Monday is a Busy day

Phew! What a busy day.

Monday is the day I do all my running around. I start the day with what I call a 'home blessing'. It is where I do my normal morning jobs but add in a few others like vacuuming, washing sheets, dusting etc. I then sit down and write my menu plans and organise my shopping list.

By 11am I was done and headed into town for my usual routine. I stop at the Post Office and withdraw my budget money then I head to the petrol station and put in the weekly allocated amount for fuel. Then I do any errands that need to be done and finally I do some grocery shopping.

By 1pm I'm home and unpack the groceries and have some lunch. Then I have my 'office day' where I pay bills, organise any correspondence, update the budget categories etc etc. Today I met a friend online to test a 'virtual classroom'. It was very exciting. In this process I donwloaded Skype and 'found' my sister in Queensland.

At about 3pm I started the dinner and I then headed up to the back room for some therapeutic ironing. I really love ironing. I set up a little nest in our granny flat that usually consists of a DVD playing on the laptop and a cool drink. I then iron away. Lately I have been working my way through The Waltons - let me tell you it's very inspiring !!!

About 5.30 I headed back into the kitchen and made some lovely lasagne sheets. This is the first time that I have made fresh lanasage sheets. We have made fettucine before and it was magnificent. I am looking forward to tasting the lasagne. The eggs were given to me from a friend who is VERY proud of her new chickens. The plain flour is 91c a kilo and I used 400g and the mince was about $3.69. So, this is a very cheap meal indeed!

I am about to put tea on the table and then it will be showers and reading for the boys, a few extra jobs for me and then I will fall into my latest book that awaits me eagerly.

A busy day, but a joyfilled day! There is much joy to be had from working hard.

Wash on Monday Iron on Tuesday.............

I never thought that I would find comfort in routine and rhythm. It used to annoy me that old people would wash on Monday, iron on Tuesday etc. I thought it was ridiculously old fashioned and heck, I needed my freedom! I didn't want to be tied down to any routine. I didn't need a day of the week to tell me what to do !


Instead of finding freedom in lack of routine I found disorganisation. Ironing became five minutes before I needed to put something on ( often running late) washing..... well it usually happened when I ran out of underwear and it would take all day to do it, not to mention the weeks of clothes laying around in baskets.

Over the years I have tried many 'systems' to be able to get things done. I would go ok for a while but then fall off the wagon and be back to old habits. Once I was married and added children to the mix it became increasingly important to have things organised.

Let me tell you that I still fall off the wagon from time to time, but it is a whole lot easier to climb back on again. The difference is that ( and I almost hate to admit it) have set days for set things. If I have something on a adjust things or do a simplified version of the day, but generally I stick to the pattern. Now don't think I can't come over to your house because Monday is my washing day or anything, I am completely flexible, but Oh the Joy of having things done and getting ahead and knowing that I just do a few things each day rather than spend a whole day trying to clean the house.


You will laugh when I tell you that my days are also colour coded. I use my calendar in OUTLOOK to work out all my tasks and put in appointments etc. It works fabulously for home management as well.


So...... At the risk of sounding completely obsessive here is the breakdown of my days in detail for those of you that have asked for this via email.


The basis of the whole system is having a strong morning, afternoon and evening routine. These tasks are done regardless of what is happening on a day. If I will be out all day or am doing a days work I still do the tasks, I just do them a little earlier to get through them.


MORNING ROUTINE - walk, shower/dress, load of washing/ breakfast / tidy kitchen/ make beds / sweep floor/ wipe the bathroom over.


AFTERNOON ROUTINE - iron washing/ organise dinner/ homework.



EVENING - clean up from dinner/ bath (sometimes) skincare/ PJs/ reading.

There is a lot in the morning routine only because I have slowly got there. I would NEVER have done this to begin with because it was setting myself up for failure. I think five good morning tasks is enough to create a habit.


