The World within our Walls. The art of saying no.

There are just so many aspects of creating a home in a way that is a safe haven, a place you truly feel relaxed and free to just be yourself.   We are aiming for a home that will build you up (and everyone who lives here) and that restores and reassures.

One huge factor is time. Time to enjoy, get things done, make good meals, sit at the table and eat together, craft... everything we do in  our lives and homes takes time. Without enough of it we are soon in chaos, mess and there is no peace or enjoyment.  Life in a hurry is just stressful.  It wears out down. We cannot think straight!  These things are a terrible stress on anyone and especially little children.

The photos in this post are from Chloe! 

After the last post she sent me pictures and said Mum, I have been putting words that inspire me where I can see them everyday!  

She printed all of these for free or a couple of dollars and got frames from the bargain store. 

So we were thinking the same thing, how to make the home an encouraging place!

We all want to be polite, helpful to others, a good listener, generous.  We don't want to offend...
This all can lead us to saying yes to so many things that we back ourselves into a really hideous corner and we don't know quite how it happened but we know it is awful and the house and family are suffering because we are truly hopeless at saying no.

There have been times I remember regretting saying yes before I even finished saying it.  Other times where I have thought up wild and elaborate scenarios that could possibly get me out of something I really, really don't want to do but of course this is all imaginary and overly hopeful and I just did them anyway.

A while back I wrote a post on when the girls were little and how I really had to learn to say no and how realising what my mission was really helped me to do that.  That post is here... Your time.

Laine also wrote a new year letter on the subject which I love and you can find that here..  She puts it that the Proverbs woman considered a field.  In a similar way we are considering a field of time!

Over the years I have found I struck gold when I stopped replying to any request or invitation.  This is the key!  My standard response is to say thank you so much!  Thank you for thinking of me!  I will think this over and talk to Andy about it.  Or "I will check my diary and get back to you".
This is perfectly reasonable and polite.
It gives you time to actually think!  Now I can consider how the request is going to impact the household.   This has saved me from so many disasters!

If you turn to jelly under pressure practice what to say!  At one stage I have my reply printed and posted near the phone... this was how bad I was at saying no!  I would look at my sign and repeat the script "thank you for asking,  I will have to look at my diary and I will get back to you as soon as I can..."

My improvement these days comes from not feeling I need to explain myself .  If I have decided I need to decline something I used to feel it necessary to come up with a long and interesting story about why I had to say no.
Now I don't think this is the way to go and I am more likely to say I am unable to attend or that I just do not have the time to do something.  Sometimes I might offer an alternative for example.. if I want to contribute to something then I will come up with something that I can do to help that is manageable instead.

In the evenings Andy and I will talk about some of these things and usually he is on the same page.  Sometimes we have had a laugh at how badly we both DON'T want to do the same thing.  Many times this will involve a party.  Andy would rather dental surgery than go to a party.
Should we ever actually go to a party it is not without an escape plan.

In general the peace in our home is mainly ruined by me taking on too much.  It is a hard balance to get right but without fail if I am out too much things go down hill and fast.  So I need to be careful and some of the times I need to say no are to myself. Often when planning my week I can see I have planned too much and that I need to reduce my list.  So this is a" no" to some of my own plans.

While we are thinking of things that are going to interrupt the peace at home there are many times we need to say no to requests that are going to ruin the budget.  Being able to say no here is equally important.   Most people are not going to care less if their request is something you can afford or if it will mean you have no time to sit down to dinner with your family, read a story to your child or get the lunches made and packed.   It is our job to protect the things that are important and know our priorities.  Then it is a little easier to say no.

This is a big subject!   "She looks well to the ways of her household"  includes so many things!  Caring for your family and household are huge responsibilities!   Learning to prioritise and being able to say no when needed is really important.  

I had a request the other day.  In my mind I was thinking "THERE IS JUST NO WAY..."  and I said "thank you for asking!  I am going to get back to you on this after I tell Andy about it"  and I made my escape!

Now there are times of crisis that are exceptions and we have to say yes in order to help, save the day and rescue someone.  We are not talking about those.  In general it is just up to us to be guardians of the household,  the budget and our own time.   It is ok to say no.

Now and then you get someone who won't take no for an answer!  They want to argue with you!  Or they don't seem to comprehend!  I think what part of no is hard to understand!? haha!  They might even tell you that you can't say no,  there is bullying and persuasion!  This has happened to us all.  I have a little alarm system that goes off then!   My "no" goes up a notch to the red light no!

You are doing an important job.  Week by week we are building up our homes and feathering our nests.

Do you have trouble with saying no?
Do you feel there is too much on your plate to have a peaceful home?
Next week we are looking at when too much stuff takes over and makes us feel overwhelmed, messy or anxious!

I hope your week is going well!
See you on Friday! xxx

Joy in the simple things.

