The Vicky Challenge. Do a little research.

My Vicky Challenge went pretty well last week. A little bit of this and a little bit of that!

Some of the things we did that were a saving and I can put a $$$ value to were:

Andy changed my windscreen wipers. They weren't working at all!

I did a shop at Aldi and saved $40 off usual prices.

The lovely big jars I was given have added storage space and I always think of what people pay for storage containers! I would rather buy the food.
Even at $4 each this is $20.  But boy are some storage containers expensive!

I took up jeans saving $15 which is the going rate I am told.

My total lounge re arrange and refresh didn't cost a thing but it is like a whole new room!

I made all work lunches and sent coffees etc. Saving $100.

Also a lot of cooking enabling me to share some. I made all meals plus some things went into the freezer. I am guessing another $100 saved between the potato bakes, custards, mornay etc.

I pruned the roses. I have a way to go but I think if I hired someone to do that it would have been $60 or so.

And I managed to dry all the linen etc on the line desire it raining almost every day! I had one window of opportunity with some sun and went like crazy to get it all done. Then the line was covered and on my phone I got a weather warning that was warning of flooding! Talk about cutting it fine but I got it all in and it was almost dry. I used my dining room table to finish a few things off! But they were put away clean and dry by bedtime. phew that was close!

My savings subject today is research. I think we all do this when we are making a bigger purchase as the internet makes it so easy to compare prices. It is certainly miles easier than going into lots of stores to see how much they are charging. Let your fingers do the walking as they say. You can check out ratings and reviews as well. In the last few years I have been amazed how much I have saved by doing this. When we did out kitchen I found out that Ikea appliances are Westinghouse brand. Really? So my oven is Ikea... which is Westinghouse. Only so much cheaper! And I just LOVE it.

Research showed me Aldi Caviar compared to La Prairie products for a tiny fraction of the price!
Many times the revelations from a little research have been nothing short of amazing!
I think we assume things that have been true in the past and lately I have found that not assuming anything has really paid off.
Here in Adelaide (years ago) to buy a feather and down pillow the department stores were the only choice. I have given everyone one good 95% down pillow over the years. These have become so loved, taken everywhere including hospital and overseas! Also the prices have gone up and up.  At last check I am now looking at $249!
This time while I am looking at one for a gift I thought I had better search online and see what I can find overseas or possibly via Aldi or elsewhere.... thinking IF they even have them.
Low and behold IKEA do. They have 95% down pillows.  I would NEVER have thought IKEA would have these. Just assumed wrongly.  Theirs are $89.
So I went in and felt, fluffed and investigated. They sure look and feel the same.  This is a saving of $160!
Whatever it is don't assume. Do some research. Fifteen minutes of price checking and looking elsewhere can pay big dividends!

Although the way the internet snoops on you can be disconcerting you can use it to your advantage. If you do a search for best prices on fridges then the next time you go onto Facebook or any blog you will see fridge ads. mmm. Well, use this! Search for a few things you are actually looking for. Then at least the ads you are bombarded with will be for things you are  actually interested in. I have found some great deals this way. It is instantaneous. If I searched now for storage containers then went to send an email... the ad on the side would be for storage containers. Creepy but can be useful. We might as well let it be a help.

With the pillow savings my total this week is $460.  I am happy with that.

How did you save last week? I hope you are increasingly amazed at what it would cost to pay someone to do many of the things you do, or buy the things you cook or make. It has been a real eye opener for me. I love looking at prices now! I am still constantly shocked! I look whenever possible in craft stores, gift stores, gourmet food shops etc. It is quite funny, I will come home and say to Andy "I saw a tray of Lasagne" for $55!" and he will say "really?" looking surprised. (true recent story!)  Other prime examples are six gluten free biscuits for $16.  Or a hand knitted scarf for almost $300!  Truly, the things you make and do add so much to your household!

Have a wonderful week! xxx

Feather your nest Friday, 8 July. 2016.

What a week! I am glad to sit down and look at what I managed to get done as a lot of the week went from Plan A to Plan B!
Lucy wasn't well with the flu. It rained so much it broke records. I was thinking I don't ever remember this much rain and I was right as they said it hadn't rained that much in twenty four hours in eighty years. And I'm not eighty so that's why I don't recall that much rain! My Dad is happy as they have had several really dry years. Now there is water everywhere.

