Kingsland Sockmonkey Orphanage

Contemplating Plastic Free

2012-01-16T21:15:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to get my head around going plastic-free for a period of time. As in, purchase NOTHING that has plastic in it or comes with plastic wrap. A kind of cold-turkey to shock myself out of my lazy behaviour when it comes to making purchases.
Even contemplating this is difficult.
How it all started was, I've been dreaming about building myself a trailer cabin, and not putting any plastic or toxic substances in it, but the biggest drawback is that this will make it very heavy. And Expensive. (And of course, I don't yet have a piece of land I could park it on.) Also, the toilet would almost certainly have to involve some kind of plastic! As would the shower!
But back to the much nearer future.
Some of the things that I would have to find substitutes and solutions for:

Toothpaste
Shampoo & Conditioner
Cat food (my cat is particular)
Milk -No glass milk bottles available locally! Only current solution, milkpowder?
Jarred products - often have a plastic skin inside the lid, as do tinned products.
Bulk store products - My local bulk store pre-bags most of it's products in ... plastic bags.
Juice - even the cartons are plastic coated
Gardening - plants and potting mix both come in plastic, meaning seeds only?

The more I think about it, the more difficult it seems!
*I'll probably add to this list as I think of more stuff.

Cracklepops Moscow Mule Cordial Mix

2011-11-01T00:06:00.000-07:00

A Moscow Mule is, of course, a cocktail involving vodka, lime, and ginger beer. I made these for a party, know people would be bringing spirits, and that more often than not, the mixer runs out before the booze!

The Mule was the most popular, and I have made it several times since. I like to mix it with soda water from our soda stream machine, or add hot water for a yummy hot drink. It's good if you have a cold too.
At the moment, limes are horribly expensive, so I've been using lemons instead.

MOSCOW MULE CORDIAL
juice of 6 to 8 limes
zest of about 3 limes
fresh grated ginger, about 3 or 4 square centimeters at least?
1 and a half cups of sugar
1 heaped teaspoon of citric acid
1 heaped teaspoon tartaric acid
250mls boiling water

Add juice to sugar, tartaric and citric acids. Pour hot water over it and stir. Mix in the ginger and zest. Stir thoroughly. Microwave it to fully dissolve the sugar. Let it sit to cool a bit, before straining it into a clean wine bottle. Top up with water if necessary, and screw cap on well. Makes 750mls.
I've kept mine in the pantry for about 3 weeks with no ill effects, though it's not designed to be stored for long. Once opened, you will probably want to keep it in the fridge. To serve, mix 1 part cordial with 6 parts water or soda.

YUM.

Daydreaming.

2011-09-13T22:24:00.000-07:00

A bunch of links to stuff I'm interested in.
Much of this has turned up as a result of my desire for a home of my own, and trying to find a way to achieve that goal on a limited income. The concept of "wanting less" is the main vehicle.

Tiny Houses.
Jay Shafer is really into the tiny house movement.
Check out his Youtube Stuff.

Mr Sharkey's Home Page
Housetrucks and stuff.
Check out THIS link to Mr Sharkey's tale of how he got into housetrucks and where it lead him. It's not a finished memoir, but a good read nonetheless.

Frugalkiwi.
Frugal living in New Zealand. There's chickens, craft, cooking, household tips. Just lots of handy and interesting stuff. Check out the DIY Chest Refridgerator.

The Zero Waste Home.
Some people think this woman is crazy. I think it's fascinating.
Here's a youtube link for a quick rundown of what it's about.

1880 Cottage.
The cutest little kitset houses. Although currently still way out of my price-range, I love the style of these little houses.

Green Design will Save the World!
Inhabitat. A kind of newsfeed of green ideas from around the world.

Building an Earthship.
This family is building an Earthship, but there are sections on frugality, farming, technology, etc.

Good Magazine.
This is the online version of the New Zealand magazine. Sustainable, green, that sort of thing. Some of it is fairly simplistic, but some of the articles surprise you with their insight.

That Roundhouse.
Just plain cool.

The earthbag building blog. Pretty self explanatory.

The Halfmoon Earthbag Cabin.
An earthship built with earthbags instead of tires.

Letting go of stuff. (The Joy of Less)
A blog about minimalism.

A Low-impact Woodland Home.
The cutest little hobbit house!

The loveable loo.
It's called Humanure. I'm both intrigued and skeptical as to whether I could actually manage it.

More links to come.