After my post on Friday I headed off to see my Aunt.  She had messaged me and said she has ripe plums and to come and pick them!  So off I went!

It was a gorgeous afternoon!  The plum tree is huge and it was covered in beautiful huge lilac plums.  The prettiest colour!  And there were so many!  I was armed with baskets,  my Aunt was armed with buckets and we chatted and worked away picking fruit.  It was a pretty warm day too but mostly we were in the shade of this beautiful tree.   We filled container after container.   Then we took a break.  I felt we had been doing a pretty good job but when I stood back and admired our work you couldn't even tell we had picked any!  We literally made no impression at all!  The tree was still absolutely covered!

We decided a cup of tea would be a good idea and took a break.  There were stories of some of my Dad's adventures and plum recipes.   My Aunt always makes a pot of tea and gives me a big cup and saucer covered in roses.

I wear pearls a lot but as I was talking with my Aunt I decided I need to wear them all the time.  She was wearing the most gorgeous large baroque pearls and they were so lustrous they lit her face in a kind of halo of light.  They were so stunning.  So note to self to wear my pearls.  And here she was having an afternoon of fruit picking wearing her pearls.
I told her how stunning they looked and she told me she always wears them to bed.  That way if an ambulance comes they will see her wearing her pearls and treat her well.
Maybe I better start wearing my pearls to bed!

With a very hot day forecast my Aunt was organised to stay indoors the next day.  She had drinks in the fridge and a plan if the power goes out.  I also noted she has a cooler in the lounge room and a cooler in her bedroom.  Just the lounge room was on and she would swap when she goes to bed if it was hot.  With power prices now it is much easier to heat or cool one room you are using than a whole house.  Most of our homes are open plan now as when they were designed electricity was affordable.  Now the rooms you can close up are probably much more sensible!
Other aspects of her preparedness are her rainwater tank,  plenty of supplies and her hammer near the front door in case she needs to smack someone in the head.

Then it was back to more plum picking.  Now I am thinking of what to make.  Plum jam,  crumble (crisp), cobblers, my use it up fruit cake with yoghurt...  Then I am considering exactly how much freezer space does Mums freezer have now?
My Aunt knew that most of the fruit trees I had to pick from near me are now all knocked down.  She said as she rides her bike she sees new houses going up and they plant a lawn and have a couple of trees or shrubs planted out the front.  She said what a waste. They could have fruit trees!  "People think just because there is plentiful food now that there always be"  but one day they will be sorry...

So it was wonderful and joyous and I loaded all these baskets into the car.   My Aunt said how it runs in the family to love fruit trees and especially lemons and also to hate golf.   Generations have loved fruit picking, lemons and hated golf.  And here I am the exact same!
All this was great fun to me.  My Aunt increasingly reminds me of my Nanna which is really nice.
Nanna was so happy with simple things like some flowers or some eggs and some lemons!  I can't think of anyone happier than she was.  She was just so enthusiastic and so friendly.

My Dad mentioned this last time we went mushrooming.  I said how Nan would have had a great time.  And Dad said oh yes she would love it!  And how he remembers picking up wood for the fire and Nan would be so excited to be picking up wood!  She would say "oh look at this beautiful bit" and he laughed, he said she could get excited over a nice tree stump. haha!

So all this joy over simple things.   Yesterday I started making jam and I cut up enough plums to make a crumble.  I was so happy doing this.  I couldn't have had a better day!   The colour of the plums is beautiful, a deep ruby.

I have days of working through my baskets of plums.   Nanna would have loved it!
Nanna had a way about her. She could get anyone to do anything.  One time the Doctor came to her house as a house call.  While he was there she asked him if he would go up the ladder and clean the kitchen light as she could't manage it and he was tall. And he did.

I am thinking it is a bit wonderful to find simple things so much fun!  By bedtime I am thinking this was a beautiful day.  Being industrious like this just makes my heart happy!

What are the simple things that you really enjoy?   I can think of so many.  Picking up bags of pinecones for the fire,  going to the beach, picking flowers for the house, collecting eggs...
I said recently that I would rather be making jam than on a jet.  Truthfully I would rather be home than most places!  I love a good outing but honestly I am heading off tomorrow down south to see Hilde,  go op shopping with her and to the discount grocery store and fruit and veggie shop.  I am looking forward to this so much you would think I'm going to the French Riviera.    😊

Have a great week!  xxx

The world within your walls.

Last year I found myself feeling heartbroken. The world around me seemed to have gone mad.

During my life so far Christian persecution was something that happened overseas and we were very lucky to be free here.  But all of that has gradually changed.
I felt like I would like to stop the world and get off if this is how it is going to be.
I also feel like get me out of the city and on to a farm away from some of this!

My heart and peace were really disturbed.  I just never have seen such a fast decline of many things all at once!