Then I have a basic weekly plan that looks like this:


MONDAY - Home Management day ( mine is green). I do a ' home blessing' ( flylady.net terminology) This means I add a few jobs to my morning routine. I add vacuuming and dusting each room, wipe over screens and mirrors and mop the floor. I then go to the local Post Office and withdraw my money in cash. I fuel up the car on the way to town and do my errands which usually consists of going to the library, getting photos printed and then grocery shopping. When I get home I unpack and do up my budget books, pay bills and general office jobs.


TUESDAY - is my GARDEN, BAKE and MAKE day. ( Green) This is the day I work in the garden to plant new seedlings, move plants. build up beds, regenerate soil, bake goodies for the week like bread, biscuits both sweet and savoury and make dough and things for the freezer for times when I am too busy too cook. I have also made this my 'make' day for when I need to make soap, ginger beer, sewing etc etc



WEDNESDAY - is my business day. ( blue) I prepare classes and workshops to teach and make teaching resources and try and do some sort of training or personal development.


THURSDAY - A Vision Splendid day. (Pink) This is when I write my articles, respond to emails, update newsletters etc.

FRIDAYS - personal day ( purple) - I often update my scrapbook albums, teach a class if I have one on my books and I also do more baking to get us through the weekend.

SATURDAY - family fun day. ( yellow) We usually go to the river with friends and spend the day skiing, tubing, swimming etc. We often catch up with friends for dinner and have a bbq or something. In the winter my sons play soccer.

SUNDAY - day of rest! - whatever takes our fancy. We often do a bit more gardening, laze around, read the newspaper, play with the kids etc.

Overlayed over the top of that is the focus area for the week. Each week of the month has a different room allocated to it. for example, Week one might be the front two bedrooms, week two the kitchen etc etc. The idea is to spend 15 mins or so doing a job in that room. Soon you get to the stage where there is nothing to do in the room, for example, your bedroom where you just keep it maintained each day or week and there are no huge tasks that need to be done, except maybe cleaning fans and windows seasonally. Other rooms, like the kitchen, often need a focus clean once a month because the second drawer breeds extra utensils and the tupperware cupboard has a way of messing itself up each month.


Sounds rigid doesn't it! - Well, it's actually freeing. Once you get up and running a routine actually gives you time. I would much rather spend 30 minutes each morning doing a few jobs rather than a whole weekend trying to get a house in order.


Please don't send me emails saying it will never work for you because you work a 90 hour week and commute two hours in either direction. This is MY routine. When I was working it was quite different. The idea is to do what you can do throughout the week to free your weekends for fun and relaxation with your family. It really only takes 45 seconds to wipe over your bathroom in the morning. If you leave it for a week or two it will take you half an hour of scrubbing. The choice is yours!


So..... there it is....... not quite wash on Monday, iron on Tuesday, but just as rhythmic and it gives me tremendous joy and peace knowing that my house runs smoothly and that I am up to date and when my friends from Sydney call ( as they did today) and say they will be arriving tomorrow I can relax in peace and turn my mind to the wonderful meal I will prepare for them to make them feel welcome.

After Storm Glow

The last two afternoons we have been blessed with good soaking rains. In the past we might have cursed an afternoon storm, usually arriving at the time when school is coming out and things are thrown into chaos. Now we are grateful for the rains that stop us from having to water the garden with the hose. What is it about rainwater? What is that magical ingredient ? Why is it that you can water daily, but as soon as there is a little rain water the plants stand up and come alive. Mother Nature certainly has the recipe worked out well.

After the storm this evening there was an amazing glow. The photos certainly don't do it justice. It was a strange green/yellow colour. Everything came alive! Even in the house there was a strange glow. It was truly lovely. I grabbed the camera and took some shots in very poor light so they are quite blurry.

We recently started daylight savings, meaning that we had to wind our clocks back one hour. I hate the change over. I value my mornings because that is when I get the most done. To suddenly lose an hour was very painful. It has taken me a little while to naturally wake up early again. I don't use an alarm clock. I generally wake up naturally just after five anyway. You can imagine my horror when this turned into six ! Anyway, I am almost back to my 5am rising.



Thank you to those of you who have been sending me emails. I value the feedback, especially the questions because they give me ideas of what to write about.
I would like to write more about managing a home on a budget, and creating a joyful, simple life especially with kids! Do you have any questions or issues you would like me to address? Just send an email or leave a comment. I would be happy to share ideas.

