Op shops and kids

You know how much I love the op shop right? I love buying clothes for wearing or re-purposing. I love buying kitchen items and pretty things for the house. I love buying clothes for hubby and the kids. I love buying fabric and yarn and other crafty stuff. And then there is furniture, jewellery, the odd belly dance costume item and other fun things. Op shops rock!

I learnt to opshop from my mum. We have opshopped together for as long as I remember, and mostly, I thought it was cool. As a teen, I opshopped with my friends and fitted out my wardrobe with funky pieces that fitted my budget (which was non-existent!).

I want my kids to be opshoppers too. They're never likely to be opshoppers like I am (they're boys and therefore missing the 'shopping for pleasure' gene),but I want them to embrace the idea of buying second hand, of exploring other options for getting the stuff they need and in the process being budget and eco conscious individuals.

Since they were tiny babies, they've had clothes, toys and books from the opshop and now, are learning to hunt for their own opshop clothes and books. They bought our Christmas presents in an opshop, and occasionally, they get something even cooler.

This morning, we popped into the opshop next to Stu's work. I was browsing and Lachie headed to the kids section. After a few minutes he came to get me. He had found roller blades. Not just any roller blades, but three pairs in their size! So we bought them a pair each for the grand total of $8. Not bad eh? Look out opshops, here come the Wright kids!

Old-fashioned nut loaf

I went op-shopping yesterday. I found a few good things - a top to wear to my friends deb ball on Friday, a brand new shirt for Stu, a funny book for the kids and more dinner knives for the kitchen. I was pleased will all the finds, then I found these....

A pair of vintage nut loaf tins! Are you excited? I was. They're in great condition - used, but clean, complete and with no rust of dents and only $6 for the pair (I looked them up on ebay to confirm, and that is a bargain)! They bring back memories of my Nanna's nut loaves, served as thick slices, slathered with butter. Yum.

Today, I found a recipe and baked. They're delicious! Afternoon tea anyone?

Date and nut loaves

(Recipe adapted from this one)

1 1/2 cups self raising flour
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp mixed spice
100g walnuts roughly chopped
150g dates roughly chopped
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup water
100g butter
1 egg

• Preheat oven to 180c and grease 2 nut loaf tins (you could also use a single loaf pan or several unlined tin cans)
• Mix dry ingredients and nuts in a mixing bowl
• Mix sugar, dates, water and butter in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and butter melted, cool slightly
• Add wet mix to dry ingredients and add egg. Mix well
• Spoon into prepared tins (put on the lids if using the nut loaf tins)
• Bake for 40-45min
• Remove from pans by running a knife around the edge and inverting. Cool on a cake rack
• Serve sliced with a little butter and a cup of tea :)

Cooked in the tins

Just after turning out.

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It is nice to be back!  Back on the internet and all the good things it has to offer after over 2 weeks without it.  You may have heard of the fire in the Warrnambool Telstra Exchange (or maybe not), this fire wiped out all telecommunications in the district and caused some minor chaos.  There was no eftpos, ATMs or online banking; no internet at all which also meant no security cameras in the banks; we couldn't call anyone and the Optus shop sold out of phones (all those who deemed it impossible to live without a mobile phone ran in there to buy one) and there were thousands of teenagers out there without access to facebook ;)

I was fine without it all for a while, but by the end of the first week without a home phone, very sketchy and occasional mobile coverage and no internet, I was beginning to feel a little bit isolated from the world.  We finally got our home phone back after 9 days, and the internet came back after 15 days.  It is quite scary how reliant on telecommunications we are isn't it?

Anyway, I'm back, and life has gone on here and everywhere else.  I have wanted to blog about so many things these last two weeks, and maybe I'll get to some of them, but I'm going to start with a Christmas update.

We always start our Christmassy things on the 1st of December, and this year I made the boys an advent calender.  Each pocket is made from a spray painted, sewn up toilet roll, and they are hung on our kitchen notice board.  Each day, the boys get a random lolly each and a slip of paper gives them a Christmas activity to do.  The first one was a little treasure hunt for a new Christmas book, and since then they've had things like decorate the tree, visit Santa for a photo, watch a Christmas movie, write cards for their friends etc. 

Our tree is up and looking beautiful.  We bought a new tree this year after a very long family discussion about the various environmental impacts of tree choices.  In the end we decided on a new plastic tree.  We completely understand the implications of plastic trees, but we will use it for another 10 years (or more) like our last one, and it will safely hold all of our precious decorations.  Our tree has no Christmas lights this year though as the power to run even LED lights just seems wasteful in a country where it isn't dark until after 9pm at Christmas time.  Our tree still twinkles though with tinsel and decorations that catch the suns rays through the window.

Our tree decorations are a family tradition.  Each year since I was four, I would choose a special decoration and mum would write my name and the year on it.  When I left home, I took all of my decorations with me, and they all hang on our tree.  Stu and I continued this tradition for the two of us until the boys came along, and then we started it for them.  Each year we all hang our own decorations and remember all of the Christmases past, and the boys will be able to take their decorations for their own tree when they move out.  A beautiful tradition.

