The buddy system.

The other day Colette said that she NEEDs the encouragement we get in reading something encouraging and hearing what others are doing during the week. She inspired a blog post as I am exactly the same!

Over the years I have had women come along side me that helped and encouraged me. Mum and Nan  first and foremost then I have spoken about others like Mrs. Starkey who really was my Christian mentor when the girls were small. When the girls were a little older I added Laine from Laines Letters to this list. And she was the first time that I had a mentor that was on line. I never got to speak to Laine until recently but she wrote in such a way you felt she was writing to you and she was your friend just around the corner! She came along side me and encouraged me along the way and every day really. What a difference she made!

Helen had the same experience. She would go to the library and print Laine's Letters from the Internet then read them at home when her boys were small. She said to me it was just wonderful! You felt you were getting a lovely letter from a friend. At the end of that letter you felt revived. Full of conviction and a great sense of purpose and direction!

We might be blessed with plenty of mentors and helpers in our lives or we might need more. It can be quite hard to find people with so much in common and with similar beliefs. This is where the internet is wonderful!

After Helen I met Kaye. When I say "met" I have never met either of these friends in the flesh! But we all became friends thanks to meeting on line. Well, what a big thing this has been for me. I truly feel you can make wonderful friends on line and cast your net wide too!

Overall it has added together that I have always had someone encourage me in each stage of life so far. I feel like Colette. I NEED that encouragement. I need someone to report to and talk to. I do better this way. I just do.

Our hearts need encouragement. Thank goodness there are lots of ways to get it! Making time to read your Bible and pray will give you great encouragement.  And we are instructed to encourage each other and build each other up. The older women are to teach and encourage the younger women.

There are plenty of verses on this. It is normal to feel this way and be this way.

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are already doing. 1 Thess. 5:11

Encourage one another daily Hebrews 3: 13

And let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works Heb 10: 24

Of course there is a flip side. Dad always told me the power of one bad apple to send the whole case bad. And he wasn't talking about apples! 

The knowledge that we do better with support is used extensively in all kinds of ways. Schools have buddy systems, many training institutions have buddy systems and the 12 step programmes for fighting addictions have you have a mentor who comes along side you. Anyone in diet/weight loss,  fitness will tell you that you will do better with a buddy or support person. The athlete has a coach. The Bible also say that two are better than one, when one falls don the other can help him up! Well, that is so true!

it is worth remembering that what you can build up you can also tear down. We have to be careful to place ourselves as much as we can in places we are being built up and avoiding being torn down. I'm old enough to know the things that are damaging for me. Too much news, horror/frightening/tragic movies, some music, argumentative or negative people... I need to try and avoid!

But if I can get little dose everyday of encouragement, lovely things to be thinking about, goals and aims and plans, then I am just happy and busy as a little bee!  I also do well if I'm involved in a challenge of some sort, even with myself! 

I think we are like sponges! I seem to be able to absorb positivity and feel refuelled but I also can absorb negativity and feel drained and upset. So i KNOW I have to be careful where I frequent and have wonderful friends and mentors that encourage me in the right direction. If as adults we feel this way imagine how important this is for children.

Here I've been able to add things that I know work for me. I seriously do better because of Feather your nest Friday and I participate with Wendy on her blog as she lists the ways she saves each week. Wendy's blog is My Abundant Life.  I do better because Helen and Kaye never have a bad word to say and are full of happiness and encouragement. There are several just wonderful friends who have the same qualities that I am so grateful for.

In my pantry/cellar challenge I do better because Helen and I are doing the challenge together and then I added it as a challenge here and now there are a group of us! Seriously I will be thinking about it and working on it thinking "I can't wait to tell Helen" this or that or be able to write an update to share. I feel as though I have someone with me all the way. 

Plus something else... having a buddy in what ever you are doing makes it fun! Somehow a challenge is fun and motivating. I don't want to report that actually I did absolutely nothing. I want to report I did this, this and this and possibly get gold stars! lol Ok Im probably not getting gold stars. But you know what I mean when you FEEL like you did well and you feel good about it!

