Feather your Nest Friday. 17th April, 2015.

How was your week?! I really love Fridays for the reason that making a list of everything I did achieve is a celebration. Usually I feel pretty good then. I mention this as several times in the week I read on blogs how so many ladies feel depressed and overwhelmed at all they have to do, by their lists, by all the work in front of them. On a few I added my comment that if we don't stop and look at all we did and feel proud of ourselves and the results, well, then, no wonder people feel overwhelmed. It would be like endlessly working with no pay day!

Pay day for me is having some idea of the value, both monetary and spiritual, of all my efforts. Mimi frequently works out the dollar value. ie if I had purchased that meal instead of making it the cost would have been $$?? Or for me this week, if Andy had bought coffee and lunches the cost would have been  probably between $50 and $70. However, I packed lunches and sent coffees each day saving most of that money. That is just ONE thing. Add them all together and see how much it is! It might be a worthwhile challenge for a week. List all the things you do where the alternative is to buy that product or service. List the savings on each one and see what your work saved your family. Maybe we all need to do that now and then!

But "pay day" is also realising all the other benefits. I like to have things organised and looking nice. I am HAPPIER when my surroundings reasonable. Other payoffs are too many to list... a welcoming home, a comforting sanctuary, a place the family are proud of, a place people feel safe, healthy food on the table... there are just so many things about our homes that make them something far beyond a house.

All these things are building up our home and feathering our nests!

Some of the ways I saved money this week were:

I made lots of pasties for meals and the freezer and I used left over pasty for jam tarts. (from some of my summer jams) This is the worlds simplest thing but they look like stained glass windows!

Mum gave me two beef roasts. I can roast them or make casseroles or curries, then pies...

I knew rain was coming and I got the washing all done and dry before it arrived. I dont have a dryer and line dry everything.  Beating the rain and using the last sun feels like a great success!

Then appreciating the rain. Rain on the garden is a saver in itself and better than any watering.

I went through my recipes and found lots that I haven't made in a while that I will start making in the next few weeks. And I found a sausage roll recipe bulked out with grated carrot like my daughter makes and this will be next weeks cook up.

My first scarf is finished and I have started another one.

I said no to some outings and saved the budget and got more work done.

My baby parsley patches have come up everywhere. I have parsley in plague proportions!

Some of the ways I built up our home were:

I added to my pantry... tinned cherries and tinned milk. (evaporated milk). 

I cleaned and cleaned. I had a catch up as I was behind in a few things.

Our hydrangeas were almost finished so I pruned them. I gave a heap of cuttings to a friend and then put all the flower heads in a vase. They are mostly dried but with hydrangeas this is still pretty. And looks "autumny" and lovely. This is a HUGE vase...

Good things...

I met Mel! She lives on the other side of  town to me but we met for coffee and talked and talked! It is funny when you meet someone and you feel so familiar with them from endless chatting online, sharing our lives and weeks. Mel is gorgeous. And she had saved and washed me twenty lovely jars with lids! Does she know me well or what!?

It rained properly and is still raining. That is a great help in itself.

I hope you had a good week and I hope you know how important your work is and what a difference it makes to your family!

Thank you to everyone who added to the freezer meals ideas. The list just grew and grew and I have some new things to include in my own freezer. Thank you!

How did you save money and build up your home this week?

Have a great weekend and some well earned rest. xxx

Pantries and Preparedness. The help of frozen meals.

Today I am thinking about preparedness from a shorter term approach. Meals in the freezer for when you have the flu, the weather is terrible, life is hectic, cooking just isn't going to happen and all the times that you might otherwise think about getting take away. This is still preparedness. It's preparedness for lifes regular bumps.

Meals in the freezer are a huge help. They will get you through in all these circumstances and also when money is tight. They are a part of your normal food storage and emergency preparedness.

Building up meals in your freezer is really easy to do. Some of you will be better at this than me! If you regularly get take away this alone will help your budget and health to a huge extent. Using the savings to increase your emergency fund or pantry add to the benefits.