I decided to read my Bible and do some study every day.  And from day one I started to feel better.
From that day I saw this has always been the way.  We are not meant to conform or fit into the world. We are meant to have the Word of God as the light for our feet and keep to that.   What the world thinks doesn't matter.

I read and re read Laines Letters.  Years ago she shared a story of how her son was the only young man in the Christian Youth Group who would take a stand against pornography!  And later how he was given a terrible time at his place of work because he was a Christian.  It was awful.  You expect it in the world but you don't expect it at Church!
The other day when I saw a Church near us with a sign out the front openly promoting sin that I finally thought... this is it.  All is lost.

Now I have had time to think about this.  No, it is not new.  It is just more up close and personal that it has ever been in my life.  So that is confronting.  But so far at least we are still free inside our own
homes and no one can take away from you what you believe  in your heart.   Peace in the home and peace in our hearts give us rest.

Even if you don't relate to this you will probably relate to feeling the news is depressing and that you see things in society you find downright scary.  Or that when things are running smoothly at home you feel so much better, happier, calmer.   From any perspective the atmposhere in your home matters a lot.

From all of this I know that keeping our homes a place where we feel safe, peaceful, nurtured and relaxed is so important!  Our home is our sanctuary!  So this year we are going to have a series on keeping your home feeling beautiful, comfy, calm and welcoming.  We need that.  Our families need it too.  

I started by reading my Bible.  I immediately was reminded "do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed"  and plenty on the subject that tells us if we follow along and agree with the world we are on the wrong path!

It is also plenty on coming away and having nothing to do with terrible things.  Instead we are advised "whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (Philippains 4:8-9)

So this is my mission or one of them!   If I keep to thinking of good things, reading encouraging and beautiful books,  leaning new skills and working on something lovely then I feel happy.

I started my daily Bible and study.
I began re reading Laines Letters.

Immediately I felt better.
I read where Laine said "I don't listen to the worlds words much anymore"  and how she found so much peace just trusting the word of God to be true forever.

If you need peace and encouragement just read your Bible every single day!
If you haven't read Laine's Letters they can be found here.  They are the best encouragement and guidance I have ever found!  They also serve as a very easy way to do a Bible study.

I also have found Jenny of Elefantz (see my favourite blogs on the side) is a place of peace an beauty. There is a Facebook group called Gentle Domesticity that is just lovely and fits the bill for the above verse about whatever is beautiful, whatever is lovely. It is so peaceful!  This gives me a daily lift.

Some of the ways we can create a peaceful haven in our homes include:
Deciding what to say yes to and deciding what to say no too!  Being too busy is guaranteed to ruin peace in the home.
Your organisation and decor.  If you feel a mess and overwhelmed you are getting no relaxation at all!
Keeping beautiful things to look at everyday.  This might be flowers,  family photos, beautiful words to think on,  things you love as part of your decor, childrens drawings...

The way your house smells!  haha this sounds bad!  But I like things to smell clean and good!
The way your house sounds.  Happy music while you work.  I mostly hate background noise and never have the TV on in the day.  Give me birds chirping any day!
Interruptions. If I let it I would have to answer the phone during dinner every night to someone trying to sell me something. Just no way!
A routine.  I like a routine of chaos.

The garden and plants.  They are part of my surroundings and give a lot of peace and calm.

We need to work out how to get time for reading good things,  learn new things and create beauty?  I know I am much happier if I have time to work on something creative.   This really increases my contentment!  And something else... I find I am thinking lovely thoughts as I work away.

How can each person have a space of their own that makes them feel nurtured and happy?
How can we carve out for ourselves a quiet space or a craft/sewing/writing space in a full and busy household?
If we love feminine things how can we have these for ourselves in a house full of boys!?
Do you feel you should decorate in a certain way because it is fashionable but your don't even really like it?  Did you inherit or somehow get stuck with decor that bugs you?
Are there small changes you could make that would make a big difference to how you feel at home?
We are going to consider all these things!

I have known for a long time just what I like and some of what I need.  I like light, white, calm.

Quiet, flowers, pantries, baking, the house to smell good.  Clutter or a big mess unsettle me.
I struggle to get the "being home and doing things out of the house" balance right.  If I am out too much everything suffers.   The wheels fall off! haha!

My home is far from perfect.  I get in a mess.  My spare room is terrible at the moment!  The dining room table is my sewing centre right now.
I am really lucky to have a nice house.  But I have made each home nice, ordered, clean and pretty.   I have painted four houses top to bottom.  I have wallpapered, stencilled,  gilded, decoupaged, you name it!   The truth is most of my furniture is really old.  My lounge was Mum and Dad's fifty years ago. My dining table was Nan's.  A lot of my stuff came from the side of the road!   I have a beautiful dressing table found in an old farmhouse.  I paint everything white so completely random things kind of go together!   I have collected many mirrors free and I use them to hide bad bits and reflect the good stuff!   I do all this knowing that my surroundings affect me so much.

