevent them eating MY oranges.  This is how.

If I had of done it last week I would have saved a few oranges from being munched on.


..

Asparagus.

 Well, all the healthy eating hasn't made that much difference to how I feel but I did get outside and finally got the Asparagus planted.

A friend dug up his HUGE patch and gave it to me a couple of weeks ago and I then left it sitting in a pile until Wednesday.  Half of it is now planted, in a spot that it shouldn't be but that is why it's taken so long.  The place where we decided to put it needs digging over and it's too hard for me to do and Hubby hasn't yet.  So...because I didn't know where to put it I left it sitting in a pile...

Stop thinking about it and JUST DO IT!  So I did.  I dug over  one of the tank gardens out the back and planted some in that.  These gardens are supposed to be for temporary plants but I have only pinched half of one and no-one will know. 

I have a few small clumps to put somewhere else and will do that this morning.  If they are not in the *right* spot it shouldn't matter too much, at least they will be in with a chance to survive.  I hope I haven't killed it all by leaving it too long.

Eat Healthy, Be Healthy.

I am not well again, I have yet another cold.  This would be the 3rd in less than 2 months and I'm pretty sure why.  It's because Hubby has been home and I have been eating more crap food than decent stuff.  And yes, I know I can't really blame him, he doesn't actually hold me down and shove it in but he has been home more days than not over the last 5 weeks and he is a crap food buyer and eater and because it is here I eat the stupid stuff too.  So that makes me stupid aye.  It's not like it is nicer than the healthy fresh stuff.  I mean gosh, melted cheese on WHITE!!! bread.  How is that nicer than a freshly picked orange.  It wasn't, I knew it wouldn't be, I ate it anyway.  Stupid.

He is back at work this week and I am going to be eating nothing but healthy stuff.  I have made up a big pot of lentils and vegetables, I have plenty of eggs, oranges, fish and meat if I want that.  The crap he left here has gone to the chooks, the icecream is out in the shed freezer, my fridge is pure again.

I am having hot lemon and honey drinks today with a couple of  sleeps so by tomorrow I will be feeling up to getting out and doing stuff.  I need to start walking again, that seems to stop when he is home as well.   I think I need to work on self discipline, doesn't look like I have any when he is around...

I have been reading a thread on Fabulous at fifty on the Simple Savings site and the last couple of days I have felt anything but.  Reading other women's thoughts on the subject did get me to throw out some daggy clothes that I no longer like though and I think as I feel better I will get rid of some more.   Eventually, maybe, most of the crappy clothes will be replaced with things that look halfway decent.  That might keep me eating the way I want to as well.  It can't hurt anyway.

I need to get fitter, it will enable me to do heaps more.  Just got to get those bleedin' iron levels up.  I am still working on that.  I need to have more tests next week as the blood test that I had last week shows that they are still too low and the doctor says they need to find out why so they can be fixed, then I will be able walk at a decent pace to get fitter.  So that's another reason that I shouldn't be eating cruddy food.  If I want to be healthy then I think that any food that goes into the body should be healthy.  At least more healthy stuff than cruddy stuff. and now I have made a start again I will stick to it, even when he is home. 

This is why we grow our own food.  So we can have fresh, healthy food every day.  Why I don't stick with that I have no idea. 

Off to have a bowl of soup.  And an orange!

Brave or A Failure?

Last April school holidays a few family members met down at the Donnybrook playground for a play and lunch.  It was my first visit and though I went on some of the slides and other equipment I was too scared to climb the *rope tower*  I said I'd do it next time.  Well "next time" was a couple of weeks ago.
Was a brave or did I fail?
This time there were *hundreds* more people at the park and kids, and a few adults, were always going up and down this tower and it was sooo tempting...So I talked some of the group into climbing it with me.  Well the two of them made it to the top but I didn't.
                                                   
So, brave or failure?  I was nearly there but...not quite.
Do you know that when you are really high up something and you tell the kids down below that you are scared and would they please stop making the ropes sway that they think it's funny and sway them more?  Cheeky little sods!

L. is up there encouraging me but I kinda knew that if I kept going my arms were going to give way and I would have fallen back and though there were plenty of kids below me that would have stopped my fall it may have been a tad embarrassing so I gave up.  Next time though...

Decluttering.

Over the last year or so I have been putting stuff out in Hubbys shed with the intention of having regular garage sales.
I have had 1 garage sale in that time and though I was going to have more for one reason or another they haven't happened.
This morning Hubby wanted to get things organised so he could have his shed back and I was going to take most of the stuff to the op-shop but remembered that L had said they throw a lot of stuff out and she has had a couple of *free garage sales* that were quite successful so I am doing the same. 

I have put a sign out the front saying the stuff was free and loaded up a couple of tables.  We will put more out throughout the week and see what happens.  People have already called in and helped themselves so it is a win-win situation.
What is left will get taken to the op-shop but I will put a notice down at IGA on Monday and see how that works before I do so.  I need to declutter inside as well and this free garage sale will be the first thing I do when I start.

If you need to declutter why not give it a go.

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

Probably a bit of snoring been going on as well but not much has been done outside in the gardens the last few days.  Everything is wet and soggy and the poor chooks have had to learn how to swim.

I'm thankful that Hubby got most of the mowing done for me.  He has also pruned and mulched all that needed pruning and mulching.  Seems there are some benefits to having him home longer than usual.  (Hi Hon!)   Everything is looking bare, mainly due to all the leaves dropping but also because most of the branches are gone.  They will grow back though, bigger, better, faster...OK, maybe not faster.

The sun is up today so if it stays dry I need to get some more hay into the chook sheds to keep them warm.  Well, I need to do this regardless but if it stays dry it is more likely to get done.

No snails were found on the last couple of mornings *snail patrol*  I think if they were around then they would have been out and about the last few days so numbers there are way down.  Wish I could say the same for the Slaters.  Hubby wants to put barrel loads of Slater poison down...I argue about it but then whinge about the bloody things eating everything.  I am very tempted to use the poison but...It's poison!

I have another 10, yes 10, chickens, hatched a few days ago.  As if I needed more chickens.  But she was secretly sitting  and when we found her I didn't know how long for so *had to* let her go.  There are a few roosters needing to be culled so that will kinda even things out. 

Hmmm, I thought that it was going to be a nice dry day but it has come over all dark.  Doesn't look too nice out there anymore so I better make a move while I can.

Fixing A Non-Stick Pan That Does.

A few years ago a spend what I thought was a lot of money on a non stick frypan.  It worked OK for a while but then everything started sticking and it became a pain to use.
I don't like throwing away things, even crappy things, so kept using it and whinging every time I did as it was a bugger to clean.
This morning I *fixed* it.
We had bought a *Hot Sheet* for using when camping on barbecues and it was great so when we saw something similar for half the price at Bunnings we bought one to try in this pan.  It works brilliantly, the egg cooked quickly and just slid out of the pan.  A quick wipe over with a damp cloth and it's ready for next time.

See, I didn't need to throw the crappy frypan away and buy another one.  I am a hero.

Caulieflower

I picked our first Caulieflower this afternoon.  It was a bit of a surprise as I didn't know any were near ready.  It looks good though and I can't see any bugs or grubs on it.  It will be a nice addition to tonights tea.

Candied Lemon Peel. Update.

The general consensus of this is that it tastes pretty good.

I had dried some and put some in a jar in the fridge but the fridge one didn't seem as nice so I reboiled it and dried it out as well.  Just in time too as there was none of the dried lot left.

It is sitting on the bench and I know that if I don't hurry up and put it away then I won't have to!