Feijoa Wine

2011-04-19T05:25:00.000-07:00

Mad Professor ~ Experimental wine making.
April 2011

I had a vague idea that since I had missed my usual Black Doris Plum Jam making season this year, that I would have a go at feijoa wine instead. (yes, I know, they are quite different aren't they?) The idea rattled around in my head for some weeks. I even scooped out and froze a half kilo of feijoa pulp. (we are always given bags of feijoas by those desperate to find a home for them before they rot). It might have stalled there, but then fate intervened. At the New Lynn Salvation Army I happened upon 2 one gallon demijohns (that's glass wine-making jars/jugs). A sign! I bought them of course. I am fond of glass jars and such. So to justify their purchase I had to make wine. Scrounging around on the internet uncovered several rather vague recipes. Get some stuff, put it in a jar, 1 year later... wine. And I bloody well know it ain't that simple! A more in depth recipe was finally found at http://www.smiths.net.nz/feijoa.html though it was for much more wine than I was prepared to make and consume. I was only aiming for enough to fill those 2 demijohns. So I got out the calculator and fiddlefaddled around. I had made homebrewed beer some years back, so had some knowledge to start from.
First of all, more feijoas were required. A call went out on Facebook, and I ended up raiding Gemma's tree. It needed raiding, believe me.
I bribed mum and dad to help me “shuck” them. (I like the word Shuck.)

The bribe was feijoa crumble (Edmonds cookbook recipe for fruit crumble). The result was 2 icecream containers of Feijoa pulp. One of the recipes said that about one icecream container per gallon jar was ideal, so I went with that. Freeze for at least 3 days to help break down the cell walls and release the juice. Done.
While the fruit was defrosting I went looking for my old beer fermenter barrel. But we could only find one I had picked up in the inorganic collections a couple of years ago. It had no tap, just a hole, and no airlock. :-( Quick thinking had me up to the local Bulk Store to buy one of their used food-grade buckets. They only had 20litre ones for $7, but it worked out fine. Turns out you don't want an airlock for the primary ferment anyway as the gas releases too fast.
Remembering my issues with keeping my beer brew warm enough to keep fermenting, I purchased an aquarium heater for $28 on trademe. It now turns out that at this time of year (early april) the hot water cupboard would have been fine. But I didn't know that, and stuck my first brew in it's bulkstore bucket, into a dogbath filled to the level of the brew with water. Aquarium heater went into the dog bath to keep the water at 20 degrees C. I only saw the light come on a few times, at night. But on the last day of the primary ferment , the temp had dropped to 18 degrees, the weather had cooled considerably, and it was struggling to warm the water. A new rubbish bin was the suggested vessel to use for this method, not a dogbath. (I assume a lid would help keep the heat in.)
Anyway, the brew had to be stirred daily, so I just put the lid on the fermenter and left one bit of it not pushed down so the gas could escape.

Now for the recipe:
(* means I got it from a homebrew specialty shop, the one in Mt Eden road)
2 x icecream containers of feijoa pulp. (3.8 to 4kg)
1 Tablespoon Pectinase dissolved in 100ml warm water. *
2kg sugar. Maybe more.
2 or 3 ordinary teabags.
Campden tablets (or sodium metabisulphite) *
White wine yeast. (I used something called MA33, made for fruit wine) *

Also needed; “No Rinse” sterilizing solution. Available at the supermarket from the beer section, next to homebrew kits.

Equipment;
Primary fermenter bucket, food-grade, at least 10L, with a lid.
Secondary fermenters, should be see-thru, can use 2.25L coke bottles if you can't get the one gallon demijohns (which hold about 4L each)
A large jug to mix sterilizing solution in (mine was 2L)
A stockpot or other large food-grade container for transfering and straining, you could probably use a new bucket, but I just used our stockpot.
Stick-on thermometer for primary fermenter. Mine is an aquarium one from the pet shop. Needs to show at least 18 -30 degreesC.
Stirrer, funnel, hydrometer *, syphon hose *, potato masher, kitchen sieve.