The simplest way to build up ready meals is to cook double and freeze a meal. There are many things I don't think it makes any sense to cook a single meal, when you are making them just make double. (or more!) Think about it and make a little plan based around what your family likes. I have heard people say this doesn't work as their family will see the extra and just eat it. If that is the case as you are serving separate the extra meal away and put it out of sight. Also there is nothing wrong with saying that something is for another night!

Some of my meals are so easy. Actually all of my meals are easy... like yesterday I made pasties. In the cooler weather I love a pasty and a glass of milk. I feel like a little kid with that combination. My Nan made Pasty Slice. So it looked like a square pie. Packed full of vegies and they froze perfectly. So you can make them individually or as a larger slice to cut up. I made a dozen pasties that are meal sized...

And I made 2 large and two small family size as Pasty Slices...

This made meals for 14 or more. We ate one each for dinner last night with spicy relish. A family one is going to the expectant couple... the rest in the freezer. Easy! So one afternoon cooking = at least ten back up meals. (and ten nights of no cooking!)

My cooking here is nothing wonderful. I even use bought puff pastry, I confess. Also I have left over pastry that today I am going to use up with some of my homemade jam and make cute little jam tarts. You guessed it... I will make a few, not just one!

The other day I had a spaghetti sauce cook up. It fills my biggest cook pot. It is simply mince, onion, tomato, tomato paste, pepper, oregano... I will add grated vegies like zucchini etc as I have them. The important thing is to simmer it for ages to develop the flavors. But once I have this I can make...

Spaghetti bolognese,
Lasagna,
Savoury mince on toast,
Mixed through macaroni cheese as a bake. (kids love)
This mix as a meat sauce on a pizza, topped with cheese is great. Kids and men love it! I added salami to Andy's and he thinks I'm a genius. lol

You can fill tacos.
I line a dish with corn chips... fill the middle with your meat mix, cover in cheese and bake. This is a crowd pleaser and so tasty. This is the kind of thing we have instead of take away. That was our Sunday night dinner while we watched football. So easy.

"Chow Mien" the addition of shredded cabbage, rice and chicken noodle soups SOUNDS odd but it makes a savoury rice dish that is yummy and kids LOVE. It can be served with toast too. It is easiest to add cooked or partially cooked rice (about one cup) and sometimes you are going to need to add more liquid. This cooks up to be so tasty.
They are the usual things I will do from a spaghetti sauce cook up. One cook up produces so many different meals.

 Lasagna will go further if you cut it into serving sizes when it is cold and  freeze those. Then each package is one portion. There are no trays with left overs that way.

Another one is also mince based. I will make up a big batch of mince, egg, bread crumbs, tomato paste, herbs and make meat loaf and also make hamburgers. This will give me several spares of each and both can be frozen raw or cooked.
I often the cook my meatloaf in the slow cooker surrounded by vegies. Usually I will do two. One for dinner and the other will be sliced up for cold meat in lunches. Yummy! But for children I would cook my meat loaves in a muffin tray (in what size is suitable) and then you have individual servings which look neat and individual servings to freeze.

The idea of a basic thing that can then become something else is the biggest help. My most usual one is to make a chicken, beef or lamb casserole. I always add a huge amount of vegies. Make at least double and eat the casserole the first night. Then use this as filling for pies and use pastry to encase it or cover the mix with mashed potato or sweet potato and cheese and bake that. It is a sort of Shepherds Pie then. These are lovely and they also freeze. Or make individual sized little pies. Again for children use a muffin tray so your pies are child sized. Making things in good portioned sizes gets you so many more meals from a batch of anything. It saves waste. If you have lots of leftovers making everything in serving sizes pretty much eliminates that and it can be a huge saving!

This is a pot roast. The greens go in later. At the end this became pies. It gives you very tender and tasty pies.

Soup is easy to make in big batches and freeze in serving sizes. If you aren't well chicken soup ready to heat up is so good!

I cannot understand making A cake. I will always double or triple it and make several or make a cake and muffins or some combination so that I have a batch to freeze.
You can also slice a cake up into lunch box sized portions ready to drop in lunch boxes in the morning.

