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

Pantries and Preparedness, April 1, 2015.

This post is a progress report. I am looking over what have I done to build up my pantry and supplies so far this year. It is April now after all!

First of all I worked to fill all my kitchen pantry jars, canisters and tins.
I cleaned out my kitchen pantry cupboards and re homed things that were just taking up space that didn't really belong in there. And got rid of some outdated things, weird things and had a good clean out. This freed up so much space! I then built up my supplies of things that will make an easy meal when shopping is impossible for some reason.
I made a list of what to make from pantry ingredients so I know I have plenty of pantry meals.
Over time I built up my meals in the freezer. There is a good supply of options that I can just thaw out and dinner is done!

We greatly improved our first aid kit and there is a kit in each car as well.
I added a fair bit to the medicine cabinet.

We have a place with emergency numbers in print as well as an action plan to help us act quickly if we know a storm or shortage is coming (or a blackout etc.)

Now for the cellar...
I started with a dusty and dark cellar that was unused. It is thanks to Wendy that I decided this was a terrible waste and I should make the most of it.  I got it cleaned up and we found shelves (road side find) that fitted down there very nicely.

Once my kitchen cupboards were looking healthy I started adding things to the shelves in the cellar.
There is a large plastic tub which I add packaged goods to, canned goods go on the shelves. There is a space that also has heavy plastic sheeting, gar bags, masking tape, candles, matches etc.

We continually add water. As we have containers empty we fill them and add them.

I have built up supplies of shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste etc.
Over summer I make heaps of jam and also froze stewed fruit and fruit pies.

I got a first aid app on my phone and a first aid book next to the kit inside.

I have learned a lot! Plus it is a fun project and another way to build up my home.

A little review is a good idea. Am I even heading towards my goal of building up a pantry and cellar pantry over the course of the year? Well, yes, I am going ok. And I can't wait to see how things are in a few more months. But you have to keep on it!

My cellar shelves are filling and I need to add a big tub for more dry goods. These include tea, pasta, powdered milk, flour etc.

It is kind of satisfying to look in the cellar and see almost a mini home store! Plus I am used to it now and pop down and up the stairs without a thought. Originally I was afraid to go down there!
Now it is an asset to our home. (Thank you Wendy!)

The images I have included come from a project I am working on. Making over recycled jars and tins for storing food... and these lovely labels are examples of free ones you can download from The Graphics Fairy. There are so many to choose from. Air tight containers, from infant formula tins to pickle jars can become beautiful pantry storage! You can have a lot of fun printing labels to pretty things up!



As you know I love contributions and comments. I really appreciate the time it takes and the help and encouragement it means to everyone. Fiona went to comment as I asked her to elaborate on the things she had been doing. From what she had said and the fact that she is an experienced nurse and had decided to do this... well, I wanted to hear! So I am sharing with you what Fiona has done and the insights from her experience... (comments would not let her post it there as there is a short word limit so I asked her to please email it to me and I would post it this way.) Over to Fiona....

I have always had the preparedness gene in me I believe.   But when the bird flu epidemic/sars was a threat, it came to me - I had the ability to render my little family somewhat immune.  I lived on a large property with chooks, vegies etc.  I worked part time and had paid off my mortgage. I decided that if this particular event hit & there was quite concern back then (remember worries diminish with time and you forget how topical this all was).  Both my kids were at school. I had decided that we would just close up shop, not go to work/not go to school.   I had under house storage as well as a brick cellar in the house and a large cupboard under the stairs.  I spent a heap of time analysing our food needs, how much of each we used and longevity of said products.  I had always menu planned – usually only a week at a time.  I made up a months worth and worked out what would be needed.   Initially I used cardboard boxes but did go and buy 12 tubs (huge) from bunnings.  These I just labelled 1 for January, 2 for Feb etc.

I am not doing this at the moment, so I forget the quantities, but I worked out that if say for instance each month I used 2kg of sugar, 6 of flour, 1kg of rice, dried biscuits, milk powder, pasta etc etc, that I would purchase those and put them in Tub 1.  I bought long life stuff including cream and that awful plastic Kraft cheese in the blue box that doesn’t need refrigeration.   I bought tinned soups, salmon and tuna and even that awful campbells spaghetti sauce - the meat one, fruit and spaghetti and baked beans, cordial and those orgran powdered eggs as well.  I could pretty much make most things.  Then before the month was out I shopped again and repeated it.  I did about three months worth in each month. Before long I had 12 months supply of food.  A lot of things I purchased I grimaced a bit at using, i.e. the campbell meat sauce, it was never half as tasty as homemade but when it came time to use the tin, I just added it to the meat sauce I made, thereby diluting its taste.     

Separately under the cupboard stairs I stored soap (which I have been making for years).  I stored laundry soaps, bleach, dish washing liquid, dishwasher powder, toilet paper (I had over 200 rolls of the stuff), shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste – basically all the supplies needed.