It's through friendship and support I usually achieve things that I feel good about!
Having some cheerleaders in your life is a really wonderful thing. And many people don't. You can see just about any time that if you encourage someone or compliment them that they light up. It is a small thing to do to encourage someone but really it's so important. Be someones cheerleader, it might make such a difference to them. 


You know when things have a good influence on you really by the way you feel and by the fruit of it. The right influences make me feel inspired, energetic, happy, encouraged, faithful, purposeful... and the wrong .... my energy feels sapped, depressed, discouraged... etc. The difference is instant. 

I had a laugh today. My husband sent me a text and he always makes up sweet names for me. This one was "my mighty little trooper" !!! Well, I am good with that. I am hanging around with the right people that encourage me to get lots done and be busy as a bee or a little soldier apparently!


All the flowers are currently in my garden. I have never grown these Lilly's before so I am really proud of them. Now some white ones are about to come out too! Plus we have had glorious weather. My garden is one of my "right places to hang around" as I feel happy and inspired when out in my garden. 

xxx

Preparedness and pantries. What will be worth more than gold?

Normally I would write my pantry post on Wednesday. This week I am writing it early in case any of the Australian ladies are wanting to buy powdered milk...  On Wednesday I will post my normal Monday blog post, so we are just around the wrong way this week!

In a recent pantry post Mel told the story of her Grandmother who responded to advice from her Mother in Law about the goods that were most in shortage and greatly sought after in WW1. This wonderful woman listened to this advice and acted on it. She lined the drawers in her home with packets of soaps and she stockpiled fabrics and sugar. And when WW2 came she had the ability to barter and use a great supply from which she made sweets and clothes as well. What a brilliant woman! She just got busy building up her nest and preparing for the future!

This got me thinking about what in our world could become short on supply and valuable?  In a shortage usually the price goes up and things that were once common place become greatly sought after and expensive. So they would also make great things to barter with.

We have discussed already the things that fly off the shelves in disasters that are good to have. On this I was thinking how could I be like Mel's Grandmother and store something that will be a bit like bars of gold in the bottom of drawers?  It's an interesting subject!

This led me to some amazing discoveries. In fact my mind boggles!

I noticed on Wendys blog My Abundant Life someone was commenting about the shortage of powdered milk interstate. Then I saw others commenting on this. Now a bit over a week ago there was powdered milk here on the shelves as I bought some. But I recalled last year for some reason there were shortages of baby formula and I didn't know why. It was on the news and there was a hotline to call. But we had no one in the family needing baby formula and I really didn't take much notice.

Last Thursday I went looking for milk powder and the shelves were empty. All empty, every brand and Coles and Woolworths the same.

I learned that China in recent years has had health scares with infant formula. More than scares, they have had contamination and babies have died and thousands of babies hospitalised. Multiple problems and over time and the Chinese have come to want baby formula from other countries and I can see why. It began that those with relatives overseas (ie Chinese students  studying abroad) started to buy and send home baby formula. This escalated to baby formula becoming a commodity everyone wanted and worth a high price. And this has continued until now. Baby formula and powdered milk are called White Gold in many countries and half a dozen countries have experienced shortages. To top if off China also have had a shortage of fresh milk and one way to fill the gaps has been importing huge amounts of powdered milk from New Zealand. Now if I was a Mother in China needing powdered milk/infant formula I would be doing the exact same thing. So I am not being critical of what has happened just reporting it as best I can.

Australia and NZ are seen as clean and green countries free of contamination so are especially popular as sources of baby milk and powdered milk. And cans of formula have flown off the shelves. In both countries mostly now stores will not allow you to buy more than four tins. This is to try and preserve supplies for locals needing formula. I checked in my two local stores and indeed if you went to the counter with 5 tins you wouldn't be allowed to buy them. And I had heard nothing about this before.