And we are starting to get a pile of presents under the tree too!  I've been very busy in my own 'Santa's workshop' and have made all the presents to give this year.  I have about 5 to complete and am so proud of the gifts we're giving.  The four of us will also get a few homemade gifts, including all of the 'stocking stuffers' for the boys which I've made too.  I wish I could tell you all the things I've made, but I don't want to spoil the surprises!  But I can tell you my crochet hooks, sewing machine, hammers, kitchen tools and every other crafty tool I have has been very busy making a wide variety of gifts.  I've taken photos of them all, and promise to share after Christmas. (want some of my ideas for this Christmas? head over to my Pinterest page to see some of my inspirations for this year and next). 

There are a few purchased gifts under the tree, some new ones for the kids, but mostly secondhand items.  I took the kids to the opshop to do their Christmas shopping.  They loved it, and so did the opshop staff who helped them shop!  For a grand total of $12, they each bought a gift for me and one for Stu and they are so proud of their choices - I can't wait to see what they bought!

Our December greening challenge is to not use wrapping paper.  All the gifts we're giving are therefore wrapped in re-usable bags sewn from Christmas fabric.  They are very simple rectangular bags in a range of fabrics and sizes.  We'll gather them back from people after they open the gifts (unless they really want them and have a use for them) and use them again for years to come.  This year we've tied them with curling ribbon, just because we still had heaps from previous years, but once that runs out, I'll buy reusable satin ribbon too.  Gift tags are made from recycled Christmas cards and pieces of plastic cut from milk bottles.

Today, I'm working on another sewn Christmas toy gift and some more Christmas baking.  Today's advent calender task is for the boys to decorate a plate of Christmas biscuits and deliver them to a friend/neighbour, so we'll do that this arvo.  And in the midst all those tasks, I'm going to travel around blogland checking out what all my favourite bloggers have been up to!

I hope you're having a very happy December too
xx

Slow living month - September

I know I'm 5 days late with this journal - its been hard to find the time and motivation to get here to blog this week.  We're on school holidays and the boys and I have been having a ball, and the weather has been great, so I've been in the garden a lot.  But I do love these journal type of entries, so here it is, Slow Living Month September.  Do pop over to Slow Living Essentials and see what others have been up to.... that's what I plan to do as soon as I'm done typing this :)

~Nourish~

We celebrated early spring one night by taking our dinner outside.  We cooked our tortillas on the BBQ plate and ate by candlelight.  We realised that early spring is really the only time you can eat outside by candlelight with kids - in summer it is too late by the time it is dark and in winter it is too cold.  It was a lovely, impromptu, weeknight dinner.  I love making our own tortillas, it is one of the few things that Stu and I cook cooperatively and I love it.  We are also now getting plenty of eggs, so there has been a resurgence of egg based meals and pancakes on weekends.

~Grow~

September in the garden has been all about preparing for summer crops.  I continued to plant and nurture seedlings in the cold frame and started planting out.  Unfortunately, snails and slugs are a huge problem here, so I've been fighting them at every step along the way.  I've continued to harvest greens from the garden and the snow peas are finally producing a few crisp pods that never seem to make it to the dinner table.  My son has decided that they are a snacking vegetable, not a dinner vegetable - I tend to agree.  I've loved joining in on the garden journal with Squiggly Rainbow too (and will be back on that when the holidays are over!).

~Prepare~

The coriander that has filled our curries with its colour and flavour through winter has sensed the spring and is bolting to seed, so I have picked huge amounts of it to make frozen coriander ice blocks using this recipe.  They're lovely and will hopefully keep the deliciousness going for us a bit longer.
We also continued to bottle beer and our first batch of alcoholic ginger beer.  The alcohol level is relatively low, but the taste is gooooooood!

 

~Reduce~

Lots of lovely op shop finds this month - clothes and books for the kids, crafty things, clothes and a couple of homewares for me and something special for Stu.  An espresso machine! It's not a super fancy one, but it works really well and Stu is enjoying his morning coffee from it.  He is not enjoying so much the regular requests for 'cinos (strawberry, vanilla, caramel and chai) from the rest of us ;) 
I've also continued to reuse and repurpose a lot of 'junk' through the garden for various jobs.

~Green~

Our challenge for last month was to do 'random acts of greening'.  We built (from recycled materials) a new compost bin; switched to bamboo compostable toothbrushes and discovered new ways to be just a little bit greener.  The kids also took it upon themselves to pick up litter when they go for their walks to check the mail or exercise the dogs - proud of my little greenies.  Our bamboo toothbrushes needed a bit of decoration.  They are all exactly the same, so we decorated the handles of them with nailpolish so we know whose is whose.

~Create~

I'm still working on my jumper that I had hoped to have finished by spring, but keep getting interrupted in its creation to make costumes for dancing, birthday presents etc.  And I have had to write a plan for the next few months of Christmas present making as the sheer quantity on the to do list was overwhelming me.  

Here are a couple of little birthday presents I made this month and was able to gift to the little girls they were for yesterday. They loved them!

A Tangled Happy Wand for a 5 year old friend

A little "spare pocket" handbag with crocheted decals.