Busy Playing....on our STAYCATION.

Today is the last day of the school holidays for our boys. School starts back on Monday.

It has certainly been a busy time, hence the lack of blogging.

The holidays have been terrific. We had one overnight trip to Sydney, but the rest of the two weeks we have had a STAYCATION - that is, you holiday at home. A Staycation allows you to do some wonderful things. The STAYCATION family activity list has so far included building cubby houses under the dining room table and then sleeping the night there, playing tennis in the front yard, riding bikes down the road and being attacked by the nesting pee-wee and butcher birds, watching a family movie, spray painting a home made hut, making comic books, cooking, building bike jumps, making a smash up derby arena with a series of boxes, swimming in the local pool, waterskiing and swimming at the river, scrapbooking, going to friends' house for a play date, putting on a 'Star Wars Show' in the garage (lol!)

There are many benefits to having A STAYCATION. Firstly, it costs very little. If you calculate the cost of a week in a holiday apartment and then add meals,fuel or airfares and entertainment the cost can be beyond many families. Why not do the sums and then decide to spend one quarter of that amount during your STAYCATION. That money may allow you to do something special for the family like a restaurant meal, bowling, movies or whatever else is a 'treat' in your household.

The Second benefit of a STAYCATION is that it gives you the opportunity to explore where you live. Often we don't see advertising about our area because it is targeted elsewhere. If you go to your local tourist Information Centre you will be able to see what the area has for visitors. Pretend you are a visitor in your own region. There may be sight seeing walks, waterfalls, historical buildings, wineries, fishing spots etc. It may be a real eye-opener.

The third benefit of a STAYCATION is the total peace that comes from going nowhere and doing nothing! Have you ever have a great week's holiday, finally relax and then have to spend 10 hours driving home in ridiculous traffic only to have to front up to work on Monday morning ? You need a vacation just to recover! Having a STAYCATION will allow you to totally unwind, sleep well in your own bed and be at peace with the world!

Remember that the success of a STAYCATION depends on the mindset. Do something different to remind yourself that you are on a STAYCATION. Lay in the back yard with a book. Wear that Hawaiian shirt, make yourself a cocktail at dusk and watch the sunset. Turn the phone off and put the 'out of office' reply on your email. Paint your toenails, do some yoga or meditation, lay in a buttermilk bath with a glass of champagne.

 Think TOTAL RENEWAL.

ahhhhhh........... I am relaxed just thinking about it.............................

Give it a go ..................... you may just fall in love with the concept.

Where We Live

We have been away. A trip to Sydney. It is always great to head down to the ‘big smoke’, but it is even nicer to come home.

When we are driving home we get a view of our beautiful valley. It really is a wonderful sight. There is the ocean on the right and the mountains on the left with a meandering magnificent river that winds its way through the valley.

The river is our main source of entertainment throughout the warmer parts of the year. Families come together and we ski, swim, tube, kneeboard. We love it. Each weekend we pack up our picnic baskets, our air pots and baked goodies and head to the river. Early in the morning the water is like glass and makes for perfect skiing.

The children play on the river bank, exploring, making up stories of yowies in the bulrushes and digging holes in the sand. They take turns in going on the tube, often two at a time and their little faces say it all !

Families that play together stay together! A friend’s father told me once that having a boat was a great thing when their kids were growing up because it kept the family together. Instead of their children going off with mates who the parents hardly knew, their kids friends came and played with them and didn’t get into mischief as they got older. I agree with this idea. Hubby’s family also grew up boating and picnicking and I think he wants to give our boys the same experience What a wonderful pastime to share together as a family!

Splendid Tomato Staking

We are attempting something a bit different with the tomatoes this time.

Firstly we have moved them to the side of the house, right along the driveway.

 They face west and get lots of afternoon sun. S

econdly, instead of staking them up with stockings or scraps of materials, this time we are using a technique that Hubbie saw at a tomato farm.

They loop a piece of string under the heaviest part of the plant and tie it to a frame above. As the plant grows the string is tightened. The frame is made from tomato stakes with a whole drilled in each end and a cable tie looped through the holes to keep it together.