(On top of all this we had our own contamination scare and some brands were removed from shelves sometime last year).

Some countries like Hong Kong have restrictions on how much baby formula you can leave the country with. (2 cans) They have even decreased luggage allowances on trains to stop the smuggling of white gold! In 2013 baby formula became hard to get in Europe and families there had to stockpile it when they could for fear of not being able to get any at all. In Algeria there is an actual black market in "white gold".

Ebay is full of baby formula being re sold as people make money of out of the situation. Much of the formula on ebay seems to be from the US so I am thinking there is not a shortage there... but I don't know this yet.

So... why is ordinary powdered milk unavailable? Is it related to the baby formula issue?
I decided to ring Devondale the main supplier of powdered milk in Australia. This call was very educational!

They said the amount of milk powder selling from the shelves is unprecedented. They cannot keep up which is why shelves are empty. They are trying to increase production but the man I spoke to said that in truth they cannot produce as much as is being sold currently, let alone if demand increases any further.

I asked was this related to the baby formula issue and China and he said yes. That there is a general shortage and huge demand for both. And it isn't an issue he could see going away.

Considering there are over a billion Chinese you can see how a country like ours with one sixtieth the population trying to contribute to their shortage is going to be a problem. And it could get worse! This shows to me how contamination, shortages etc can implicate the whole world!

Now, baby formula has a shelf life of a year or so. So it is not suitable for long term storage and the same for powdered milk. I am not sure how long powdered milk will really last? But this is worth keeping an eye on if a baby in your family is needing formula. And grab powedered milk when you see it if you use it.

The other two shortages that seem likely are chocolate and honey. There seems a general agreement that world consumption of chocolate combined with drought and Ebola etc in Africa equal higher prices and shortages predicted.

Honey is similar. Manuka honey in particular is only produced in NZ and Australia and is being hailed world wide as a medical miracle and beauty miracle. Everyone wants it. The prices are already very high. A shortage of this seems likely also. So I checked into Manuka Honey. Is it a trendy thing? or does it really have special properties? I think it does have special healing properties but I wil leave that up to you to decide. Lots of "honey" on shelves contains no honey at all and is just concoctions of sugar syrups and who knows what. But real raw honey is gone up and up in price.

Of the things I can see there is a likely shortage honey seems to be a good thing to store as it never goes off. Pure honey really lasts forever.

I decided to make this post today instead of Wednesday for anyone who uses powdered milk or has a child on formula. Formula is currently on the shelves as long as you don't buy multiples. But I would keep an eye on supplies just in case. And if you buy powdered milk watch for it as it may be on the shelf if your supermarkert has some come in but it is unlikely to last. (in Australia anyway)

I found this very interesting as there is nothing in the media but I found some mentions in the media last year. Perhaps they think if they tell people then it will only be worse?!

Wherever you live it can be a good idea to be up to date on shortages, contaminations and droughts etc which can cause things to be scarce and stock up on them if they are important to you. And sometimes these thing have the potential be be a good little investment for the future. In some cases buying before great price hikes is just a good saving.

So these days knowing what would be wise to stock up on as Mel's Grandmother did is possibly tricky. And we have to make our own judgements and do our own research... plus where will live may make a difference. But I am thinking I will stock up on pure raw honey and Manuka honey, at least. Also what to stock up on depends on our own needs as well as the needs of others and if you intend things to be an investment/safety net, gifts, or for personal use. But it is a very interesting subject. And a demonstration that a shortage in one country can have a domino effect on others.

Later this year if Lucy needs baby formula (She hopes not to but you never know...) then I will be keeping some spares on hand and watching the situation carefully. I would not have even known I NEEDED to do that.

Knowledge is power! I think of the Proverbs woman who is not afraid of the future. She brought home food from far away places, worked on building up her household and was like the bees and ants working away and storing things up. I think that's why I love birds and bird nests so much... they are happily working away on their nests creating a thing of beauty. That is so sweet to me!