We wake up to, walk into, breathe and absorb it all.  So does our family.  And it just seems that as women we have a lot of power to set the scene,  create a home,  set an atmosphere.   The world within our walls is mostly up to us.

What is it that makes you feel nested at home?  How can you make things feel more like "you" as well as a haven for each member of the family?   Maybe I better take some photos of Andy's havens.  I will do that as he has a large music room, an office and a "man shed" haha!  But these are his personal spaces and he is not drowned out by feminine stuff.

For both of us we need a retreat from the world and we are going to have to have less media or a shoe will go through the televisions screen sometime soon!

How do you quieten things down and feel restored when the world is too much?

The next post in this series will be about choosing what to say yes to and what to say no to!  We have to say no sometimes and be good at it.  I used to find it awfully hard to say no!

And so ends week one and me posting everyday!  I hope we got off to a good start for the year.  We have set the scene for several challenges and set up our plans.  Tomorrow I will have a slow day,  plan the new week and keep myself on track!   A little planning on the weekend makes a world of difference!  xxx

Feather your Nest Friday, January 5, 2018.

Our first Feather your Nest Friday for 2018!  The purpose of these posts is to take a minute to look over what we did for the week, what our blessings were and to appreciate them.  It is really easy to just look at the list ahead of us. That is tiring!  We need to rest too and consider things.   This also give us a change to see how our plans are going.   We need to take a break and celebrate!

There are many times that it does us good to just be grateful.  I used to keep a Gratitude Journal and each day write in all the things I had to be grateful for that day.  It was a wonderful exercise.  If you are battling or depressed this is very uplifting as it opens our eyes up to all the blessings around us.  It really touches your heart.

Some of the things I did this week to save, build up our home, get ahead etc. included:

Lucy gave me bananas so I made them into little banana cakes. I use my homemade yoghurt in these as well as use up some farm eggs!

Most went into the freezer and this tray went to Lucy's and impressed Harper immensely!

At last I had success in the sales!  Straight after Christmas I just had no luck.  It was like this last year.  Now we are into the new year finally things are marked down more.  I got  8 cartons of cream at 30c each,   7 rolls of beautiful wrapping paper at 50c each,  a huge  4.7 kilo ham for $19,
rolls of sticky tape for 50c,   sparklers for 25c a packet,  and later for more cartons of cream at 82c.  
Ok I have a lot of cream but I froze most of them!
Also I went on New Years Eve to Coles as the next day would be a public holiday.  I decided this year I would do this which is going to the shops at weird times I wouldn't normally go to see if it pays off.
It did!  The meat department was a dead loss so at first I thought I had wasted my time.  But then I checked the deli.   Success!  I came home with five bags of deli meat as they apparently have to sell all the sliced meats before the day is out if the store will be closed the next day.   I had ham, turkey, chicken. pastrami.... each bag was 75c.    And containers of ricotta cheese for 25c!  I ended up with  almost three kilos of ricotta cheese for  $3.    I was amazed!

So the fridge has been full.  Having ricotta, cream, eggs.... I made a baked ricotta cheesecake, ricotta pancakes.... and I am planning baked ricotta for one dinner next week plus I will make quiches with the eggs and cream and a ricotta pie as well.    I baked the ham and we had ham and salads for dinner last night and will again in a couple of nights time.   We will freeze a lot of it.   I will chop lots to go into my quiches and pie.  Ham and eggs for breakfast is also on the menu.

Each day we are picking tomatoes.  Luckily tomatoes go well with everything I just mentioned!

I found a really large pyrex glass jug in an op shop for $4.  This is perfect for jam making.  I had one years ago and broke it and have never found anything as good. This is identical!
I also found a perfect gift for the gift cupboard for $4.

Last night I went walking to check on a nectarine tree I knew had fruit.  Last week they were too green.  They are almost ripe and the birds had started on them so I picked a basketful.  This is in a lane quite near us.  Amazingly no one seems to pick the fruit.  I got about three kilos (6 pounds) and tonight I will go back for more.   We will eat some fresh.  I make a salad with nectarine,  rocket and balsamic vinegar so that will go with the baked ham....   and then I will make my use it up fruit cake and freeze some of those.

This year Andy is having his own page per week in the Vicky Challenge.  I usually count things he did to save.  This year he has started several new things along with me.  I think this is all because he is highly impressed with the whole thing!  😊
He has started doing his own home brew and is having the time of his life with that.   It is a big savings as it is something he can use as gifts and barter too.  Also he has sold several things.  Then this morning he rang the insurance company regarding his bill for the van.  He negotiated it down by $295 a year.  This took him about ten minutes.  $295 for ten minutes is good money!  So with sales, brew and discount he added an amazing $895 to this weeks Vicky Challenge and I haven't even added my part up yet!  