The same with scones or corn bread. Then you always have something to go with soup, for the kids when they come home from school, for visitors...

I multiply fruit cakes as they keep for a year or more. It is just as easy to make several as make one. This keeps in the pantry and is so good to have on hand.

These are the ways that when I am cooking I make it worth my while and then I have several meals from one. Then there is always something easy for a busy night, you never have to cook every evening and you always can build up your frozen meal supply. You no longer need take away. You have your own food bank ready to go. So often you hear people say how they are tired of cooking every night. You don't have to cook every night! Once you start making extra you soon are cooking a few nights a week at the most.

I also always keep pizza bases or turkish bread in the freezer. I always have cheese, ham or bacon, in the fridge or freezer and pineapple, tomato paste, herbs etc in the pantry. So in a few minutes I can make pizza, pizza subs, toasted sandwiches etc. This is far quicker than getting take away anyway and a fraction of the cost. Also I often wonder what is wrong with eggs on toast, baked beans, sandwiches or some other simple thing for dinner in a pinch?

My meals to build up my freezer are pretty basic but reliable recipes we like. Many things can be frozen or served different ways to make a variety of meals. Mostly I do this according to what is on special and sometimes what I have been given, as in the case with the use- it- up- fruit cakes and usually soups too.

What are your easy meals and good options as frozen meals? Having a selection is a big help. It gives you variety and choice. I am always on the look out for more.

Patsy really taught me that all our food storage is our pantry. This part of our food storage is very helpful. Imagine how much our Grandmothers would have loved to have the freezers we have!

In another post I will talk about meals to create from the non fridge/freezer part of our food storage and also how just a few fresh things in the garden make make a world of difference to the possibilities.

This week in South Australia tens of thousands of people are without gas and so have no heating, cooking, hot water. It has happened in two large towns due to a burst gas pipe. You can see those doing ok have alternative methods to cook and heat water such as a gas BBQ with a gas bottle or electric hot plates. It always pays to have plan B! A good reminder. It is also a reminder that when something like this happens all the things that you would need ie gas bottles, gas BBQ, electric hot plates, all sell out in minutes. So rushing out to buy them when the crisis hits is not a good time to go shopping! It would be a good time to have spares though.

I hope you are having a good week! xxx

Beautiful images from old books...

On our trip to Tumby Bay our op shopping was a big part of the fun. I came home with three books I chose for the gorgeous images.  One was a Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic book and two were books on roses. Each were between $2 and $4 in price. The whole idea was that these give me images for making lovely cards!

I will get over 100 cards and tags from these! Cards really are very inexpensive to make this way! I had enough images to share with a friend as well.

This weekend I started making some cards up. These are really simple. I have made fancier cards ie with ruffles and written tutorials which you can find in my craft section. But these are stunning images and so I just make a simple card.

I began with the Shabby Chic book and made a series...

I love these, the chandeliers, the sparkle and soft colours!

Then I started on roses. These are lovely too! In some cases the pictures were stunning on both sides of the page and I had to decide! 

Also in early posts I showed how you can take a plain or recycled gift bag, add a picture and end up with a lovely gift bad for your gift giving. These are expensive in shops! But sometimes stores use these when you make a purchase. Then they have a logo or something on them. Well, just cover that and make your own gift bags! In our news agency gift bags are expensive. Cards are mostly about $8, tags even are a couple of dollars. Each thing like this you make is a big saving.

In another early post I showed how you can use lovely magazine images or book images as gift wrapping for small gifts. I always keep a selection of the larger pictures for gift wrap. The uses are endless! On that note posters, sheet music, jewellery catalogues... lots of things make lovely gift wrap...

I start with the largest images. Some were full page... these are great for wrapping something or for a larger gift bag. Then I make cards and small bits get used up on gift tags. This gets you the most value.

An example of wrapping is this time I have made wrapped soaps to go with my cards. I just buy boxed Dove soaps. I like the pink soap but any are fine. I wait and get them on specials. Usually $1 each. What started me on these was seeing a gift wrapped soap in a gift store for over $20. Seriously. So I have made so many of these!