These are some of the ways I feathered my nest this week:

I totally re arranged the lounge room. It had been bothering me that I really didn't love it. It was arranged in the only way I could think of given a lot of windows and french doors, the shape of the lounge etc. But I couldn't think of another way...
Anyway, I took everything out and started again and tried to think like they do on the TV shows where they make over rooms! I had about ten tries and finally I found success. And I really like it! It kind of looks like a TV makeover!
I didn't spend a cent either. Plus I washed the skirting boards, de cluttered etc so it is like a spring clean too. I love it!

I added flowers to a rustic box from in the yard and made a new centre piece for the table.

I built up my pantry with tins of chickpeas, baked beans and tomatoes. (All on special) And added meat and things for easy meals to the freezer.

Some of the ways I saved money were:

I pruned roses and hydrangeas and filled the wheelie bin that goes out. It was overflowing! I think I have about two more to go by the time I prune everything. So I will keep at it for the next month as that bin is collected.

We had tuna mornay. I made spare and set it aside so one night filled vol au vents as well to make it different.

I took up some jeans.

Andy replaced my windscreen wipers for me.

I finished my rug. 

Now I am knitting a soft pink one.

I made baked rice custard. Again I made two so we had it another night as well.  I have managed to get several sets of dishes that fit inside each other nicely. You will the bottom one with water and the top one with the custard... it is so nice! (an alternative is to put some water in your crockpot then sit your baking dish in there) I used a little bit of frozen cooked rice I had stashed away.  Even if I have a tablespoon of cooked rice left over I freeze that as it is enough for this custard.

In winter this is really nice. I ate left overs for breakfast!

Also I made potato bakes again. I had a request for it plus big bags of potatoes were $3. Also this freezes really well. So I made four.

I sprinkled bacon over this lot. That went down well so now I think I have backed myself into a corner and will always have to do this! :)

And I went to Aldi and did a stock up plus items to add to my emergency pantry. They truly have amazing prices. Many things are so far under half the price of Woolworths. ie mandarins and carrots were beautiful and better, locally grown and so much cheaper. I love that store.

Other things were:

I gave Lucy a pile of the super soft flannelette hankies I make. If I see old worn out flannellette sheets in the op shop I get them and wash them up. Then I tear them into large shares and fold them ready. I had a heap that were white with little pink roses. I used some for my cleaning cloths.  Her nose had reached that point where it was just so sore. I said "use these" and left a heap.
Later I got a message of how much she loved them. Truly, when someone is really ill super soft, gentle hankies are so much softer than tissues or usual hankies. And they can go in the bin. I had made about thirty for $2.  A lot have been used recently so now I am on the look out for more old soft sheets!

I was given five more of the giant coffee jars. This completes my whole row of these which is 24.

These have given me heaps more storage and look really nice. All free and labels printed from the internet.

I thought I would never finished this post as I keep dashing out and putting more on the clothesline. At this point a sunny day is an opportunity not to be missed! The line is full of sheets, towels etc.

How did you feather your nest, save, get ahead, add to your pantry and all good things this week?
I love hearing about your week. It is worth celebrating all these little things. They are beautiful really. You are building up your family and home. You are creating something wonderful. xxx

The Christmas Challenge. Show and Tell for June. Part 2.

Thank you everyone for your photos! This is part two of what everyone made in June. Last week was wonderful and this continues!

As usual I represent everyone but can't always fit all photos in so I pick a selection. I love seeing every photo however and love hearing about how things were made, who they are for and all these details! There are so many good ideas!

Firstly, we have Marian. She has been really busy.

This is a gift to one of her friends which is a tea pack, face cloth and moisturiser that Marian made plus an added purchase body cream.

How professional does this look!? Just beautiful. She also made another similar set which a heat pack and hand cream.

Beautiful knitting for her Grand Daughter...

This is lovely. Fabulous knitting Marian!

Double sided baby blanket...

And baby gifts for a baby boy coming into the family...

What a busy month and great variety!


Mel K found an old ladder and turned it into a spice rack!

Mel I love this! She also has found some all wash troughs that she is turning into planters in Spring. They will make great planters! Turning things we have or find into assets is wonderful.

Mary repainted a Lazy Susan for her kitchen...

And made a curtain for under the sink. I love these, I always have.  Previously Mary shared a paper towel holder she had painted and added flowers to. I think I want to see the whole kitchen now as it must be so pretty! 

Elaine made a pillow bed for her Grand Daughter. She even made the pillows first from stuffing and fabric she had on hand. This was a big hit with her Grand Daughter and her parents!

Mimi was on a roll in June! You can follow her blog and see how things are made at A Tray of Bliss. You will find plenty of inspiration. Here is a sample...

Mel C has also been busy! She made a healing balm from Dandelions. 