I did 15 minutes towards my sewing everyday. Last night it was late at night and it was just cutting out but I still got my 15 minutes done!
Also I have read my Bible and worked on some study everyday.  This has helped me a lot!
I got my walking done and now it is warm enough so we will be swimming again.
And I worked on a post each day this week to get the year off to a flying start.  I am posting over the weekend as well as I still have another subject that I really want to work on this year.

So I am pretty happy with the week as a beginning!   And today I am headed off to pick plums at my Aunts!  She messaged me that her beautiful plums are ripe.  This will be so much fun!

I hope you had a good week.  How did you build up your home, save or get ahead?  How did you get started on some of your goals for the year?   I know many of you are facing freezing and difficult conditions!   I hope you are all safe, sound and warm with good things to work on indoors!

Thank you for so many comments and so much support.  I will get to many more replies over the weekend! xxxx

Setting the scene part 4. The Vicky Challenge.

To get the year going we have thought about our dreams and goals and set up our diaries and planners or whatever system works for us.

Then we had lots of inspiration from Vicky, seeing what she achieved last year and just what is possible.   You can do big things in a year! 

Yesterday we started thinking about what we want to make, use up, learn as far as crafts and present making for the year go.  And I got started and made my first thing which is a ballerina pillowcase for Harper.   Today I have lots of cutting out to do.

Now we are facing the finances and savings!  I know many of you are having big financial challenges.  Some are paying things off.  Several I know are working to build good emergency funds. 

In 2016 I started The Vicky Challenge which is what I called it because I just copied what Vicky did!  

She told me she always recorded her savings from her own work and efforts at home as a personal challenge to herself and also an answer to anyone who said the familiar "Oh, you don't work then?" 

When you looked at her savings it was tough to figure out if she would earn more if she worked outside the home or not.  Probably not.  

A few years ago we gave up take aways and I learned to make a good pizza!  Don't have a fit but this saved $2600 in the first year!   Now I keep ahead with meals in the freezer so I am never caught out.

Years ago I used calculators on a website called Crown Financial Ministries.  It helped you work out how much you were making per hour at your job.   I sat and did this with my friend who had two babies and she was considering going back to work.   You went through a process of starting with your wage then subtracting tax, childcare and all work related expenses such as uniform, fuel etc. etc.

Then you considered more extended work related expenses like having less time so buying more ready made and convenience things,  the work rated social things that always seem to come with any job, the things you end up outsourcing due to having less time.

With this final figure you divided it by the hours worked.

Hers worked out to be about $1 an hour profit after all that was taken out.

She was amazed.

Yet many people never even do the maths! 

At the time I said to her how she could SAVE hundreds a week with her work at home and we started coming up with lots of ways to save instead.   

This exercise taught me that saving is like income that is not taxed! 

One of my easiest meals for the freezer are pies.  I found anything I make in the slow cooker i.e. a chicken, lamb or beef casserole makes the most delicious one filling.  And pies freeze beautifully! 

The way Vicky did things really amazed me and I wanted to try it! I love a challenge and I like the motivation.  So from Jan 1 2016 I wrote down all my savings week by week.  I kept a list on the fridge and at the end of the week I would add it all up.   I counted  things like the savings I made from making things from scratch, supermarket savings,  making meals for the freezer instead of buying takeaway, mending,  packing lunches etc.

I didn't count the normal things I do like cleaning the house.  But if you had a house cleaner and took it over yourself in order to save then I would count that.  

So it is up to you what you count and how you approach it.

The first few weeks I was amazed by my savings!  At the end of the year my total was well over $30,000.  I took on big things!   I was quoted $25,000 to get my house painted and I did it myself for $3000.  So I "paid" myself $22,000!   

In 2015 I started on soap making.  I included Miracle cleaner, Wool wash, laundry detergent, bubble bath, hard soap... 

This supplies us and also adds to my gift cupboard. 

If you want to read more about this challenge read Welcome to the Vicky Challenge.  There is a link in this post too back to when Vicky first explained it to me.   I have found this such a motivating exercise I will be doing it again this year.  Last week I added up all my savings for 2017 and I beat the year before by several thousand dollars!   I could see each individual way I saved for the whole year.  Andy could see each one and the totals. He was amazed.  You really have a great sense of achievement.  Starting again now I am determined to beat last year! 

In 2015 I did a challenge that I found on Money Saving Mom.  This was amazing and such an eye opener.  You had to find 52 ways to save $100.  Each one could be anyway it added up to $100 i.e. it could be a one off saving such as rising up your insurance company and getting a lower rate. Or right down to 100 ways to save $1.  I remember giving up a weekly coffee and cake I had for $8.  When I worked out that saved $416 a year I was able to cross off  FOUR of my $100 segments!  