Some of the larger rose images were big enough for this. I just add a bow or an embellishment... you can really use anything you have. 

These are really handy as a small thank you gift, teacher gift...  Also I often add one to a gift I am posting. Every time I have heard back how wonderful the parcel smelled when it was opened! 

These also would be a nice party favour. My tips are wrap tightly and neatly. Place your sticky tape so that your ribbon will cover it. Use tacky craft glue to secure ribbon and embellishments. 

These are so handy! 

My next gift is to pack up cards into a pack as a gift in themselves. You could add a pen or stamps or an address book. But really you don't need to... they look lovely. I use cellophane bags and tie them up with a bow. For my aunt I make gardening or cooking themed cards. You can personalise them to what someone loves. Then I finish that with a bow. This is a lovely gift and will save the person money as they don't have to buy cards for a while! 

So my three books which were $8 all up have supplied me with months worth of pretty pictures for all of these little projects. Books have much better quality paper than magazines so the pictures have a good finish to them. You could also cover gift boxes, plain books. diaries... the list goes on! 

I keep on saying that you don't have to be artistic to be crafty! There are so many ideas and once you get going it is surprising how the results encourage you to go on. The savings certainly do too. 

Beautiful images have so many possibilities. A stunning gift tag can become a bookmark. If you have lovely frames fill them with images from books are your art. Imagine doing this with gorgeous childrens illustrations for a nursery! (I have nurseries on the brain at the moment!)

I hope you had a good weekend! I have so many things on the go, several crochet projects, cards and soaps, cooking... then I decided to alter some winter scarves I have that are lovely but just too bulky for me so I never wear them... so the sewing machine is out and I am making them over. (or under really)

But now it is Monday I have a long list as there are a errands to run and we must eat and things like that!

Have a wonderful week! See you Wednesday for Pantries! xxx

Feather your Nest Friday, 10th April. 2015.

What a week!
I don't even know where to begin. Which is a good thing! It means both my list of how I built up my house is really long and how I saved money is even longer!

We were able to do heaps around the house and garden due to the Easter long weekend. AND it rained. It even hailed. Because the garden has been so dry and I am constantly watering it the rain has been fantastic. Things were actually soaked and everything looked fresh and clean. Just lovely.

So some ways I built up my home this week included:

I cleaned all the back of the house windows outside. We have, at the back of our house, mostly glass and the doors as well. Very pretty to see into the garden but also it looks so much better when they are really clean.
Then I did all the inside windows and windowsills, doors, door handles etc. The glass goes to the ceiling so I was up and down the ladder lots of times. It looks so nice!

Once I started wiping windowsills the bug bit me to keep wiping and so every table, side table, picture frame etc got a wipe down too.

I put the houseplants out into the rain. This does them good and "dusts" them too so they look so fresh and lovely.

Also I added to my pantry.

Some of the ways I saved money were:

I made a big batch of miracle cleaner. I filled all my nicest bottles. I used detergent that was pink so it all turned out soft pink which I really like.

Mum gave me a lamb roast to cook during the week. It is just the weather for it too. I cooked a big tray of roast vegies plus peas, mint sauce and gravy. It meant we had a lot of left over cold meat which made Andy's lunches. Mum also gave me left over milk and cheese.

Chloe has let me use her old lap top. Mine is out of action and I was blogging on my ipad. But there are things I still haven't worked out on my ipad... although I kind of managed... it was harder. So now I have a laptop again and it is heaven! I can't even imagine what this saved me but money I didn't have right now to spend anyway. So very grateful for this!

My Aunt and Uncle heard (via Mum) about my jar collecting and they sent me three bags of clean, lovely jars in different sizes. Yay! Now my jar cupboard looks somewhat healthy again. Some of the jars are larger with lids and these can be used in the cellar for storage.

I cut my hair. I was just having a series of bad hair days and I realized it needed a decent treatment and trim. So I did a couple of conditioning treatments and cut a bit more off than usual. It worked! It has been going right since...