I had an animal section & stored wheat and layers pellets in bulk.  I also bought slabs of dog food and worked out how much the dog ate and multiplied the grams per day into a weekly/monthly amount and purchased the 8 kilo bags of dry food up until the expiry dates.

I began to keep any plastic bottles (not milk) and my dad kept his too for me.  I washed them carefully and filled with water and stored in the huge linen press upstairs.  They just lived on the floor, about 60 bottles wide and as high as I could get it.   I knew that I could keep this water about 6 months.  I kept note of this date and when the six months was up, I painstakingly emptied each bottle into the garden and re washed and refilled.   I have a feeling I put a drop of bleach into each bottle, or was that what I would have had to have done had  I needed the water. Water is a biggie, we need clean fresh water.  I also purchased the ten litre water containers the ones with the taps in them and used one at a time, probably monthly.   Just re purchased when one was gone.  They had long life.

I had a tub with salt, spices, oils, sauces and kept that topped up well. 

I have a methylated spirits camping stove that has all sorts of attachments.  I knew I would be able to cook for us on that.    So I cooked a few things and worked out how long it took to get water to boil or to boil spuds or rice etc.  Multiplied that by daily/weekly/monthly and stored up the big 4 litre bottles of metho.  I had a lot of that.    I had boxes and boxes of candles and matches also.

Each of us had a torch in our room and I had spare batteries as well as a battery radio (now where did that go???).  I also had those hand wind up torches which don’t need batteries.   The first aid kit including medication was topped up as well.

Re the expiration dates on things, I made sure that if a product was to be used by June, that it did not go in the number 6 (June) tub, it went into 3 or 4.  There was not one tiny piece of waste in this.   It was probably the most economical year of living ever.   I also remember just loving the first day of the month, cos I would go downstairs and open up the tub.  They were too heavy to lift, so it was a several trip empty out and bringing everything up to the bench and putting away.  It was actually quite a lot of fun.

Several years later, my circumstances have changed.  I now own more property, have that dratted mortgage thing again but I’m far better off. But, I don’t have good stocks of anything.   I am getting back into it and watch your posts with interest Annabel.
I’m sure this is a bit boring, but you asked me what I did back then and that is the best I can remember.  I now have a new desire to recommence all this and hope to learn more from you and the others.

Re the freezer I had a system of large garbage bags I tied up with a knot with a tag hanging from the knot. The number corresponded with the number of the month.
In each bag I had blocks of cheese, butter, peas, steamed fish, frozen cream, basically all the hings that make life a bit nicer. I bought a few months ahead.

I was conscious that if the S#it hit the fan then likely power would be lost so I concentrated on dried food in the pantry store etc and a huge effort was on water and fuel to feed the camp stove. (Metho)
But if power was not an issue and it likely wouldn't be if it was ill health or job loss I was planning for then I had a full stash of food.
If it was a pandemic then certainly at some point there would be power loss. I do remember clearly when the Longford gas explosion happened, we were without gas in Melbourne for almost two weeks.
I never believed that this could happen, not in this day and age and in an advanced country either. That was an eye opener.

It is a comforting feeling to know that one is somewhat prepared.   Fiona.

Thank you so much Fiona. Thank you for the effort to write all this up. If there is the threat of another epidemic (and of course there will be) I feel I have some tips. To be able to avoid crowds in itself would be a big thing. And I am grateful to be able to ask you what you would say about things from a nurses perspective as well as a Mums perspective.

If you would like further reading I enjoyed Cath's blog post about her pantry. She shared how her Mum was always prepared for anything. You all know Wendy and her blog My Abundant Life (on my side bar). Wendy also writes a column on The Cheapskates Club (also on side bar) called The $300 challenge. Her family of four live on $300 a month for all their groceries (in Australia). Wendy posts how they do it. There is really a little community that supports and encourages each other in the quest to keep the grocery bill down. I have learned heaps from reading this! The Cheapskates Club has a free newsletter and face book page also. This is the link to Cath's article on pantries...        How to stock your pantry.

This week I have had computer problems! I am needing to learn some new ways to do things. This may explain a lot! Eek

Also I have discovered some wonderful blogs that I will share coming up. The right blogs have an amazing power to inform, inspire and motivate!  

How are you going with building up your pantry and general preparedness? The little ways we add to our supplies, the skills we learn and the steps we can take to being better prepared all add up! Little by little we greatly improve how we are going to handle all kinds of things from being stuck home because of a storm, snow, sickness, or a loss of income or so many scenarios that just happen!

"She is not afraid of the snow" as she has been busy doing stuff! xxx

The sweet holdiays of yesteryear.