You can find this challenge here:  52 Ways to Save at least $100.  I really loved it and I learned a lot.  And it really saved me $5000 plus!   If you want to establish an emergency fund, get some savings, pay something off... this is fantastic.  Many of my savings ended up being different to Money Saving Moms but I also got heaps of amazing ideas from her.  The biggest thing was calculating the ANNUAL cost of things rather than the weekly cost.   Things that seem small and harmless suddenly seemed enormous. 

Some of my $100 savings areas were things I stopped doing rather than things I started.  i.e.  organising my fridge better and checking through it twice a week to make sure nothing is wasted.  So much food is thrown away and it is just money down the drain.  A simple habit of adding what needs to be used up into your menu plan can be a huge money saver.  

Each of these things really helped me to see my work at home as a real income and to see the potential.  Last year I found new savings.   This is the amazing thing... just when you think you are doing great you find new ways to save.   My sour dough was one thing.   Yoghurt making was another.  This saved me at least five dollars a week on yoghurt but then also gave me further savings as it replaced ever needing to buy sour cream, I make my own raita, tatziki and it adds nutrition to cakes and muffins as well.   One thing leads to another!

Then I learned to make my own enchilada sauce (also thanks to Vicky) and ridiculously, this one thing saved about $12 each time I make a big batch of enchiladas!   Since I have an enchilada cook up about once a month that is $144 a year on this one small thing.

Butter chicken spice mixes, Enchilada mix, cream of Chicken soup, french onion soup mix. 

I use all these so much!   

Each one is a significant savings and none have any artificial anything as an added bonus compared to bought mixes.

Amazed by this I learned to make my own butter chicken mixtures and just about everything else that I ever used to buy in a packet! 

Menu planning and shopping at many more places was a major saver.  I was shocked at the price differences by going further afield.  It took me time but it was very well paid time!   Another way I think menu planning saved me was just a change of awareness of what I have in the house.  Knowing I am over twenty meals ahead and seeing that list I know I do NOT have to buy anything so I can wait for the deals.   Then I buy up.  

Another way this has helped me save is with the challenge to have a list of meals I have on hand I am always trying to add a meal to the list.... this seems to have made me much better at getting another meal out of things.  I am forever setting aside something because really the meal I am making has enough and I will save an ingredient for something else.  These ingredients often soon add up to an extra meal.  Mimi taught me a lot about that!  Once a week or so I get an extra meal just having a left overs night.  This could be making something creative with what is in the fridge or even having different things for dinner.  You know when you have a bit of left over this and a bit of leftover that?  I will say to Andy "would you like left over curry or left over chicken?"  He will say the curry... and I will eat the chicken!  Who cares if we are not both having the same thing!  I just got an extra meal and extended my list!  😊

This year I want to add selling things to My Vicky Challenge.  I know many of you already sell things and several that want to start.  Adding alternative income streams is a really good idea.   I have a few things in mind and I need to make it a habit and get good at it!   I used to sell cooking to a cafe and embroidery to a baby store.   I made and sold baby blankets,  embroidered sheets and pillowcases, ladies nighties, pram sets and toys. 

I created my own little characters and made scenes of such things as mice getting married,  pushing baby mice in prams and so on! haha!

When the girls were little I sewed into the night!  

I also have a stash of things I have accumulated knowing I COULD sell them but never got around to it.   So selling things is being added to my challenge. 

The Vicky Challenge is financial.  And finances are a big part of life!  But it does't take into account the other benefits of your work at home.  To me the biggest part of being home is about creating the home, atmosphere, a safe haven from the world!   Over the weekend I hope to work on a post about this.   

I will be back tomorrow with Feather your Nest Friday and sum up the week!  I hope your first week of  2018 is off to a good start!  

What are your savings goals this year?  

Have you thought about new ways to save and new ways to bring in more money?

What do you think would work for you as motivation?  I like to do challenges as these motivate me. But we have to do something that works for us.  Some people like spreadsheets, or apps or a wall chart.... work out what would work best for you.  Another reason I like a challenge is reporting how I am going here makes me think I better DO SOMETHING or I will have nothing to report!  If this works for you then join in and report here every week in our Friday round up. 

Some of you achieved fantastic things last year!  I loved hearing this! There were some big ones like loans paid off and deposits saved!  

I notice many things we can do seem very small.  But seeds are small too so think in terms of you are sowing seeds and sooner or later you will be reaping a harvest.   Lots of really small things add up.  I am always amazed by how much! 

It is going to take me a while to catch up with comments and replies for this week but I will get there.   I really wanted to get things going and set plans into action.   It is helping me heaps!   It is exciting to see the opportunity of a new year. xxx

Setting the scene part 3.... a craft challenge.