It seems to be working magnificently.

The plants are doing really well and have lots of flowers.

The Family Company - the best one to work for.

Our Family Boardroom.

No company could survive if they constantly missed deadlines, didn’t pay bills, had more outgoings than incomings, had staff that constantly yelled at each other, no filing system, no records. Can you imagine the picture? The company would fail for sure. It would be extremely stressful to work there and for the owners the burden would be unbearable.

Managing your home is no different to managing a company. Think of your home as your family company. If you were the CEO then all of your actions would be centred towards the betterment of your company, not any other company. Your company would come first.


How is your company running at present ? How is the monthly budget looking. Do you even know how you went this last month ? Do you know how you went this past year ? What are your filing systems like ? Can you put your hand on a piece of paper in under 30 seconds? Can you locate your tax summary for 2006 or your child’s immunisation records? How about a manufacturer’s warranty card or the insurance papers for the house ?


Does the company run smoothly? Are there standard operating procedures? Does each company member know what their job is ? Are tasks being performed or are deadlines being missed.


Is your company solvent? That is, are you financially viable ? Is your company going down the gurgler – is it falling behind year after year? Are the outgoings each month more than the incomings?

Who cleans the offices? What recognition does the caterer receive? When is the next board meeting and what is on the agenda?

Your family is more important than any other company in the world. Where do you priorities lie ? Do you give more to your workplace than your own home ? I am sure that you have heard the saying 'on your deathbed, no-one wishes they spent more time at the office'.

Here are some points to improve your family company.

1. Start a good filing system: even if you can't tackle the back log, from now on file every piece of paper that needs to be kept in a place where you or anyone else can find it in under 30 seconds.

2. Have a system for house cleaning and management. Develop a basic weekly plan. Break up tasks so you don't spend your weekends doing housework or washing and ironing. Remember, there are many jobs that fit into the 'stitch in time saves nine' category.

3. Grow some of your own food: Start with some potted herbs and move to planter boxes with a few vegies and then to garden beds. Growing food is economically sensible for a family, it is a fantastic activity to get children involved with and gives a tremendous sense of satisfaction that cannot be reproduced by any 'shopping activities'.

4. Finally take charge of your finances. If you are 'blocking' the truth, it is time to face your financial facts! You can't do anything about the problem unless you identify it and take charge! Work out where you are now. Look at my 'stop think do' programme on the left hand side for more tips. Taking charge can be extremely empowering.

5. Work on your logistics: Stop rushing around. Plan Plan Plan to alleviate chaos and bring peace to your household. Look at what you need next week or next month and do it now so you are not rushing around at the very last minute making everyone stressed. Group errands, minimise outside commitments and prioritise your home and family as Number One.

6. Work on your Family Relationships: If a company has disharmony in the workplace, they would call in an expert and do some personal development and team building exercises to improve workplace relations. Every company knows that when staff are happy and harmonious productivity goes up and staff turn over comes down. People are happy to come to work. Invest some time into improving your family relationships. Spend time together, schedule activities and outings. Have a family movie night where you make home made pizzas beforehand - each member of the house can contribute like a production line. Even a two year old can sprinkle mushrooms! Play a board game without the TV on or play a game in the yard or park. You will be surprised how it slowly changes thing if you invest the time.

7. Have a family meeting regularly. Kids love this, no matter what their age is. At the family meeting you can plan holidays, discuss behavioural expectations, talk about pocket money, discuss job allocations, give recognition for jobs well done. This is something you have to try - especially if you have children. They thrive on this sense of contribution they feel. When we first did this it was a little 'tongue in cheek' for me but once we got going I saw how fabulous it is. Now there is excitement when we announce a family meeting, or if things go off the rails wit behaviour, jobs etc we say 'I think we better call a family meeting' In our VERY serious voice LOL.

Try these steps and let me know your thoughts. Afterall, our family company is the best one to work for !

Blessed Are the List Makers....For They Shall Inherit Peace on Earth.

My first born son who recently turned ten headed off for school camp today. Here he is marking off his list.