We also started on the pizza oven, and are discovering creative masonry :) We built the arch to the base - so proud!  (photos soon)


~Discover~

The library loads have been huge this month and I was also given some vintage pattern books which are gorgeous.  On the reading pile are: Living the Good Life, A Katie Fforde novel, numerous books on building woodfired ovens, a couple of copies of G magazine and a book called A slice of Organic. 

~Enhance~

We had our Spring Hafla at Belly Dance.  I love gathering with the community that we've built with our little belly dance group.  We always have a great atmosphere and fabulous fun.  I was so proud of my own kids and all of the other Belly Kids and adult students who graced the stage with the crazy collection of dances I've been teaching them this year.  It is always such a pleasure to watch a student take to the stage for the first time and to watch the buzz they get from such an achievement.  I had numerous people congratulate me on the diversity and family friendliness of the group, I work hard to make sure that all women and kids, regardless of their abilities or body shape, size age etc are not only welcome, but truly included.  I'm really glad this shows.  I also love that I get to share this with my hubby and kids - special!

Some crazy Shaabi style fun with my intermediate students.  This style is representative of modern 'nightclub' style dancing, hence the casual jeans costume.  All just for fun really :)

~Enjoy~

I've enjoyed the first rays of Spring sunshine.  The first week of holidays with my kids.  Hanging out on screen free Saturday nights with Stu.  Having my stepmum visiting and taking her to meet Clover (and in doing so getting to spend time with my awesome bro and sis-in-law again).  A photoshoot with my little spunky guys before their school disco.  A family day at my mum's place where I felt closer to her and my little brother and sister than I have in a long time.  Dinner and dancing fun with my dancing sisters, including some time where we banned belly dance talk and just connected as friends.  And much more. A good month.

Guilt free shopping

Welcome Down to Earth-ers!

Hello!  Welcome to everyone popping over from Rhonda's blog!  I love Rhonda's "Weekend reading" posts, so feel very honoured to be a part of one.  I've filled up the tea-pot, so help yourself to a cup and have a look around.  Then come back often - I love visitors! :)

~~~

I have two big bad addictions - chocolate and shopping.  The first is fairly self explanatory, and we won't go into that, but shopping is a problem for someone who chooses to live on a tight budget and in a small home.  Not that I've ever been an extravagant shopper, but I am a sucker for the clearance racks and catalogues full of "bargains".  I'm reminded of this a lot this month as it is Toy Sale month.  Usually, in June, I've been around collecting all of the big shop toy catalogues and am busily browsing them with the kids and then buying "bargains" for birthdays and Christmas (that more often than not are not really wanted in 6 months....).  But not this year..... I have changed my ways!

image from http://theramblingsofamummy.blogspot.com.au/

Back in January, I made myself not buy anything for a month (other than groceries).  I didn't go to the shopping centres or down the street for a browse and I didn't go into opshops (thrift/charity stores) either.  I did really well and at the end of the month had a short list of 3 items that we needed to buy.  I think of all the things I probably would have bought and that I then saved on by not going, and I'm very pleased!

I'm allowed to shop again now, but I've gone right off the regular stores, and instead spend my shopping time (and dollars) in the local opshops.  Mum used to take us opshopping as kids, my best friend and I opshopped as teens, and as a mum of babies, I loved the opshop for toys and baby clothes.  Now I browse the opshop for craft items, household items, books and puzzles for the kids and clothes to wear or for repurposing/upcycling.  I still try to stick to the "needs" and less of the "wants", but at least with opshops, I don't feel so bad.

Opshops are great for so many reasons....

• By spending there you are usually helping a charity.
• You spend a very small amount of money to get your shopping fix items for your home
• You are recycling items that were no longer any use to someone else
• You never know what you'll find and the items are changing all the time
• You often find fabulous vintage/retro/antique items for a fraction of the price they are sold elsewhere.
• And if you buy to much (!) you can always donate the excess back and feel good for just making a financial donation :P

I wanted to share a few of my recently thrifted items with you now.

a sweet (and shiny - sorry) little teapot ($1)

no - not the dogs!  The sheets I used to crochet this rag rug for the kitchen (I used two at $2ea)
(but how cute are the dogs - Buddy and Hurley, they felt the need for some blog stardom)

In this photo you can see my roman blind, made from a vintage opshop sheet ($2), another sweet teapot hanging on the pot rack ($1) and my spice rack on the wall which I bought still in the 1970's box and complete with all the bottles and stickers ($5)

A beautiful and practical cast iron meat grinder ($8)

 

An antique sewing machine table/cupboard ($60).  It also came with a vintage sewing machine (not the original) but it wasn't in working order, so I have taken it out and will pass it on to my brother to "play" with.

There have been many more items lately, some not from opshops, but from vintage shops, garage sales and markets too.  I love buying second hand......

Do you opshop?  I'd love to see some of your favourite opshop purchases.  If you write a blog, perhaps you could write your own post on them (and link back here, I don't know how to do a proper bloggy party yet, but that'll work!)

Thanks so much for visiting! :D