With the cooler weather I went through my wardrobe. I basically "shopped" my wardrobe and created outfits, put away summer things, washed some knitwear, polished shoes, got our scarves, changed handbags... and without buying anything it all looks really nice and feels like a new wardrobe. I worked out I need a black singlet or camisole and black casual pants and I have everything I need.

I swapped to a more wintery handbag, the one Lucy gave me a little while ago. It is beautiful. I think a smart handbag makes you look and feel stylish. Good thing Lucy has stylish taste as my free handbag is quite glamourous!

I started a scarf for myself in deep burgundy. Mum made me an infinity scarf which I love, it loops around twice and sits nicely... no trailing scarf that I slam in the car door and other unfortunate things like that. But warm and looks lovely!  I am about half way through it. Next week I will post the finished result. Making it yourself you get the exact colour you want plus the exact width and length you want. If it's fine yarn you only need one ball. Bargain!

This is something I have to show you. Chloe used my Gingerbread recipe to make several dozen biscuits for her Easter gifts. Combining her pantry supplies with a couple of things needed this only required a $4 spend. And made a lot of gifts! Plus they were very well received as she travelled to see friends over Easter...

Aren't they cute? And she did a good job of the photo too. (thanks Chloe)

Today I am having a quiet day at home just cleaning and tidying and emptying my through the summer handbag and putting necessities into my winter handbag. Cath in the Cheapskates newsletter had an article about using little purses in your handbag to organise things so you are not rummaging around so much trying to find things! So I am doing it this way as I tend to carry lots of things! I will post a pic next week if I think it looks good!

How was your week? How did you build up your nest and save money? I hope you feel good about your week.

I have to say the work we do and the efforts we make add a lot of comfort, happiness and security to our homes. Everyone feels that. It is not all perfect. In our case Andy does not have enough work at the moment. He is inventive and fills in the gaps with other things. But still he has had a shortfall for several weeks in a row. He has the HEART of a PROVIDER which means he acutely feels this. I know I am not the only one going through this here...  Mel shared she had lost her job suddenly last week. Others here have other things such as health problems, large looming expenses and all kinds of worries. I pray for them all.

The thing is, at these times, our keeping the home fires burning is MORE important than ever. When you walk in, or your husband or children walk in the door, and the house smells like cooking and things are welcoming then things seem alright. It is very COMFORTING. It not only comforts the family but it comforts us as well to be busy and productive. To "do the next thing" that needs doing and keep the home fires burning! 

Then to top it off, if I needed further convincing, this all proves having good pantries is such a wise thing. We can cook up a lovely meal from our pantry and repeat until things get better. It is like money in our own little bank. And the way banks are these days it's probably safer!

The difference we can make is beyond anything we can imagine. So feel encouraged and proud and blessed by what you can do with your energy, inventiveness and talents. 

Have a wonderful weekend.xxx

Pantries and Preparedness, Wed 8 April. 2015.

Since last week our weather has cooled and we have had rain and hail. Thinking about the pantry and cooking has turned to soups, stews, the crock pot and warmer things! I love the change of seasons!

Pantry progress this last week included storing more water, pasta, tomato paste, gar bags and dry soup mix.

Today I am going to share some wonderful blogs that will help you. As you know I am a strong believer in the buddy system. In whatever way you like to do it, having someone come along side you and help you with knowledge, inspiration and general encouragement, just helps in so many ways.
My main stay for pantry knowledge and help is Patsy at A Working Pantry. I know I could ask Patsy anything and she would help me. Week by week we go along and make progress! Treating it as a challenge makes it into a fun game instead of a chore. Actually it is so much fun  it's a bit addictive! And that is how to get stuff done, make it fun! Love what you are doing. Appreciate the importance of it!

I have found so much information and so many ideas lately that I could burst from excitement. Firstly Ball Canning has an Australian Website. It is wonderful! Really you can learn to can from scratch plus recipes, inspiration and tutorials to watch. This makes everything really easy. The great advantage with canning is you are not using up all your precious freezer space. This is a really educational site.