Today is day three of getting the new year off to a big start!  I am noticing many of us are having what I would call indoor weather!  Here, in January, it is usually hot so I plan things to work on inside on warm days.  In the US and UK  I see it is the opposite and it is too cold to go outside!
During these times it is so nice to be busy working away on something lovely!

I am starting a sewing challenge today.  Yesterday I got as far as getting the sewing machine set up, going through my fabric stash and lining up my first projects.  This includes doing some alterations to clothes.   My first project is making Harper her first pillowcase and I bought her pillow and pillow cover.  The fabric is ballerinas!   I am making a spare as well since one pillowcase is not enough.  In my box of trims and laces I also have lovely daisy braid that I will edge it with.

The deal is I have to sew at least 15 minutes a day.  Usually this will be more but that is the minimum.  I did this once before and was amazed how much sewing I actually got done this way!
My aim is to turn all my odds and ends into useful things and to start to refill my gift cupboard which is almost empty since Christmas so it is time to start working on that again.
The other benefit is cleaning out my stuffed and messy craft cupboard.  So it will be a win/win!

I am going to run the Christmas Challenge again this year and have Show and Tell since seeing everything you all make is fantastic and we can share so many good ideas this way.

If you want a challenge then it can be anything!  If you have a stash of supplies to use up then it could be to make things from what you have.  Or if you would like to learn a new skill it could be to do fifteen minutes a day towards learning the thing you have wanted to do!   Last year Patsy did a 100 day crochet challenge to learn crochet.  Boy did this work!  You should see her crochet now!  And she produced so much!  Most things are just a case of STARTING.  Don't wish you knew how to do something just start. You tube has pretty much a free lesson on everything!

During December I didn't craft very much.  This will get me going again.  And I always notice when I am creating things I am much happier.  Busy hands really do make happy hearts!

Now for a few beautiful ideas!

Tania made me a needle book for Christmas.  You have to see this!

Each page is just gorgeous...

All I can say is 😍😍😍 

I love it Tania thank you so much, I treasure it!

Janine showed me some of what she made as gifts for her Grandchildren providing more beautiful ideas...

She made book pillows.  Sit, get comfy and read a story! 

And a fabric book for her Granddaughter which is just beautiful...

How amazing!  I LOVE that Flamingo!  Thanks so much Janine, these pages will give everyone so much inspiration!

Some of us are determined to add selling things to our year and incomes.   There are so many opportunities here.  We have so many ways to set up a little shop on Etsy, sell on Ebay, markets, Facebook pages... the world is your oyster really!

Yesterday in Spotlight I noticed these little crochet flowers were $7 each!   I thought I would show these as they are so easy to make!

Keep your eyes out for things people are buying and the prices they are paying.   I am noticing a big trend in anything that reduces waste.... i.e.  produce bags, shopping bags,  napkins, kitchen cleaning cloths, non paper towels, beeswax wraps...

If you would like to set yourself a challenge of some kind we will have a giant show and tell at the end of January.   I hope this gets us off to a running start on using things we have,  re building our depleted present cupboards.   Starting in January seems to be the key to success with gift making.

What supplies do you have on hand?  What would you like to learn this year!  There are willing helpers here.  

Now and then I hear someone say they have no one to craft for.  For Heavens sake then start making baby clothes for a preemie ward or warm hats for an orphanage or SOMETHING.  There is a group of Grannies I follow and Facebook who set up young Mums who are struggling with a complete kit of new born clothes,  linens,  warm blankets for the pram, you name it.  They are flat out keeping up with the need.   Fiona makes soft pouches for orphan Kangaroos and Wombats.  Mum makes baby blankets and hats which go to an orphanage in Romania,  to a mens shelter in the city and to maternity hospitals.  Jacqui makes the most gorgeous quilts and blesses everyone she knows and their families!  We can turn our supplies sitting in the cupboard into a way to help.

I hope your week is going well!  Which means I hope your year is going well! haha!
Tomorrow we are setting the scene for our financial challenges! xxx

Welcome to 2018. Setting the scene!

Yesterday we got started with making some plans.  I think all week we can be making and fine tuning  our plans!

I want to encourage thinking big and thought what better way to do this than give an example of a big plan coming to fruition!  I am going to share with you Vicky's 2017 goal.
First of all I will mention that Vicky's 2016 goal was also pretty awesome.  In  2016 she established her Victory vegetable garden and made over her cellar to be her preserves pantry.  It was epic!  You can take a look at that post here.   If you haven't seen this or can't remember it then take a look as it is inspiring to see what you can do in a year.

For 2017 Vicky set sights on another big project.   I had the fun of seeing each stage and to be honest I wondered if she could ever complete it in the year.  Her husband Rick did so much work on this and together they did it!  I know Vicky is still in the stage of adding her basket and final touches but still it is done!