Next week we will return to normal days and I will hand back over to Helen. She has been working like a little bee on her pantry and preparedness!

Have a wonderful week! Here we are in February! Lets make it a month we make the most of in every way! xxx

Feather your Nest Friday. 30th January 2015.

The last week of January! I always think January is a big month. Recovering from Christmas and holidays and possibly a time of recovering from spending more money than usual. Then thinking about what it is we want to achieve in the new year and our goals and dreams.
Then we get back into regular life and it flies! So it is really good to keep our goals in front of us and have a little review. So I'm looking over the month and having a little plan.

I had another really good week! My pantry is going ahead in leaps and bounds and my cellar is up and running.

So the ways I saved money and feathered our nest this week include...

My afternoon with my friend Hilde and all the pantry tips she gave me. I posted some of these in comments on Wednesday but more to come! It was so much fun and she gave me so many ideas  just on pantry recipes that will be so handy.

Plus we went op shopping. I had wonderful luck and got three gorgeous cardis. I have a thing about really fine knitwear. I don't like thick or chunky things at all. But really fine knitwear is usually expensive. I found a blue/grey longline very fine knit Witchery brand cardi for $4, A fine Laura Ashley black knit cardi for $5 and a leopard print cardi, also really fine... for $4. I love them all. I washed them up and am so pleased. I was so excited about these as I live in cardi's in winter.

I also found a lovely vintage cotton sheet with pink roses on it. I always buy sheets if they are good cotton and pretty prints that look Shabby Chic-ish. Where else can you get several wide meters of pretty cotton fabric for $3 or so? Also if I see sheets in very old or soft brushed cotton/flannelette I get them and wash them up and tear them into large hankies for when anyone is sick. They are so soft they are the kindest thing for bad colds etc. These are the softest hankies you ever had. You can throw them in the bin, it was cheaper than packs of tissues. If I have plenty of these I made cleaning cloths. I fill big jars with them and pour over some miracle cleaner so they are moist and ready to use.

 My friends daughter had a baby girl. I am able to go to my cupboard of things I've made ahead and find a gift that I can send her. My gift cupboard is wonderful. I am now trying to keep a selection of baby things. Mum does this, she knits and crochets plenty of baby rugs, little hats and things and she always has them ready to give far and wide. They are beautiful hand made things. So I was able to do this and wrapped in pink tissue and ribbon my soft pink rug to post....

I had a use up left overs night and made pizzas. I used up so many bits and pieces and they were really good. Also they made several work lunches.

Our neighbours went away and said we were welcome to pick fruit. I went over and picked peaches. So yes I have MORE peaches. I needed a ladder and even them used a broom to pull down branches. It was up and down a ladder for an hour and I got about two more buckets full. They are really big white peaches. We have had peaches fresh and cut up every night for a week. The freezer is full of poached peaches and pies. I have kept the girls in fruit as well. I've made peach jam. Now I need to act on these immediately as they are pretty ripe.

Over the last couple of weeks we got a few around the home repairs done, general tidying up and due to milk weather the garden is looking lovely! These all help!

What did you do to build up your home and save money this week? I hope it was a good week and that January started the year off well.

It really is amazing how much all that we do saves money and generally builds up our homes. If we can think of a list of little ways to save money on food, gifts, services, utilities and ways to build up our pantries, emergency funds etc they all add up and we build a buffer too that protects us when unexpected things happen. Mimi baked a divine chocolate cake and said that in a cafe it would probably be $7 a slice or more. It's true! The whole cake doesn't cost $7 to make and we can enjoy sharing it all week! (for her recipe pop over to A Tray of Bliss) This is an example of what is in the shops vs what we can do ourselves!

I normally post Pantry/preparedness on Wednesdays. This week I made some discoveries that I think amount to urgent information we all need so I will post this on Monday. 

