Castle in the Mud

It is with great sadness in my heart that I sit to write today's entry. As I type this we now know that 84 of our fellow Australians have lost their lives in the terrible bushfires that have ravaged numerous parts of Victoria. Many are still missing and countless others injured and homeless.

Meanwhile at the other end of the country, in north Queensland, floods are inundating homes and causing untold grief. Our land has always been one of "droughts and flooding rains" and this weekend has clearly painted the stark contrasts of extreme weather patterns that we are experiencing.

Therefore it is in our best interests to be prepared for whatever may befall us. It may be Mother Nature with flood, fire, earthquake, cyclone etc; ill-health or injury to the family breadwinner or a more generalised health issue like a bird-flu outbreak; unemployment or a breakdown in services such as power for reasons as diverse as industrial action or the weather.

Whatever the cause our supply lines are remarkably fragile and we all simply tend to take them for granted.

Today has not only been a No Spend Sunday but we have also made more progress in our quest to use what we have. I have spent a large portion of the day preparing, cooking and freezing meals. This means that it is a relatively quick and easy task to serve up a healthy meal when we both get home after a long day of work and commuting. This combined with the stock up of groceries (non-perishable) done on Friday makes me confident that we have enough supplies for us for almost any eventuality.

G has done a lot in the yard but most specifically sorting and cutting up wood from a very large secondary trunk of a eucalypt tree which we had removed during the week. Once this is all dried and seasoned it will add enough firewood for a couple of years to our already extensive pile. The wood we have stored is enough for quite a long time if just used for occasional heating as we normally do but could also be a source of heat for cooking if necessary.

The sewing I planned to do will have to wait until another day.

I find it impossible to write mindlessly of the day to day happenings at The Castle while many of my countrymen do not even know whether they will have a home tomorrow due to bushfires raging through many parts of south-eastern Australia.

My thoughts and prayers go to all of those affected and I will write more another day.

One of the best things about my new job is the flexible hours. I worked longer days from Monday to Thursday and was able to leave at 3pm today. I did the grocery shopping and stocked up at Aldi and Simply Good on my way home. I am confident that I should not need to go to either shop again for a month.

Tomorrow morning we have a cabinetmaker coming to discuss plans for the kitchen as part of the renovations. After that I will need to pop into Maleny to get some fruit and vegetables.

I want to get some more done in the garden on the weekend. This evening when I emptied the compost bucket I noticed that there are lots of climbing bean have come up in the compost. I think I will put some trellis around them and hopefully get another crop of beans.

On the craft/sewing front I am pleased to report that I got some more knitting done today. I want to make my blouse with the new material I bought the other day and also draft a pattern for a skirt and top from some material I have in my stash.

I apologise for the lack of photos in recent posts but I hope to rectify that soon when I buy a new camera.

At lunchtime today I went for a short stroll in the city and found a shop which sold lots of comfy shoes including Birkenstocks and Ecco. I found a pair of Ecco sandals with 2 adjustable (velcro) straps across the foot as well as an adjustable heel strap. I tried them on they were soooooo comfy. I really want a pair before we go to Japan because comfortable walking shoes are essential. They are $190 so I need to have a good, long think about them but I do know I will get heaps of use from.

I forgot to take my knitting with me today so no more got done but there is always another day.

I have started making a shopping list as i am going to do my grocery shopping on the way home tomorrow.

Now that I am catching the train work each day I have about 2.5 hours to entertain myself on the train each day. It is certainly a huge change after having to spend many hours concentrating on driving. I have a knitting project which I have started and is progressing well. That is all I can say because it is for a gift next month. I also listen to my iPod and the time passes quite quickly.

I had a pattern for a lovely knitted jacket when my girls were young but I gave the pattern away a couple of years ago. I am going to try to get a copy back from the person so that I can make one for Baby O for winter 2010. Speaking of Baby O, she is now walking unaided and getting into everything. She also started at daycare last week for 3 days/week and is loving it by all accounts.

The Sweet Chili Sauce is bottled and awaiting a decision from me on how to salvage it. I will probably buy some apricot jam when I next go shopping and see if the helps.

I plan to make my blouse on the weekend so I can show it off at work next week.

Since it is Tuesday it is time to record the weight of rubbish for the week. For the first time this year it is down to double figures - 99g.

Week 5 - 99 grams

2009 total - 998 grams

I am so pleased. We have completed 5 weeks of the Great Rubbish Challenge and have managed to average a touch under 200 grams/week over that time but better still each week has seen a reduction. This cannot continue forever but I will try to maintain the average over the year.

I missed posting yesterday as it was my first day in my new job and I was just too tired by the end of the day. Today went well at work - I now have my computer installed and hopefully tomorrow my desk phone will be programmed.

Travelling to work on the train is certainly very different to the extensive amount of driving I was doing in my previous job. Today was a challenge as there were 'technical hitches' with some overhead lines on both the inbound and outbound trips. It took me 2 hours 40 minutes to get to work which is basically double what the normal time is and this evening we got offloaded from the tain and onto a bus for the last 30km home.

At lunchtime today I went across the street to a fabric shop and bought a lovely piece of white cotton/voile fabric. It is all pieced and patchworked and has a bit of grey, black and red on it. I bought some red buttons and am going to make another shirt. The girls at work are very interested so I have promised I will make it on the weekend and wear it next week. I have a lightweight red cardigan with 3/4 sleeves which will go nicely with the shirt.

G and I are busy planning our new routines to include grocery shopping and housework with me now working regular hours for the first time ever in the 33 years I have been working.

I made the Sweet Chili Sauce today and it is anything but sweet. In fact it is soo hot that I am still suffering the ill-effects. I inhaled some of the fumes and it has 'burnt' my throat, leaving me with a constant tickle in my throat and 3 fingers on my left hand are constantly burning from touching the chilies while cutting them up. At this stage I have a bottle and a half of inedible chili sauce that is so hot it is unbelievable. I posted a question on Simple Savings to see if anyone had any ideas on how to improve it. I thought of making more sugar syrup and breaking it down with that but I like Lara's idea of her Mum's recipe which includes apricot jam. I think I might buy some and try adding some to a small portion of the sauce to see if I can improve matters. Watch this space for more updates.

After the suace saga everything else today almost pales into insignificance.

I was delighted late this afternoon when my cousin and her husband who live in Brisbane dropped in with her sister who is visiting from interstate. It was lovely to be able to sit in the lounge and have coffee while watching the cloud and misty rain blow in from the coast. The rain may increase over the next day or so depending on what the cyclone further north does.

Apart from that I am busy mentally preparing myself for my first day at my new job tomorrow. More about that another day.