Next I found Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth.  Jes loves jars. She counts jars as one of her favourite things! I knew I am going to LOVE her. Giving you this link I may never see you again. The whole website is wonderful but since we are talking about pantries her Food Preservation and Pantry Storage section is extensive. It includes free printables for your pantry too. And Tutorials. You name it, every aspect you can think of. All with joy with a capital J. At the moment when I have time and a cup of tea I read a little bit more there.

You cannot go past The Prudent Homemaker. She is also "real" in that she has a large family and they have ad to live from the contents of the pantry and the garden for extended periods of time. This article is a good start.  A Well Stocked Pantry.

All of these have you thinking "why am I just sitting here?" and get you moving!

Have you made some progress in your pantry and preparedness since last week? If you know of any helpful websites, books or blogs please let me know. I am currently exploring You Tube on this and have found some amazing pantry tours, tutorials etc. When I decide the best ones I will share those as well.

I hope you are having a wonderful, productive week and that you find some amazing opportunities to build up your pantry! xxx

Ask and you shall receive.

Time and time again I learn that a Bible verse is even truer than I once thought. "Ask  and you shall receive" is another one! I am continually surprised. It is a little like when I was discovering all the ways a woman can "build her home". I think there are so many things that at first I saw one way and then later I see as so much more. That is what is exciting! Remember when Helen Keller's hand was in the running water and suddenly she realised the spelling on her hand meant "water" and that it was a language! The penny dropped. She got it! A new whole world opened to her in that insant. Well, now and then in some small way I make a discovery or realisation that is a light bulb moment! This one was a slow one for me. But ask and you shall receive!

How many wishes do you have in your heart that you have never verbalised? I mean really think about this. We carry dreams in our heart and desires for all kinds of things... Some we would feel silly to even admit! Some we have always wanted and may have never told anyone. Some are trivial and we think they are not worth telling anyone.

When I was younger I was full of wishes. I am sure no one in the world knew any of them. Most of my world was inside of me, a whirring of thoughts and dreams, that it never even occurred to me to talk about. 

Many of us don't. There seem to be a lot of reasons for the silence. Maybe it seems greedy for us to make our requests known? Or we would seem self centred... Or revealing these things is too much to reveal? Maybe we are a bit afraid of a big fat no. Or that we might fail...  Or if we ask for the chance to do something big maybe we won't measure up. Maybe another kind of failure is worrying us. Perhaps we think our talent isn't good enough and so to ask isn't appropriate. There are all kinds of things that stop us asking for our hearts desires. Maybe we just don't feel worthy enough to ask for favour?Sometimes I think we hope or expect others will just know what we want. That they somehow should know. But they don't have much chance unless we tell them! There are a lot of reasons that our wishes are kept to ourselves or that we just don't ask, even for the things we need.

Whatever it is it seems to be a normal thing! Did you ever hear of someone getting some amazing thing and wondering why of why? Well, they probably asked. 

Really really think about this. Are you a wisher or an asker? 

If I could highlight on an iPad I would! Are you a wisher or an asker?

I have to say I started small. And I still have to think about it. But somewhere, sometime, I verbalised a wish and asked. With amazing results. Results that make me think of the verse "ask and you shall receive" and think oh... I never thought to ask in spite of reading this verse hundreds of times. Oops I am a slow learner!

When I say this I mean to verbalise and ask God. Ask away. And ask the people you meet or the people in your life as well. Just ask. And you will receive!

If you are never an asker maybe start small.

Pray for something that is a need or your hearts desire. Pray before you do the grocery shopping that the money you have will cover all you need. Pray over your budget. Pray God will show you where to look and open your eyes to possibilities that will help you.

Then with people you meet... maybe ask a salesperson if there is a discount for cash. Or a person at a garage sale if they would take a little less being what you have in your purse.

If asking is hard for you then start of small.

But you can work up to ridiculously big things and be amazed.

I am continually surprised at the results of plucking up the courage to ask.

I guess if you have never had any trouble asking you will wonder what I'm talking about. But if you have things you have never dared ask or are a person who wishes they could ask... then this is for you.