Have a wonderful weekend! xxxx

Building up our pantries. 7

Last week Helen posted that in hard times, the times we are depending on our pantries and our supplies, we probably need some nurturing and comfort. Whatever circumstances that have come about something has gone wrong and that is why we are relying on our stockpile. Having supplies to see you through is a big comfort of course but having things that your family like and are nurturing is such a good thing. Adding little treats and luxuries, comfort food and drinks, is going to make things much better if you can possibly manage it.

Thinking about this and reading all your ideas I had added to my storage list. My additions include Golden Syrup, Sticky Balsamic, Coffee Essence, Vanilla Concentrate, Condensed Milk, special tins of tea, a tin of caramels, chocolate, sun dried tomatoes, tinned custard powder, tinned hot chocolate. So far... I am sure I will come up with more. Thank you for all the replies to Helen's question. This helped me lots!

I have progress to report in the cellar! I have food on my shelves! There have been two good things... one was a better fortnight for us and some savings and the other some great specials I found.
I also decided with every saving I make to use some of it for something for the cellar or pantry.

My bathroom cabinet is really large. That is big enough to keep spare shampoo and quite a few things. So I am building that up also. I added toothpaste, soap and hand wash to that.

Here is a pic to show my progress from my original cold, dark, empty and scary cellar!

It truly is amazing how things add up when you just add something every time you can.

Following on from Helen I thought ok I am storing up foods that keep and we like and I am adding things that will really add flavour as well as some treats. Now what meals can I actually make form all these components?

So far I have a list I am keeping of things that can be made entirely from what is stored. I think we can include whats in the garden and if you have chickens you could include eggs. But rather than just a random collection of things to think what meals could I make up from this collection? Thinking this way we might realise we need to add this or that and we would have a complete meal. I have my regular kitchen pantry and by then end of the year hopefully a well stocked cellar.

Then I always seem to have plenty of a fair variety of herbs. I have two towers I made like this one... this was when this one was first planted, or early on...

I made them out of recycled pots (that means I found most of them on the side of the road!) and these are near the back door. This is how they look now...

They are jungles of herbs, some chilli and capsicums,  and I pick so many!  I pick bunches for the girls and to give away as gifts. And I add fresh herbs to everything. I will always keep them going as they really are lovely adding flavour, colour and a burst of vitamins and minerals to everything. In a crisis they would be wonderful to be able to add to stored foods.

Anyway, from what I have so far I could make custard (from powdered milk and custard powder)
with plum pudding (tinned Christmas pudding) or tinned fruit.
I could make tuna casserole/mornay.... (powdered milk, tins tuna, corn, chicken noodle soup...)
which I could serve over pasta or rice. Or corn fritters.

I could make simple pasta and tomato sauce with fresh herbs,  pancakes  and served with any of several homemade jams. Scones, simple fruit cobbler using tinned fruit and a cake batter.

We like soup and even tinned tomato soup is nice so I would be quite happy with that. I could add fresh herbs to tinned soups to make them healthier.
I actually like baked beans and would find them a good meal.
I could make damper (simple bread).

So now to add to my list!

Doing something toward this week by week is really working. We are still in January and I have got this far so by December I think I am going to be amazed!

If you would like some wonderful reading on the subject Patsi's blog A Working Pantry is a wonderful resource. She has started a series I am following.  I am loving it already. Start here here to read the introduction. Thank you Patsi for making this free for everyone. I feel as if I am building up my pantry with a great friend beside me. She posts Wednesdays and so today will be part three I think. (which I am looking forward to).

While I've been adding things to my cellar shelves and writing this there is a great storm approaching the east coast of America. I have been watching updates. This is a situation people have had a warning, they know its coming and have time to prepare. Knowing what needs doing and getting it done before the storm comes in. I saw photos of empty supermarket shelves already.  After that cars need to be off the road and people need to be safe indoors. By the time I post this it will be well underway. I hope everyone is alright, there are millions people are in the way of that storm! In fact here are more people affected by the storm than there are in the whole of Australia. Like twice that many. My mind boggles. I saw pictures of the biggest supermarket I have ever seen in Boston and everything from the fridges and freezers was gone! Empty. It really makes you think!