His teacher ( the most organised woman on the planet) gave them a list of what to pack, but ( God love him!) he had to type his own list and put coloured headings and pictures so he could cross the items off as he packed his bags.

His father cannot understand the need for a list, but we all know that the world is divided into those people who love a good list and those that don't understand. God love the precious child - he has inherited my 'list gene'.

A Stitch In Time Saves Nine

A Stitch In Time Saves Nine.

This is a popular proverb whose origin is unknown, but was apparently made famous by Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women. There are various interpretations of what it actually means. There is the literal interpretation, that is, if you mend the tear when there is a small hole with one stitch it will save you having to mend it with nine stitches when the hole eventually gets bigger.

A more philosophical interpretation is one of avoiding procrastination. Do the job now before it develops into a huge black cloud that hangs over you and is much harder to do.

I like a practical interpretation. To me, A Stitch In Time Saves Nine means 'wipe the shower screen over a few times a week or it will take you 45 minutes of scrubbing mould on your hands and knees". Or what about " tidy each room, each morning, or it will take you hours of cleaning to get your house back under control" .

Whichever way you look at it, it comes down to a choice. You can do things as you go, or you can make your tasks much more difficult for yourself. I know which one I would choose. Last time I took ages scrubbing out the shower I promised myself ' NEVER AGAIN!'.

The Consumer World Thrives on YOUR disorganisation.

There is no doubt about it. Being disorganised costs you a lot of money. There are whole industries which would crumble if everyone was to actually get their act together and have some sort of order in their lives. Of course, none of us have order all the time and if you are anything like me you have times of being highly organised and then backslide into total chaos. My theory is that you have to have the occasional backslide into total chaos so that you can climb out of it and appreciate how good it feels when you are organised. A bit like joy – you have to experience the lows so you can recognise and appreciate the highs.


If your life is fast paced and chaotic and you have children, you will know what I mean when I say that being disorganised costs you money. In fact it will often cost you in other ways as well. Here is an example.

It’s 6pm. You’re on your way home from children’s after school sports and you have nothing organised for dinner. You remember the ad for some fried chicken in a bucket which tells you to buy it because it’s quick and easy and the family will love you for it. ( even though your arteries and your wallet won’t!) You call in and pay an amount which you know is the equivalent of about 5 meals made at home. The ad was right , the family does love it and there’s no washing up. ( actually the family loves it until about 40 minutes later when Dad has a gall bladder attack, the kids are ‘hypo’ and you’re left feeling grossed out and heavy)

There are many other ways that being disorganised costs you money, apart from eating unplanned takeaway meals. How many times have you lost something and bought another one, only to find the original one a few days later? Have you had to purchase something because you need it straight away and you know you cant’ wait until the next sale? Have you gone somewhere with the kids and spent a lot of money just on drinks and snacks because you didn’t have anything with you for everyone to snack on.

Here are my thoughts to alleviate the problem.

1. Schedule based Menu Planning: If you know that you are home late on Tuesday nights, have meals that are quick and easy to prepare scheduled for that night. You could also make a double batch of something on Monday night knowing that you will have left overs ready to heat up for Tuesday nights.

2. Start your Evening Meal in the Morning: Take 10 minutes out of your morning to cut up vegies ready for a stir fry that you can just ‘throw together’ when you walk through the door. If you are really organised you could even have the chicken or meat marinating in the fridge.

3. Always take snacks and drinks with you. This is important especially if you have children that seem to need ‘refuelling’ all the time. It takes very little time to pack some drink bottles, some fruit and some home baked goodies. It is extremely expensive to go to the cafe near a park and buy everyone a drink and a snack.

4. Have a ‘gift cupboard’. Buy things when you see them on sale for Christmas and Birthday presents. In the back of my diary I have a list of who I buy presents for. Throughout the year I scribble down ideas that come to me about what I would like to buy or make for people on my list. If I see an item or the makings of an item that are on sale or a good price I will buy it and put it away in the ‘gift cupboard’.