Our trip away (and the way we take short breaks) brings back memories in us both of the holidays we were taken on as children. I remember how exciting a holiday was! My Nan and Pa hired a beach house at Christies Beach each year for many years. It was big enough that Mum, Dad and my brother and I would go plus my aunt Mary and my Uncle Jim. It was a street away from the beach. We had the most wonderful time. Nan ran the kitchen as we still ate family meals mostly and some fish and chips. Pa would take us down to the beach and swing me endlessly in the water. He never tired apparently!

Other holidays included our family staying in a farm house. There was a wood stove and no electricity. We had great adventures during the days, walking to look at Eagle nests, going to the sea near by, padding in a lake that was there. A fire at night and board games, reading and early nights, early mornings.

Andy's family rented a beach shack at Stansbury. This was a couple of hours drive for them. Andy's parents and four kids set of excitedly and the holiday featured lots of fishing everyday. Meals were what they caught! Andy's Nana made giant jars of shortbread glued together with icing and sent these away on these trips. This was so wonderful. (Just as my Nan did.)

The holiday was spent outdoors all day, they collapsed in bed at night exhausted to do it all again the next day!

My Mum and Dad's honeymoon was a trip to the south east of the state with a caravan. I am told Dad looked at cows a great deal as he dreamed of owning cows some day. So their honeymoon pictures are mainly cows :)

Nan and Pa would never have taken a holiday or purchases anything they could not afford. Pa was very mathematical. Every decision was carefully considered. How far away from that are we now? Holidays are routinely paid for on credit and great debts are gone into for them.

My childhood was filled with various holidays and I loved them all! Once we stayed in a shearing quarters and had bonfires in the evening. I never felt deprived that's for sure.

I have noticed something and have been thinking about it. Young people now are told to go see the word and travel extensively. And I can see why to some extent.

But at the same time the dream of owning your own home is becoming a harder to achieve dream. Many are deciding it is impossible. And personal debt levels go up and up.
Is one connected with the other? At least in part?

We decided holidays and breaks are important to us. The way you feel refreshed, revived and things are in perspective,  convinces us of that. And we decided to take breaks we can afford. Nan and Pa had no spare money and they managed it as did Andy's parents.

Helen and her husband have a little caravan. They take mini breaks that they love and do it for very little. I know that some places they stay are only $15 a night! You can see Helen's caravan here... Helen's Caravan.

If it can be afforded then travel is life changing, educational and amazing. I had the chance to take the girls to the US and see Disneyland and Hawaii when they were little. This was a gift from my Dad. It was wonderful! The memories will last forever! What I am saying is we can holiday within our budget. We don't need to risk our security to do it. And wise decisions need to be made about what is it we want? A home? A world trip? To be debt free? To have an emergency fund and plan?

It seems our Grandparents (and possibly our parents) were very thoughtful with their money and they are starting to look wiser and wiser as we look back at that!


The trip we just took might be the only one this year. But we can go to the farm and that can be a mini break in a way. We saved up for this from last October. I knew once Lucy was getting close to due I wouln't want to go anywhere... so I planned March was the latest....

Our long drive was a mobile picnic and crochet fest! When we arrived this was the view from the front doors....  (the tide was out)

I posted about my magazines, op shopping and ways we do this very cheaply on Feather your Nest Friday. Andy loathes flying and I have to say I am feeling the same. So we have no airports and no stress, just a drive. We arrived and felt so relaxed and were eating lasagne and salad on deck chairs looking at this about an hour after arriving.

I slept so well with cool sea breeze blowing over me and only the sound of sea and birds. We made friends with these guys who got to know quickly we would feed them...

Andy could fish right out the front. I could take him a coffee by exerting maximum effort and walking across the lawn lol

I have always wanted a zoom lens camera so I could take photos of birds. But here they pose for photos at a distance you can touch them, pretty much eliminating the need for a fancy lens! If anything it was like "could you back up just a little bit? You are fogging up the lens..."

I found this really good fun and so did Andy who has 101 Seagull portraits! Also here was a decline in front of us before the water which meant the birds would fly down and be really close to our heads....

These guys are HUGE and heavy. They put their feet down (landing gear) in anticipation of hitting the ground, several times a foot like seen below almost touched my head! haha they are really funny!

There is no getting around the fact that nature is wonderful, de stresses you and makes you happy. Nature is free.

After a day of this I realised how much better I felt. And I didn't know I had felt bad. I just felt so much more relaxed and was sleeping so much better. Five nights of sleeping like a log was beautiful!

If you have any chance take a leaf out of our Grandparents books and enjoy a quiet and relaxing break for little. Or pack a picnic and go somewhere beautiful for the day.  Maybe you know someone with a farm? Or like Helen you know of inexpensive cabins or caravan parks... but something that is a change and will not ruin the budget.

We could have gone ANYWHERE and I doubt we would have relaxed any more or enjoyed it any more than this.