What meals can you make from your pantry when a storm comes in and you can't get to the shops? Or when there is another reason that you cannot shop? I would love to learn some new ideas to add to my list.

As Helen said when a blizzard comes in or someone is out of work those are the times that a comforting or warming meal would be especially restoring and encouraging. A little planning is what we are doing!

I am hoping everyone has a staple pantry/emergency meal like my trusty tuna mornay and between us we will come up with a good list! Many thanks in advance...

It is lovely to make progress and to work on this together. Little bits add up! And there are small opportunities that crop up. I just got a $10 Woolworths gift card. If I use that on some good specials I can add more to my cellar!

I hope you are having a good week! xxx

Made with love.

Last week I had a very special day. Lucy and I had an afternoon going through the baby things that I have kept stored away since the girls were babies. These things have moved houses numerous times and have been kept here up in my high cupboards.

A row of boxes contain baby cards from when both the girls were born, precious baby clothes, the outfits the girls came home from hospital in, special dresses they wore and all kinds of little treasures. It includes the hand made things of five generations! The oldest things I have were made by my Great Grandmother Annie Susannah Pratt. But she is Lucy's Great Great Grandmother of course. And the babies Great Great Great Grandmother!

Annie Susannah is the Great Grandmother who's Bible I have with all her markings and notes and the unbelievably beautiful letter she received from a friend when my Great Grandfather died. She had 13 children and my Nan was the youngest one. When Nan was born she slept in a shoe box lined with cotton wool she was so small. Annie Susannah was also tiny. She was 4 foot 8. Lucy is almost as tiny at just 5 foot exactly. So there is plenty of Annie Susannah in Lucy I think!

Here are some silk crochet garments she made. The little booties are just beautiful. I don't know where she got the silk thread from and this must have been very special as they didn't have money... they were farmers and hard workers. The silk things in the middle you can see, have sheen to them.  The blanket (Winnie the Pooh) I made, the cardi on the top left Mum made, the dress Nan made.

Next I have things made by Nan (her daughter) Cora Jean. Nan had black hair, fair skin and blue eyes. She sewed, knitted and made so many things always for us all. She also spun her own wool and dyed her own yarns. She provided so many things for us and everyone she knew.

Also Nan's friends made me things when the girls were born. I have talked about Loris Smith and Mrs. Mann before and how wonderful they were. This is a little dress Mrs. Mann made for Chloe which she wore and wore.  Then Lucy wore. I could cry at the sight of it now!

Out came Lucy's baby album. She could see what she wore when she came home from hospital and then there it all was kept for her. Over and over she could see her little dresses in the album and then see them in real life. Here is the album with Lucy in a little dress Great Gran made and the dress next to it.

Then there are so many things made by Mum, Patricia Ann. Mum made things from newborn right through their childhood. Mostly knitting but some sewn dresses as well. I still have most of it and even though it was all worn constantly it all is in great shape.

There there are things I made. One of Chloe's favourite things is when she was at kindy she went dressed to something as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. I painted a little pair of shoes bright red then layered them with red glitter to make ruby red slippers. At the time she could hardly walk in them as she had to stop and admire them so constantly that progress was slow. She has these on display in her home now as they pretty much set the standard of her love of shoes!

Over the years as I have sewn, embroidered, knitted and crocheted, I've stashed away things for one day for the girls. I used to sew for a baby boutique and I made a set of everything for both the girls. Pram sets, sheet sets, baby rugs, embroidered blankets... singlets, muslin wraps and wash cloths... piles of stuff.

It was so much fun getting all this out!

Then there was a box of things that were little dresses worn through childhod. Lovely smocked liberty print dresses, knitted dresses and more! A little velvet dress I wore when I was four in a wedding!

I think Lucy was surprised by how much of it she loved and thought she can use. Of course if she has a girl there are more things but I have made things suitable for boys as well as girls so there is lots there.