5. Pay Your Bills on Time: a lot of service providers now have a late payment fee if payments are not received on time. Our system for bill paying is very simple. When a bill comes in we write it on the calendar and clip it to the “bills to pay” clipboard that hangs on the wall in the office. On my ‘office day’ I look at the bills that are due that week and pay them. The money is in our bills account because we total up the years bills and divide the amount by 52 and put that aside each week throughout the year.

6. Group Your Errands: Save petrol by making less trips to town. Have a list of things that need to be done or purchased while you are in town. Running back to the shop for one or two things you have forgotten is a costly exercise.

7. Avoid The Supermarket: If you go to a major supermarket for your shopping try and go there less. Every time you go in ‘just to grab a couple of things’ you will come out with more than what you went in for. Why is milk at the back of the store and bread at the other end ? It is to seduce you as you walk around. If you are currently a ‘drop in’ shopper try to menu plan and shop once a week. If you are a weekly shopper try to move to once a fortnight. If you are a fortnightly shopper – can you be a ‘super planner’ and only go there once a month ? This is my aim. A once a month supermarket trip and the rest from fruit and veg suppliers, farmers markets and the local fish co-op.

8. Return your hired DVDs on time. We hired some DVDs for our sons sleep over last month. When I went to pay the lady she said “ you really should go and get one more because these will cost you $13, but if you go and get another one you will get them for $9 because of the deal we have”. I reluctantly went and got another movie. National Treasure 2 for the grown ups to watch . I say reluctantly because we had already been in the shop for 40 minute while we persuaded five 10 year olds to agree on movies that we deemed suitable. The slumber party passed, the grown ups didn’t get a chance to watch the movie and kept it for the next night to watch, which didn’t come off either. By the time I took the DVD back I had to pay $5 for the late fee for a movie that we didn’t watch and didn’t want! LOL. ( .... and we still haven’t seen National Treasure 2!)

9. File your Warranty paperwork When your kettle stops working, can you remember whether it had a one or two year warranty? In our ‘throw away’ society we seems to replace these appliances all the time. A couple of times now we have had items like toasters and kettle replaced for free because we still had the warranty card which guarantees the product for 12 months or two years and didn’t quite make it over the line.

10. Know you tax deductible Items. Do you have a good working knowledge of what deductions you can make ? There is no point waiting until the end of the financial year to find out that you should have kept receipts for your spending throughout the year. For Australian readers, the tax office has an occupation guide for most jobs that points out the deductions available. Know your list and make a file of receipts and paperwork to maximise your deductions and reduce your taxable income as much as legally possible.

These are only a few tips. I am sure that you will be able to come up with many more. Why not share a lesson you have learnt ? How has disorganisation cost you money? Or what is the best organisational tip that saves you money? By sharing ideas we can all progress in this area.

Will the Real BusyWoman Please Stand Up......

Spring Garden Update - Messy Peas and Harvest Joy

The soil warms and the plants SPRING to life.

Last week and the week before we had awful weather. Our peas, which were about 5 feet tall were laying flat on the ground because of the terrible winds that we had been having. We also had a huge amount of rain which seemed to last for days and days. We thought we may lose all the peas so we decided to just pick the whole lot up and tie it up as best we could. It appears today that some pieces which were broken or bend have started to die, while others still have good fat pods on them

The plant is a huge bundled mess, but we will just let nature takes it's course


The rest of the garden is coming along well and we are very excited about the temperature of the soil rising. Beans which he had given up on have now awoken and since the rain the corn has doubled in size

Last night we went to a bbq with friends. Our contribution was the salad and it gave us great joy to go and pick a lettuce from the backyard. We joked about our 'harvest ceremony' and of course, had to take photos.




We had to add 'bought' capsicum, cucumber, tomato, carrot and red onion. We live in hope for the day when the whole salad will come from the backyard. If we keep getting great days and steady rains it may not be that far away.

The Spirit of My Ancestors

This is the spoon I use to cook with.

It belonged to my great grandmother.

Considering that my Grandmother is now 101 years old, it is amazing to think that HER mother used it to cook with.

If you look closely you will see that one side is worn down from use over the years.