Mel is trying to find good things to make with things she can pick in her area and she has Dandelions!

This looks really good.

She also made bath salts and gift wrapped soaps. I love how they coordinate! A really lovely gift.

She has also made jam and paper window stars to hang in your window with her youngest son. A really good month Mel. Mel's blog is Thrifty, Frugal, Fun. She is always crafting, cooking and making the most of everything that comes her way!

Jen in NC has been knitting! Plus card making!

Superb work Jen. The jars are Clover Honey and Spiced Apple Butter.  Lovely gifts. Thank you so much for the lovely photography too Jen!

Thank you everyone so much! 

Now on to a productive July! 

What are you working on? I hope the week is going well! It is busy here... xxxx

The Vicky Challenge, 4 July, 2016.

Happy 4th of July to all of the US ladies! I feel like celebrating with you as I think celebrating our countries and freedom is a really important thing.

My Vicky Challenge went quite well last week.

I made all lunches plus the fishing day food which saves $150 all up.

I did a lot of cooking! The weather was so cold and I had room in the freezer since cleaning it out.  Once again I checked what the stores charge for things and worked out my costs versus retail price. I enjoy doing this as it shows how much money is saved making your own food! It is huge!

This included 36 muffins plus 12 king sized ones.

6 pizzas.

36 sausage rolls. (large)

12 jam tarts.

A huge pot of spaghetti sauce.

Loads of it went into the freezer. Very happy with that.

I had glasses repaired for free so that was a bonus.

And the usual things, cooking all meals, no takeaway, using the heater as little as possible etc.

I wrote $555 into my savings book to finish off the month of June. I love to see these amounts and my weekly tally plus monthly tally adding up! It's still surprising to me and one of the best experiments ever (thanks Vicky!)

And now for July!

My savings tip of the week is not a new one. It is to remind everyone to keep a stockpile, keep your ear to the ground and be aware.  Several weeks ago I read about an egg shortage. I checked the story out and it was true. However we seemed fine and some states were experiencing it. But I got ahead on eggs and tried to keep ahead. With all my cooking I was getting low and went to stock up.

And this is what I found...

The few left were $7.80 per dozen.

In the last few months I have found many supermarket shelves that look like this! It has been in waves, chicken at one time, then lamb, then lettuce, whole areas of things like toilet paper and paper towel. At times I found it a real shock to find several areas like this.
Last week I wanted to make soup but all the veggies were so expensive I refused to buy them. I thought I will wait another week.

We don't have warming all of the time but an early warning can be very helpful! I had a couple of weeks warning on the eggs at least.

We take the shelves being full for granted! I have never really found empty shelves until this year. It is a reminder of how fast things go if there is a shortage or something goes wrong in the supply chain.
What is on the shelves is all there is. There is no "out the back" that is a thing of the past.
I have said this before... the 12 boxes of candles on the shelf are all there is! If there is a sudden need for something only the first few customers will get it, there are no more than the few on display.  This is why getting ahead is so important.
If we are not ahead we also have to pay the ridiculous new price! We are really at the mercy of what ever price they set.

Later today I will be shopping so it will be interesting to see what the shelves are like and check out the egg situation!

How did you save last week through your work and efforts?

I hope this will be a good week for us all! xxx

Feather your Next Friday, July 1st, 2016.

Welcome to July! This is the middle of winter for us. And the launch into the second half of the year! I am thinking of all my goals for this year and am I half way along with those?  I am behind with painting as I think I have done about a third not half! But on gift making I am about right, more or less!
I will study my list and think about this! I know we have done a lot i.e. two rooms of polished floorboards, freshly painted woodwork and skirting boards, fresh yellow laundry etc.
A review is good. Some time thinking about these things helps me know what to attack next!

This week I got off to a running start and fizzed a bit at the end!
Firstly, on the weekend I did lots of cooking.
I had a bag of fresh oranges I found on a big special so I made my Orange Sunshine Cake. This time I made it in muffin trays so they were easy to freeze in portions, send on the fishing trip, lunch boxes and give some to the girls.

I made 36 small and 12 larger ones (in a Texas Muffin tin) so that was a lot of cake!

During the week I had a spaghetti cook up in my new Aldi stock pot. It holds so much more than my usual big pot. I did 6 kilos of mince (that's around 12.5 lbs) with 12 onions, tomato sauce, oregano etc and simmered it for a couple of hours.

From this I made a spaghetti dinner then set about portioning it into two portion containers to freeze. Also I left some in the fridge. This makes lasagne, tacos, pizza topping etc.