My pantry has been a dream that has finally come true! Like most everyone else I loved The Little House books and all of the stories of what was done as far as food storage and making do and of course Victory Gardens and the canning and making do of that era, but one other thing with me is that when I was little there was still the little general store here and there or an old store/gas station and oh how I loved going into them and looking around. The hard wood floors and old wood shelves still being used and stocked with grocery items. Before the world became a plethora of plastic and metal. And playing grocery store when pretending was what kids did was one of my favorite things! I would take my pretend children grocery shopping with my little purse of fake money and buy our groceries and then cook for them the little plastic foods that came in play food sets back then and serve it on my nicest little play dish sets. My children back then loved everything I cooked! Haha! Even back then I was fascinated with butler's pantries and old cupboards and true pantries and whenever I had the chance I would sneak and have a big nosy if someone had one it was always so amazing to see! 

For years I have waited, but other things had to come first and life happened as it does for everyone, but then finally the right time came around! The planning started and decisions needed to be made, the arguing ensued and sometimes a fight and for me a royal hissy fit! Yep I admit it I threw a hissy fit, which Annabel thought quite funny! LOL Well every now and then the bowl runs out of sugar haha!  So here is a run down of how it happened. 

We started gathering supplies and it actually ended up being two rooms that we redid, the first would be my son's new bedroom and his old room would become the pantry room. We shopped around and looked and bought the flooring and paint and some shelving and redid the closet and installed the boy in there. Then I waited and waited. 

Then we shopped around again gathering supplies much to my hubby's frustration because a lot of times my answer would be no woman wants that your thinking like a machinist! I was always very mindful of the budget though so he showed me some gray paint and I told him it was ugly, but when he showed me it was on clearance for $9 I told him oh it's beautiful and that's what we came home with. Odd that it happened twice so apparently gray wasn't someone's preference after it was mixed. And we had many arguments over the shelving! So half are prefab and the other half the hubs had to make. Then I waited and waited because of the hub's work that he does everything came about in stops and starts and my ploys to get it going faster didn't work, You know little things like him asking if we had something and me pretending I didn't know where it was at because I had boxed everything up. And I for sure would get frustrated because oh it was getting so close and I was eager to get the rest of my house back. It was really starting to get to me. 

And then finally it happened! The real work began! The yuck carpet came out and the walls painted, the new floor put down and the shelving going up!

 My little girl's heart was getting a big pantry of her own! And the day was coming that I could finally fill the shelves I was so excited. 

Filling the shelves with everything now that was excitement! Look, look isn't it so nice I would say! "I have all my tomato products here and soup is right here and oh where should I put this?" I think I was doing a happy dance in there. And I am still getting things in place, but as you can see I'm off to a really good start. 

I over heard my husband and son talking in there and my son making fun of me saying in a high lady voice, "No Richard that can't go there I have to show off my prized collection of ramen noodles!" and the sad thing is it is partly true! Haha! 

Stocking the pantry- everything is pretty much from bargain shopping and using coupons and buying loss leaders and clearance or marked down items with goal of always having a year's supply of food on hand that we eat and also to be able to help others. And I can honestly say that about 60% of the foods you see I got free or for pennies. Since most others don't eat like we do I have a good selection of foods that they do eat and some things we do eat here and there, but we don't live on them by any means. And should anything happen with our power that lasts any length of time I can feed a crowd and really only have to boil water. 

What you don't see in this pantry? Well I do have a few rolls of paper towels and toilet paper in there, but hygiene and cleaning and laundry supplies are all kept in their own locations and I didn't need to put them in here yet, plus my water that is stored and the foods I can myself are in the cellar. Remember the cellar my husband redid for me? It is getting good use! I am sure I will make changes here and there in the pantry and I do have things that Annabel and Glenda sent me to help make it pretty (thank you ladies) that I haven't been able to get to yet, but I will be sure to give an update on that. 

I hope everyone has enjoyed seeing my new pantry and if your still waiting for something or want to get something accomplished just put it on your list and don't give up because it can be done. 

XOXO

Vicky

Thank you Vicky!  I think you are motivating everyone!

Even though I saw every stage during the year I was still AMAZED when I saw the end result!  The year before was big but last year was huge! 

I hope hearing and seeing this story will inspire you!  Many people have a spare room that no one ever stays in. In fact the other day I heard someone say how they had house guests who were really weird and got up and left in the middle of the night.  I thought "turn that room into a pantry!" haha! 

If we get our farm house I am hoping for a pantry room like this!  

Thank you so much Vicky for this post! 

If you would like to hear Vicky's voice and have a live tour of her pantry you can see that over on the Facebook page  here.

Tomorrow  we are starting a crafting challenge.  Start thinking about what you have on hand that you would love to use up. Or it could be starting something that you have always wanted to learn or improve your skills....

See you tomorrow! xxx