This is one of my most prized possessions. A couple of years ago I was a guest speaker at the View Club and took my spoon along to talk about the importance of writing down our stories. I accidentally left it on the table and it was collected with all the cutlery at the end of the meal. I went home without it and it took a couple of days for me to remember that I must have left it there. I was devastated and returned to the venue and raided drawers and drawers of cutlery with the owners to finally get it back! It must have gone into the dishwasher with every thing else. I was extremely lucky!

I really LOVE my spoon because every time I pull it out I am reminded of the spirit of my ancestors. Hard working, frugal living, self sufficient, simple people. Whether it was by choice or necessity, the spoon reminds me to live like it's 1940s. To be more family oriented. To cook from scratch. To be self reliant. To waste less. To save more. To have a grateful spirit.

I wonder what possessions of mine are going to be around for more than 100 years ? The answer that pops into my mind is unfortunately the millions of plastic bags I have used so far LOL !

The Daily Sweep

If you told me 12 months ago that I would be sweeping everyday I would think of it with dread. The hallways and loungeroom used to be covered in a lovely cream carpet which we chose when our first born son was a baby, not knowing how ridiculous it was to have cream carpet and a young family. When we closed in the back area of the house and reclaimed the laundry as living area we put flooring through all the areas except the bedrooms and office. As a result I now have to sweep everyday.

Rather than being a chore, I actually enjoy my morning ritual. It is quite shocking the amount that is actually swept up. All that dust and dirt was soaking into the carpets before because I certainly didn't vacuum every day.

I like the simple repetitive act of sweeping all the dirt and dust out the front door and back into the garden. I love that the simple act doesn't require any electricity or the latest state of the art vacuum cleaner. I love the feeling of satisfaction that I get when I walk back in and it is all clean once again.

There is joy in the simple rhythms of life.............

A Hint of Spring - Garden Update.

If you look closely you will see our blueberry has the first hint of blue.

The Lemonade Tree

The peas

The Silverbeet

Pasta Making

Further home made joy the other night from freshly made pasta. Someone told me many years ago that once you taste fresh pasta it is very difficult to go back to the dried stuff. I would have to agree.

Our pasta is just made with flour, egg and salt.

The photo below is pretty bad and doesn't do justice for the outcome, but the whole family got involved in producing this dinner and it was lovely !

Feel the Rhythm.....

Can you believe I have made ten Chinese Lanterns tonight because the boys wanted to "celebrate the Olympics"? Personally, I am not into the Olympics - there's that whole Human Rights issue that spoils it a bit for me, along with the whole - money for entertainment while millions starve, but, I keep that to myself ! LOL

It is so lovely to be home for the afternoon/evening routine. When I was working and would come home late I would REALLY miss this, even though I have the best husband in the world that would do homework, cook tea and bath the children, I always felt that I was missing out.

Kids thrive on rhythm and so do adults. It provides stability and security. Life seems to run smoother with a daily, weekly, seasonal and yearly rhythm. That's the way nature operates.

Today confirmed for me that I have made the right decision in leaving my legal career and choosing my family instead. It's really funny that most mothers agonise over the career/family decision when the children are small. It seems funny that I was home for 5 years when they were young then went back to work for about 2.5 years then made the decision to 'come home'. I remember my sister, who has children a lot older than mine, was talking about mothers 'coming home' when the children where in their later teen years, especially when they were in the senior school years because that's when they were needed most. At the time of hearing this I was dreading the idea because you tend to think that as they get older they become less reliant on you. As my children grow I realise that the reliance remains, it is just in a different format.

Another wise woman told me once that there are seasons in life. This is my season to nurture. I don't know how long it will last, but when I feel ready I will return to work. I have a really great boss who sent me an email today updating me on one of our cases and telling me to let him know when I get bored ! lol.......... We'll see when the season changes.

Today ... in review

Radishes are popping out of the ground, 22 corn plants think it is spring and have poked their heads up. Zucchinis are unfolding life dancers from Swan Lake and all is well with the world.

Hey Julie I tried your recipe for Lavash crackers and they were a sensational success!! ( Julie is Crazy Mumma from Towards Sustainability linked below). I rolled the dough out with the past maker to make them ultra thin. I couldn't believe how many it made. This container full plus the 8,432 that Hubbie and I ate as they came out of the oven and there is still half the dough mixture left.