Do you hear of people getting great discounts because they asked but you think you would never be brave enough to ask yourself?  In most cases the worst thing that can happen is someone will say no. It just isn't fatal, it is ok. You can say "ok, I really needed to ask that as...."  (Insert truth like "just now I cannot afford full price") and smile and it is fine.

If I was to list all the times in my life where I have asked and received I would never end this post. So instead I will give some recent examples.

I asked a lady in an op shop (thrift store) if they had any pure wool blankets out the back and she said yes! Then I asked if she would ring me if any more came in. And she said yes.

I asked Laine if she would do a guest post on my blog. Ok, this one involved some breath holding. But she said yes!! At the time I told Andy this one. I said to him normally I would never ask such a thing. But I had the though that so many yeses had come my way lately and that I was on a mission to ask.  This seemed big and unlikely to me. But she said yes!

At the doctor I asked if a test could cost less money? And they said yes and bulk billed me.

At the chemist I asked if there was an alternative that would be less expensive but do the same thing. The chemist said yes and it was one quarter the price.

People are often amazed at the meat specials I get from the supermarket. How do I know just what time to go to get such great specials? I asked!

Others are amazed how much free fruit I get. Now, Adelaide is good for fruit trees... But none of them are my fruit trees. So how do I get to pick fruit from so many of them? You are getting the hang of this, yes,  I asked!

Really if a neighbours tree is laden with fruit that is falling to the ground and rotting and you come along and ask them if you can pick it and return to them with a baked pie or jars of jam most people are going to say yes! Just ask. 

When it is going to be impossible to pay a bill on time ring up and ask for an extension. This is so much easier than dreading them contacting you. Explain and ask. 

I just can't imagine how may dreams never come true because we are afraid to tell others what they are. Afraid to ask for what we really want. 

I know we are never going to get a yes to every single thing. But I think we get a yes many more times than we would ever dream if only we would just ask. 

Start small if you need to. God must want us to ask or the a Bible wouldn't say "ask and you shall receive." It is interesting since God knows our thoughts He still wants us to ask. So ask!

Small scale asking can change your life or at least your week. Ask someone that you know is a good knitter to help you get started. Or ask someone to teach you a skill that you know would be handy or save you money. A couple of weeks ago I asked someone who is a really good EBay seller if I find designer items would she sell them and we could be a team? Well, she said yes! She has trouble finding good things to sell. Perfect!

Asking the right questions can help you so much and unlock all kinds of doors.

Have courage and ask. I hope you are amazed at the results.

Have a wonderful week. Chloe is letting me use her old laptop so I will be able to use that for my next post I am hoping. Learning to use my iPad more has been very handy though. So I hope this post works with no glitches! Xxx

Feather your Nest Friday, 3rd April, 2015

Happy Easter to everyone. I feel Good Friday is a somber day and very reflective. But the rest of Easter is a joy and celebration. I hope you have a wonderful Easter with your family.

April snuck up on me and I still haven't written down my goals for the month. But I will over the weekend. I like to think about it.

It feels cooler, we had a little rain. Autumn is evident in the first leaves falling. We get gorgeous autumn leaves here and I always collect some especially the really huge leaves that are so stunning. A bowl full of them looks lovely.

I had lots of chances to do things to save money this week. It was go go go! 

I saved money by...

Planting more parsley seeds from my parsley covered in seed heads. In the end I pulled it up and sat and cut off all the seed heads and kept them in a container. During the week I planted these in all kinds of spaces in the garden and watered them everyday. The ones I planted last week are coming up. I have hundreds of babies!  Apart from being useful this will look wonderful as parsley is so lush and pretty. Plus everywhere you have a plant you don't have a weed!

I also planted out, because of the first rain, several cuttings that I had started in glass bottles inside. They all had root systems. This included pale pink geraniums and some different flowering ground covers. It amounted to almost a dozen free pretty plants. All are looking ok.

From Tumby Bay trip I had a bag of succulent cuttings. A walk is not a walk without cuttings :) I added these to my little succulent patch. And in there I noticed some little babies that can be separated for the succulents in a jar or teacup or interesting container projects. I have so many! They are really quick to multiply. I started most of these from bits from Mums garden.

