Castle in the Mud

If Sundays are No Spend that must mean that Saturdays are for shopping. Today we went into Maleny so that G could have his hair cut. When I think about it most of my purchases are really part of our quest to live reasonably simply and frugally. I bought apricot jam (hopefully to 'rescue' the sweet chili sauce I made a week or so ago - see earlier blog entries), bleach (to clean the bottles for home-brew), shoe polish (to keep our shoes in good condition so that they last longer) and a zip for the skirt I am making.

We went to the library for the first time in ages and I got a novel, a book of short stories, 3 non-fiction items and a magazine. More details another day.

I also bought some fruit and vegetables including a large bunch of celery which I used to make celery soup. We had some for dinner with warm Turkish bread roll - mmmm!!

From the menu I guess you can you tell that today it has been cool and raining lightly all day. The cloud has been right down over the mountains with mist rolling up the valley. I love it up here when the weather is like this.Since we have had no sunshine for almost 3 days we did need to turn the booster on the solar hot water system on for a couple of hours this morning.

After our trip to Maleny we headed down to the coast. Since it is a bit of a distance we try to combine a few tasks into one trip to save on petrol. The first stop was to pick up another large bag of dog food from the pet supplies. The dog now has his own stockpile with one large bag in reserve. We looked at electrical items but at this stage are just gathering information then it was off to the fish and chip shop for a treat for lunch.

We then went to Sam's Warehouse where G got 4 plastic rubbish bins with clip on lids and I picked up a couple of balls of knitting cotton. We have never been to Sam's Warehouse before and may never go again (a) because they are in liquidation, (b) I do not buy most of the things they seem to stock and (c) I found that the prices of several things are not really bargains at all. The garbage bins are for storing potting mix, garden lime, blood & bone etc. The knitting cotton will be used for making dishcloths. I made one a while ago and have just got to weave the loose ends in and it can be used. I threw out a dishmop recently when it fell to bits so I have decided cloths that I can make myself will be a better idea. I will probably start knitting them on the train once I have finished my other project.

Finally, G bought a new pair of walking shoes for when we go to Japan. They are better than sneakers, not as heavy or bulky as his hiking boots and look smart enough to wear with casual trousers for going out. We got them at Kathmandhu at Kawana. It is really convenient because both Kathmandhu and Anaconda are in the same complex there so were able to compare what was available. Kathmandhu had a better range and G is very happy with his new shoes.