What did your family do for holidays when you were little? I would love to hear. I would love ideas. The US ladies would have stories too that I will probably find amazing! What did your Grandparents and Great Grandparents do? There may have been some that never had a holiday. But I hope most had some opportunity sometimes. How do you save money on holidays and manage to get away within your budget?

Lets re assess holiday expectations. Lets not be paying them off for the rest of our lives! 

Now to plan our next one and aim for that. It is fun to have a plan and work towards it even if it is going to take a while! We have picked where we want to go next and this time it is only two hours away and also on the beach. For relaxation I can't beat the beach.

I do notice that vintage caravans are very fashionable. So maybe vintage holidays are making a comeback. I can see why. It makes sense and saves a fortune.

Feather your Nest Friday, 27th March. 2015.

This week we were away for five nights on a little holiday in Tumby Bay. This is the sweetest little beach side town! It is a six hour drive (or bit more) from home so I can do a lot of crochet in that time!

Sorry for no posts Monday or Wednesday on account of this. I don't say much about going away as it is a bit dumb security wise to advertise being away from home. I think I have caught up on replies. Thank you everyone who commented and I am sorry it seemed I hadn't replied. They were a joy to read when I got home last night. What is lovely is that we all live in different places and in different circumstances. But we all work to build up our homes, happiness, security and to save money and look after our families. That gives us so much in common.

We planned this little holiday last year. I knew that once it got close to Lucy's due date I would not want to be going anywhere. (She is due May 14) And I knew once the baby is born I won't want to go anywhere either! mmm and we hadn't had a break for ages. And Andy needs one I thought. So I booked this. We stayed in a little cabin on the beach. I am a believer in having breaks and that it can be done inexpensively. A break changes your perspective and is so healthy in so many ways. It was beautiful. We arrived and felt relaxed immediately! And the sea air made me sleep like a log!  But I will post about this on Monday and on inexpensive holidays. This was standing on our front little lawn... the best rainbow I have ever seen. The photos shows it but doesn't show how bright it was. It was INCREDIBLE!

Today I will stick to how we saved money and built up our home.

The night before we left I made up ham and salad rolls and packed a basket with a little fruit cake, serviettes etc. Then in the morning I added the rolls and a thermo each of tea for me and coffee for Andy. This way we can stop and have breaks, something to eat and drink, when we see a nice place to stop. This saves a lot. Once ages ago we stopped at a country town far away from anything and had coffees and toasted sandwiches and it was $40! Never again falling for that! This is nicer as we can stop and have a sea view or wherever we want. Packing a picnic the night before a trip is my habit now.

The weeks before we go away I start to save up groceries to take. In the last days I add fresh things. So we take bacon and eggs, tomatoes etc for BBQ brunches, teas, coffee and all kinds of things. So we had things for lots of easy meals.

On the morning we left I took a lasagne from the freezer and wrapped it in a tea towel. This was so it could thaw for the day and be dinner on the first night. We were tired and I heated this up and we ate it watching the sun set and the birds on the ocean! Lovely.

On Sunday we went into the local store to buy fresh milk. I looked at the magazines and saw one that looked lovely. I picked it up and it was $15! I said to Andy I will wait until Monday when we go to the op shop. And guess what!?? At the op shop I bought 40 beautiful current and recent magazines for $2.
Yep that is 5c each. I can't tell you how much fun I had with those magazines! Bliss. So many ideas, crafts, recipes.... I tear out the pages to bring home for my various scrap books. It was lovely. So relaxing too. And Andy bought a couple of dozen motorbike magazines, also for 5c.

We went op shopping. I got a Queen Anne plate and several other old English bone china pieces. And books for card making. I found two glorious rose books and a Shabby Chic book to use to make cards. They were each $2. Each one gives me so many images to use. The rose photo book has over 50 suitable pictures for cards. So I have new supplies for very little. And now I am looking forward to card making one rainy day.

In quiet times (and when I wasn't reading magazines!) I wrote letters. I used my last lot of cards I made recently. With my "stickers" to pretty them up. This is so enjoyable to me. This was the table at one stage before I headed to the post office!

We walked out the front and fed our scraps to these guys. They were so beautiful and funny. They will eat out of your hand but you have to be a bit careful as their beaks are really sharp. We were good buddies by the time we left. :) This is what you call inexpensive entertainment!

A local tourist magazine had vouchers for free coffee in the local bakery and we used those.

We had a day op shopping at a nearby town. That was a good fun day and we found some amazing things.

It was very relaxing and beautiful.

Now back to the real world! I need to go and get some groceries today ready for the weekend.

How did you build up your nest and save money this week? I hope it was a good week.
Also Easter is almost here! I need to think quickly about that and the holiday break. I need to make some lists and get organised. Next week will be a busy week and a short week with a public holiday for Good Friday.

Have a lovely weekend! xxx