Everything represents love to me. I appreciated it all at the time but even more now.
If Great Gran and Nan were here now they would be so excited! Mum is and you guessed it she is probably knitting as we speak! Luckily Lucy adores knits and cute things. Her baby will be wrapped in things made with love from the minute its born.

The things these women did everyday so influenced me so much.  And the girls and now a new baby. I am so glad I kept these little treasures. And my line has been filled with sweet things as I have washed it all up and hung it in the sun. This was my line today... I'm up to the bigger dresses! Lucy is set if she has a girl. But if the baby is a boy Mum and I will create a new supply!

Really this was an afternoon of loveliness. Gran and Nan kept us company as we thought of them and all they did.

I took over 80 photos of mostly differnet things. Another day I might post more of my embroidery as there are little outfits with Winnie the Pooh themed stories on them and mice getting married and pushing prams and all things I made up!

It makes you wonder what are we making that will be handed down the generations and treasured? Not only that but just how much we are remembered and how much we influence our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and so on...

We have the opportunity to be a great blessing to them all!

There is the saying that some days are diamonds. This day was one of them! xxx

Feather your Nest Friday, Jan 23 2015.

My hopes and aims were that this week would be good and we would do some getting back to normal and catching up!

And we did!

I had more free fruit. The first peaches were yellow ones and smaller. These are much larger white peaches.  Wendy suggested I made jam with some which I did. She said to me that peach jam tastes like summer. That sold me! It turned out a beautiful colour too. I used the yellow peaches as I had some that were fading fast and this used them up.

My aunt gave me beautiful plums. They are the most glorious colour! You could have them in your kitchen as decor they look so nice. There have been so many comments on various photos I have taken in my aunts garden. The series of lovely fruit on all her trees. I think we all love seeing fruit and dreaming what we could do with all this produce! Her recently released book is partly about her garden. It is called "A fig at the gate" (By Kate Llewellyn) and she literally does have a fig at the gate...

I made plum cobbler using the recipe I mentioned Monday on the post about using up what comes your way. You simply grease a pie dish and spread your cut up fresh fruit over the dish. Then you make up a batter that you pour over. Bake until risen and golden, about one hour on a medium oven.
Sever with cream or ice cream.
These can be frozen to use later in the year when there is no fruit.  I took a photo as I filled the dish as the colour was so lovely.

I also made plums into my trusty Use it up fruit cake. I called it "Ruby Cake". It looked and tasted so lovely. The fruit looked a deep ruby colour, very pretty.
I have kind of let the secret out that I make all these things and call them fancy names and they are all really the same. (I linked to these recipes in Mondays post, they are super easy recipes designed to use up what you have)

A  cake like this would make a lovely gift. For a birthday present or just a gift of kindness, a cake is a beautiful thing to give someone. From now on I will call the plum version Ruby Cake.

So from free peaches and plums I ended up with so many things including gifts to give. I made plum jam also which turned out the most pretty colour.

Working my way through all this fruit I felt very blessed by great abundance.

Andy walks in saying "what smells so good?!" which is nice I think and he comes snooping to see.

My next frugal thing was a great find. Two doors away there are a block of units. People seem to move out and leave half their things on the side of the road. Many times I think the tv's etc are better than ours and consider a swap. I'm not kidding either! Recently I was thinking my washing machine is getting on and worrying about it a bit. So the other day what appeared to be a brand new washing machine was put out next to the rubbish with a stack of appliances.  I went and looked. It had the new stickers on it and appeared new. Why would anyone throw out a brand new washing machine? On closer inspection it all seemed good. And fancy. I googled it and it was over $850! It has a function for everything. Much fanccier than anything I have ever had.

Soooo... I convince Andy (who says it mustn't work. No one would dump a brand new washing machine) to collect it and test it. He hauls it home, connects it up and says "away you go."  He was skeptical! I googled the manual and pressed the right buttons and away it went. Andy stood there waiting for it to explode or something. It ran it's cycle and we concluded there is nothing wrong with it. Maybe someone bought it PLANNING to wash something and never did?

