Green and Thrifty
It has been some time since I've written about my green and thrifty hacks and projects, honestly, it's been some time since I've had room in my head to pay attention to small, homely things. But now I am feeling my way back to doing the things that make me happy and taking up the threads of keeping house again. The photo above is from a walk I took with Rosy last week in the nature reserve in our town. Rosy and I have been getting together to visit art galleries and go walking. Free get togethers with my lovely daughter who has moved to the other side of town. It's so nice to catch up and walk, or talk about art:)
I have been cooking all the things - a big pot of soup, some rice and beans, pancakes, dinner. I have discovered a good hack for green beans - they go bad so quickly that the best thing to do is to cook them all at once when you get them home from the shops. I saute a pan of beans and broccoli, and maybe some garden greens with lots of cumin, smoked paprika, pepper and salt. Once it's partly cooked I add a little water and put a lid on the pan until they are perfectly cooked. The cooked greens keep all week in the fridge. I throw them in salads and add them to stir fries.
My mum brought me rhubarb from her garden and I cooked it up with pears and cinnamon to eat on my breakfast porridge, along with foraged walnuts.
I have been using up ingredients in the kitchen - a spice mix that was best before 2017, buckwheat flour from last year (buckwheat pancakes, yum), cornflake biscuits and weetbix slice from old packets that needed eating up. I have been using the walnuts I foraged in autumn from the tree at the end of the street on my porridge in the morning. Fresh walnuts, so flavoursome. And tea. All the tea. Last year during lockdown Red decided we needed to try all the tea. However Red then decided that they really only like about three varieties of tea. That left the other thirty nine or so, and now I am drinking them up, day by day. I was almost certain I remembered that I didn't like the turmeric tea, but I tried it again, and it turns out it is actually quite nice. So this week I am working my way through a packet of turmeric tea.
A friend gave me a very nice leather bag that was covered with mildew. She thought I might be able to find a way to clean and use it. Well, it sat on my bedroom floor for months, then I spent two minutes on the internet discovering that a half and half mixture of plain vinegar and water will do the trick. I wiped it with a cotton rag with the vinegar solution, and dried it in a warm room, then rubbed it with the leather restoring stuff I have for the old leather couch. It is like a beautiful new bag, and took twenty minutes of work on a rainy afternoon:)
Another kind friend randomly gave me a pair of gumboots her daughter grew out of. My gumboots had cracks in them and I had been vaguely thinking of going op-shopping for some more, but now I have free flowery gumboots.
I have been planting seeds for the spring garden, using up all last year's seeds before buying more. Seed magic is so exciting, every time.
That is the green and thrifty news from my house this week. Tell me the news from where you are.
Comments
I basically stay home, doing hours of yard work. Started tomato and pepper seeds for fall planting. My papaya tree is producing fruit, which I share with my mom.
Using, reusing and repurposing is my motto. It keeps me on my toes.
Be well, my friend. My love to you and Paul.
Patricia
Foraged walnuts sounds very desirable and delicious.I'm still benefiting from the neighbour's lemon tree hanging over our fence. Her lime tree, also hanging over the fence, has fruit at quite a different time from mine, so we share those and enjoy limes for about nine months of the year. Another neighbour doesn't do anything with her kumquats and loves me picking them. Luckily, my husband really likes citrus marmalades!
So pleased you sound quite upbeat now and hoping Paul is making good progress.
Deborahx
Deborah, citrus marmalade is the best! Lime is my favourite. I love all slightly sour flavours. It's wonderful when you can get neighbours who love to share, and you can swap fruit over the fence:) And yes, Paul is doing ok, some days are really good, others he could do without..
Treaders, no, you are not nosy, please keep asking questions! The only two states in Australia in lockdown are Victoria (Melbourne is the capital there) and New South Wales (Sydney the capital). They are the only two states with any covid cases, but that does mean that half the population of Australia is locked down due to them being the most populous states. The rest of Australia, Tasmania included, where I am, have no covid, and no restrictions at all. My two lovely oldest kids are in Melbourne. They can go to the supermarket, get takeaway from restaurants, exercise with a friend while social distancing (as long as both friends live within 10kms of each other), and as of last week, can have picnics with vaccinated friends while social distancing (still the 10k limit). My son is actually still working. He is in hospitality, and the restaurant he manages is open for takeaways, people can buy meals and hampers, and that is how many hospitality venues are managing to stay solvent.
The covid protests are all happening in the centre of the city, which is pretty much empty at the moment as no-one is working there, so they are not directly affecting the population, except for spreading covid further, of course..
And no, I'm not a vegetarian, although I eat meat-free a few times a week. I remember you were eating vegan last year - are you still doing that? I do eat quite a few vegan dishes, especially since I don't eat much dairy as it seems to affect my sinuses..
Kathy, so glad to be of service, I hope the boots turn out well. I was really surprised how quickly the bag cleaned up. I imagine you get quite a bit of mildew in the wet in Brisbane..
Linda, yes, our whole family is vaccinated now, with Red returning for their second dose in a couple of weeks. I'm glad that we all now do have the protections that the vaccine affords, although I do support the right of everyone to make their own health choices.
The ink and dye sound like interesting projects.
Enjoy your cooler autumn weather - I think that is my favurite time of year, putting on a cardigan and enjoying deep breaths of cold air in the mornings:)