We all had a dinner at Mums for Katos birthday. I asked Mum what to bring..  She was doing a roast and had made a chocolate cake. So I made a big tray of roast veggies. I included potato, sweet potato, Pumpkin,  zucchini, carrots, parsnips and onions. Everyone got stuck into the roast veggies with the roast lamb. 

I have to say I got this tip from Wendy in the $300 challenge. She said when going out and taking food it is easy to spend a lot of money. Don't! In this case a huge tray of veggies was a hit and not expensive. Other times a potato salad or a cake, scones (biscuits), a rice salad... You think of all the things you can make that everyone always loves but are not costly. Somehow this revolutionised my contributions and made them less expensive and just as much a hit. Perhaps we feel we need to take something flash? But really people love comfort wholesome food. This simple tip has now saved me so many times!

When cutting up the veggies I retained some of each, just enough for us the next night. Mum sent us home with left over broccoli so the next night I just added meat.

Mum  also sent us home with walnut bread and goats cheese. This went towards the next two days work lunches. It is amazing what you can a make into lunch box snacks. I would say Andy hasn't had the same lunch twice ever!

For the girls I made Easter baskets. Instead of a ton of chocolate they got one chocolate each and a little basket of practical but nice things...pretty dish cloths, detergent, scrub pads, relish, pantry foods etc to have some treats and save them money. I wrapped them up with pastel tissue and a bow. I had saved items for a few weeks to do this. Not really saving me money, saving them money though. Easter and other celebrations can be expensive and a bit wasteful. I used to give a little chocolate and as Easter for us is the beginning of the cooler weather I gave warm pyjamas, or slippers, or something cozy like a scarf. Eggs might be wrapped inside, to me that was better than a lot of money on eggs.

At the supermarket I found Turkish bread and Turkish rolls. The rolls were usually $5.75 a pack and the loaf not much less. They were all $1. I got five packs. That is ten meals for us with left over cheeses, Hama or other meat, salad... Well, left over nigh. Toasties, "pizza", open toasted sandwiches... Steak sandwiches, burgers...all of these things. I keep it frozen and there are many possibilities all yum, easy  and fast. This is much better than takeaway and much cheaper. So when I see mark downs like this I stock up.  Takeaway seems to be a problem for lots of people. If you keep easy and fast meals on hand then you have a faster alternative. When the kids are old enough they can be in charge and make assemble your own toasted sandwiches and make dinner for everyone.

I built up my home with a good clean and tidy up, adding to the garden, adding to the cellar and starting to get out so autumn things like a throw for the lounge and some candles.

I did all the usual things, made all the lunches, watered the garden with the laundry water, shopped for great specials and mark downs, the boys went fishing and I pack a full days lunch, drinks and snacks in an esky. We all have things we do that are really huge savings. But because we always do them we don't even think of them! Now and then it is amazing to work out how much that one thing saves. From one time the boys bought fishing day lunch and drinks on their own, and I found out how much it was, I know me doing this saves around $1000 a year. Plus they love what I send! Can you believe that saving! You will really feel good if you work this out. Then start adding the numbers together!  Laine always would show Art her work. Well, I will often tell Andy these things. The other day he said how great the packed lunch was and I said "thank you for telling me, do you know this is saving us $1000 a year!?" He was amazed! It just feels really good!  It is like what we are doing here... A little celebration of how we did to re energise us for next week. 

I know a lot of little things we do can just seem pointless at times especially if they are not appreciated. But when you see the whole picture and realise how important your work is then it changes everything. I read on another blog of a lady who said she didn't sit around watching soapies all day since she has an important job and works for the King! How lovely is that!

How was your week and how did you save money or feather your nest? I hope it was a good week. Have a wonderful Easter and long weekend as well. We are getting a few things that need doing done around the house and garden. The weather is just beautiful and I am trying to soak it in. Perfect to be in the garden as much as possible. Now over to you all.... Xxx