So here it is. I now have such a fancy spare washing machine that I wish my current one would hurry up and croak. And when it does I will save myself hundreds or to be precise $850!

Next, my daughter is having a clean our/decluter and offers me a heap of skin care that she has mostly been given as gifts and things arent't right for her skin... would I like any of these things? There was plenty that I would love and suit my skin! So I had a little haul of all brand new things that would amount to a few hundred dollars worth of skin care.

During the week I did all the things I always do... line dry the clothes and linen, water the garden with household water, cook all our meals and send all the work lunches and coffee etc.
With the fruit coming in I added fruit to the freezer, jam to the pantry and was able to share it as well.

It was a really good week and it went too fast!

What did you do to feather your nest or save money this week? I hope it was a great week and you have a lovely weekend. Mel said to me that Feather your Nest Fridays help her as she goes along and thinks how she can add this or that to her list! Well, it helps me too and hearing what you have been doing is wonderful to me! xxx

Building up our pantries. No 6. Introducing Helen!

Today I am handing the Pantry Challenge over to Helen. Everyone who reads Bluebirds has heard of Helen!  Helen and I used to write together about saving and making a happy and lovely home for very little. This was such a good thing as it led to us becoming friends and both going on to things we could never have dreamed of!
For those of you that don't know Helen she reminds me a lot of Laine. So you are going to be blessed by getting to know her!

Over to Helen!...

Pantry Comforts

Dear Friends and friends in the making, “hello”, my name is Helen. Annabel and I are dear friends from when we were dreaming our way through frugal indulgences that literally changed your life. Around us gathered a group of ladies that generously shared their tips, dreams and challenges.

Annabel has invited me to sit and share in the beautiful world of “The Bluebirds are Nesting”, amongst you all. I’m excited at what we will discover together! I’m a wife to my darling Glen, and a mother to our two adult sons Tom and Andrew. I love Jesus. He is my friend and Saviour.

Today I wanted to talk to you about Pantry Comforts. Pantry Comforts are the treasures that you find when you are in “heart” need. When the miseries strike and you’re down in the dumps, food transformed by love and memory becomes a warm blanket for our souls. This week deep in the winter snows in Japan, our son Tom opened a parcel from home and found tea and Walkers Shortbread. A childhood favourite. The message I got from him was....”best mum ever”. 

 My hands had reached across the miles and brought him the simple comfort of home. I have been joining you all on the Pantry challenge that Annabel has set before us, and while my mind has been fixed on such practicalities as tinned tomatoes and bags of pasta, there has been a niggling of my spirit that has said make sure I include those things that move us emotionally, that cause our hearts to light up with pleasure when we see them. And to that end, each week while I have been busy balancing budgets, I have also included some things like a favourite Chilli Relish, Jamie Oliver’s Sticky Fig and Balsamic dressing. 

 I love what Chef Sophie Gray has to share from her Destitute Gourmet Books, that the bulk of her frugal grocery order consists of basic pantry ingredients but she includes a couple of ingredients that move her meals from mundane to memorable. Some of the things that she buys are heavenly dark chocolate, gourmet berries, special cheeses. Each week I’m joining with you in building my pantry and considering not only the food that we need but what do we also relish with delight. For if I am to rely on this pantry due to sickness or unemployment or need of some kind, surely it’s my aim to not only feed my family but also to nourish their hearts with the appearance of favourite food at our table?

I’ll close with quote from a favourite author Sarah Ban Breathnach from Simple Abundance: “Comfort food is hearty. When hearts are heavy, they need gravitational and emotional equilibrium: meat loaf and mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, chicken pot pie, creamy risotto. Food that resonates that we will survive. With such sustenance we can keep on going and going especially when we don’t want to take another step.”

 So dear friends, what are your Pantry Comforts?  Love Helen.