The recipe was simply 3 cups of flour, 1 tsp salt 2 tbs poppy seeds 2 tbs sesame seeds 1 egg 1 cup of milk 60g butter.

They are identical to the store bought ones we got on the weekend to spread Camembert on. Of course they don't have any preservatives and probably cost about 45c to make. Now I will have to make the coriander dip again considering I have so much coriander growing.

Here is my favourite chocolate cake recipe

 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

2/3 cup of cocoa sifted then add 2/3 cup of boiling water. Stir and put aside.
In a new bowl beat together 200g of room temperature butter with 330g of caster sugar.
Once creamed add 2 tsp of vanilla and 3 eggs one at a time. Then stir in 2 cups of Self Raising Flour then add 125 ml of milk. Cook for about 55 minutes, or until you can poke a skewer into the cake and it comes out clean.

Today..... In A Nutshell

1. Wash bedding for number 2 son.

2. Make corned meat with Nanna's mustard for tea

3. Plant my Dutch Iris bulbs

4. Plant some more flowers out near the front steps

5. Make bread

6. Make a chocolate cake for afternoon tea

7. Make cookies to stock up the jars

8. Tidy the backyard gardening mess from yesterday's planting session

9. Measure space for the chook house and turn the sketch into a formal plan

10. Measure and design outdoor kitchen space ready for summer

11. Re-organise under sink garbage system - compost/ recycling/rubbish

12. Begin update of my household planner - focusing on budget.

13. Prepare for scrapbooking camp I am teaching at the end of August.

14. Juice fruit and make cordial

15. Tidy Office

16. Put bigger sign on front door that says "please make up my room" to see if there are any takers.

Getting Ahead

"When you have time, you do things for times when you have no time".
This is what my Grandmother taught me about Getting Ahead.

We all seem to be so busy these days that we are always running behind. We are late for work, late home and then have to get something 'quick and easy' to slap on the table for dinner because we simply 'don't have time'. We run our children all over the country side, yelling at them to hurry up.

We flit from one appointment to the next, having quick catch ups with friends on the hands free mobile while swapping the kids from school clothes to soccer gear in the back seat of the car with the other hand.

Why don't we have time ? Over the years have they shortened the length of a day ? Was 24 hours in 1972 longer than 24 hours in 2008 ? If you believe the hype then you would conclude 'yes'.

In the 1950s women were told that they could have so much extra time by purchasing labour saving devices. Clothes washers, clothes dryers, dish washers, kitchen appliances - all saved the housewife a tremendous amount of time. BUT.... where did that time go ? What did we fill it with ? Work outside the house ? Coffee mornings with friends, shopping ?

Our lack of time is a cross between a problem of overscheduling and perception. If you were to make a list of your priorities in life and then compare it to your diary you might be surprised at the results. For example, you might say your spouse is the most important thing, but when you glance back through your diary you may find you actually spent more time having coffee with friends or shopping than quality time with your spouse. Honestly answer the question - do you do too much that is not really aligned with your purpose or priorities ?

The other reason we don't have any time is because of our perception. If you ask anyone, they are busy. It seems to be the standard answer. How many times do you hear people say "i'd love to do that, but I just don't have time". The truth is we all have 24 hours a day.

So, when I do have some time left over I do as my Grandmother says and try and do things for times when I know I won't have spare time. Last week I had planned to do so much in the garden, but the miserable rain kept me from venturing out too far.
Instead invested some time. I made huge batches of biscuits and muesli bars, made soup with leftover amounts and made cordial. I also got an extra loaf of bread on. I have been making crunchy cookies lately as they seem to keep a bit longer. I put them in glass Moconna Coffee jars on the bench -It gives me great satisfaction knowing that I have made them for the family and I know exactly what is in them. I also put a huge batch of dough into the freezer for stand by. I usually always make a double batch so that I can make cookies at short notice

























These muesli bars worked out well. It's the recipe that just uses rolled oats, crushed weet-bix dried fruit orange juice and honey.