Then I made pizzas. This fed the boys on the fishing trip, lunches, a dinner and one given away.

Next I made sausage rolls. These freeze great too. I made 36 large sized ones.

They are yum! I gave some each to the girls and they are really handy to have put away. Andy took some in his lunch box each day.

I had some left over pastry. With this I made jam tarts. 

This is a non recipe. I just put some homemade jam into each pastry and bake. When they are done it looks like you are clever and made pastries.

You can add some cream, pipe in some custard, ice-cream, fresh berries or anything you like. And voila! It looks nice and they taste lovely. Sprinkle over icing sugar at the end.

So basically the freezer is full again, everyone was fed, lots went out as gifts of help. I keep the lids of boxes as sort of disposable take away food trays.

'
Other ways I feathered my nest included:

I emptied out a part of my pantry where I keep storage tins. Somehow these just weren't working so I have set them out where I can see them and added labels. Now I know what's in them! And also I have more pantry space.

We made a major investment for our preparedness and bought a generator. If the power is down we have an alternative. We have wanted to do this for a long time and I am so happy about it.

I added to my pantry.

Almost finished my crochet blanket. Will be finished over the weekend!

I bought an icing set so I can do better icing on cakes! Now to practice.

How was your week? How did you build up your home, save money, get ahead, add to your pantry?
All of these things are wonderful.  Make hay while the sun shines. Or in our case, while it rains!

Have a lovely weekend! xxx

The Christmas Challenge. Show and Tell for June.

This week I was going to ask for your photos for the month and some already arrived so I will just get started! I would love to see and share what you have been making during June. Even a snap of a project still being worked on is wonderful. It inspires us all!
You can post them on the Bluebirds Facebook page or email me at brinkzi21@hotmail.com

So we will get started! As always I cannot publish every photo but usually most of them. And I always represent each person. (Unless like last time I had a brain fade and forgot!)

I feel that here in Australia and New Zealand we are getting heaps made as it is cold and staying inside,  crafting and cooking is the obvious thing to do. And that the US, UK, northern ladies are busy with their gardens and outside work so might have less time for crafts.
This is how I am in summer. There is a lot to do. We have to work around the seasons and make the most of them!

I am going to start with my Mum. As you know she makes a lot and also a lot of cooking.
Most recently she made Harper a little knitted skirt. She always made these for the girls from when they could walk until about when they went to school. I have most of them still. There were worn and worn but still in perfect condition. Usually they included glittery threads. Here is Harper (resetting my phone) wearing her new skirt.

These are really warm worn with tights underneath. Mum is working on a pink one now.

Also she made me a hat to add to my pink and cream baby rug. The hat was from left over yarn from the rug. This really adds to the gift.

Maria (From NZ) is working on crochet rugs for her Grand children. And in between she has made so many things! Including beautiful cooking.
I love seeing cooking as it can be a gift or for the family. Either way it is wonderful.

Firstly...  mittens for her Grand Children...

Maori bread, which is a heavy and hearty bread. 

Mussel Slice..

A series of lovely cards...

Diabetic Fruit cake. This is a different recipe than the last one and Maria likes it better. If anyone needs it ask in comments. 

Beer bread...

Maria I hope when you see this you realise how much you did this month! Absolutely beautiful!

Jane and her husband Bluey have both been busy.  Very busy!  Bluey made this cot for his Grand Daughter from recycled and salvaged wood! It contains Camphor Laurel and Oregon wood and brass fittings. 

Truly a gift of love and an heirloom of the future!  

Jane has made her Grand daughter a whole outfit. This includes the little black slippers that Jane also made!

Just gorgeous. This is one lucky little Granddaughter (plus parents I think!)

Barb has been covering notebooks for gifts. She has made them for men and women.

Well done Barb on adding to your gift cupboard!

And I have to show you... Teri has grown her own Peonies! She has a vase full of them inside!

Beautiful. Peonies and Roses are my favourite flowers.

I hope you feel inspired by all of this June activity! And now over to you for next week! Really it is a great help to gather ideas but also a lift in energy to see what everyone has made. It is quite amazing to see how clever and hard working everyone is. And we are learning. No one becomes proficient in anything without practice and mistakes. But learning is so much fun and it is a big investment to really improve your skills. And expand them. Apart from gift making being skilled at something is a possible income earner. Keep working on your skills. They are valuable.

We are having a cold week but so far it has been good and I have done heaps of cooking. It is about time to put another pot of soup on! I hope you are having a great week. 

What have you been working on this month? xxx