~Freeze Feijoa pulp for at least 3 days, then allow to thaw overnight.
~Mix Pectinase dissolved in water into the pulp and leave to rest (with lids on) for 6 to 12 hours. (this helps break down the fruit and get more juice from it)
~Using “No Rinse” sterilizing solution, sterilize fermenter bucket and lid, stirrer, a teaspoon, hydrometer and it's container, large jug, kitchen potato masher.
~Carefully mash the feijoas then tip them into the fermenter bucket.
~In your large jug, dissolve 1 kg sugar in 1.2 litre boiling water. Add to fermenter.
~Make about 150ml of strong tea with the teabags, and add to fermenter (for tannin).
~Add about 3 litres cold water, and stir. (I added 4 litres and it was too much to fit in the 2 demijohns)
~Measure gravity with hydrometer. I used the container it came in and just tipped some of the brew into it. My reading was 1.060. One of my recipes said to bring the sugar levels up to 1.100, but it depends how alcoholic you want it to be. Instructions with the hydrometer will tell you how to work out how much sugar you need. I ended up adding another 1 kg of sugar, and got a reading of 1.095 which I decided was close enough, and matched the other recipe, which says 1kg of sugar per gallon. You don't have to use a hydrometer, and can just go with the 1kg sugar per 2 kg fruit ratio. I wanted to use the hydrometer for a rough idea of how alcoholic the wine would be, (about 12.8%), although I now find out they are notoriously unreliable).
~Once your sugar is in, and you've given it another good stir, crush up about 1 and a half campden tablets and mix them into the brew. I used a mortar and pestle, but you can just use the back of a spoon. This stuff will kill off any wild yeast that could spoil the brew. Some people are allergic to sulphites, and apparently there are other ways to inhibit the wild yeasts, like through refridgeration, but I took the easy option.
~Once it's all mixed, put the lid on but don't seal it completely, as gas needs to escape. Now it needs to be kept at about 20 degrees C for the next 6 days. In warm weather the hotwater cupboard will probably do. Otherwise use the aquarium heater method, get your water to 20 degrees first, then follow instructions on heater. Don't let the heater touch the fermenter or the bottom of the dogbath/rubbish bin/whatever you use for your water bath.
~24 hours later the campden tablets will have done their work and you can now add the yeast. Don't add it any sooner or the campden tablets may inhibit it. The packet I got was enough for 23 litres. So I used some of it to experiment with “starters” which is getting the yeast started before you add it to the brew. (I used the starters for other brews) But I just chucked in 2 tsp of the yeast and stirred it up, and put the lid back on (again, not sealed). (Starters seem like a good idea if you are a bit unsure how good your yeast is.) They say it's not the quantity, but the quality of your yeast that's important.
~Now, open it each day and stir the “crust” back into the brew. It should be “fizzy”. After 5 days like this it's time for the next step.
The next step is moving your brew into secondary fermenters.
~Sterilize: 2 x demijohns, sieve, large jug, stirrer, funnel.
~Add 2 crushed campden tablets to the brew and stir thoroughly. Then you want to strain all the pulp out of the brew. I sterilized our largest stockpot, which still wasn't big enough, (8 litres) and the 2 litre jug. I just tipped the brew through the sterilized kitchen sieve into the stockpot. The last bit went into the jug, and I divided that last bit between the two sterilized demi johns, reasoning it would have more “goodies” in it. The rest of the brew goes into the demijohns until they are almost full.
~Now, I went to the trouble of getting rubber bungs and airlocks for the demijohns, because that was how I had brewed beer. But apparently you can just put a double layer of gladwrap over the top with a rubberband. The rubberband will stretch to allow the brew to “burp” without letting too many nasties in. I read on one website that air can still migrate through the kitchen wrap, and on another that it's fine. Shrug. We'll see I guess. On this website http://www.smiths.net.nz/feijoa.html
they use “cookie jars” which sound like the kind with a glass lid and rubber ring, except they take out the rubber ring and leave it glass on glass, then put kitchen paper and string over it to keep it clean. Says it works fine. So I guess it depends how fanatical you want to be about it.
~I filled my demijohns to about 1 to 1.5cm below where the bung is. Then put water that had been boiled in my airlocks and fitted them. I still had about 1.2litres left because of my miscalculation with the water at the beginning, so I put that into a sterilized 1.5L plastic soda bottle, and topped it up with water that had been boiled. (It is important to leave as little air space as you can to help keep the wine from oxidizing apparently.) With the soda bottle I used the double -gladwrap and rubberband method as I had no extra airlock.
~Once sealed up, I washed the outside of the demijohns and soda bottle to prevent ants, and put them on the floor in the hotwater cupboard. The aim is to put them somewhere with a reasonably stable temperature, but not too hot.
* This is where I have gotten to so far.

In this pic, are also 2 brews I have started in the 2 days after I started the first brew. They are made from "leftovers". (More on that in future.)

What I intend to do next is:
~“Ferment to dryness”. This involves “racking” the wine. Removing the wine from it's sediment every 3 or 4 weeks, using the siphon hose (sterilized each time of course). The siphon hose needs to be clear, about 2 metres long, small enough in diameter to fit into bottle/demijohns, but not too small. It can not be sterilized by boiling. You have to use sterilzing solution, and make sure it gets right through.
It would be easier to have spare sterile demijohns to siphon right into, but I don't have any. So I'm planning to siphon into the stockpot, clean and sterilize the demijohns, funnel the wine back in, and reseal the airlock. (I'm told you can use small pebbles to swirl around inside the demijohns to help remove the sediment during cleaning.)
Don't put the siphon in the bottom of the bottle, you want to leave the sediment behind. You will inevitably lose some volume this way. I am planing to top up with boiled water to keep the levels up (remember what I said about oxidization?) This will dilute the wine a bit. You can apparently reserve some of the wine and put it in the fridge for topping up purposes. I guess the cold temperature prevents the fermentation, or slows it right down. In this way, the brew is undiluted so to speak.
Anyway, “ferment to dryness” means tasting it each time you “rack” the wine. If it gets too dry it loses it's fruity flavour, so towards the end of this secondary fermentation you can add some more sugar. I've calculated no more than 50grams per gallon (4L), but we'll see. That website suggests the wine should be nice and clear, and ready to bottle in 2 to 3 months, and ready to drink almost immediately. But also states that it may require as many as 7 rackings. Which I calculate to be about 5 months. There are a lot of variables. Fruit wine apparently does not benefit from extended ageing in the bottle, but then, some websites say you need to ages it for at least 6 months!

So far, this is an experiment, and I suggest you use the website http://www.smiths.net.nz/feijoa.html
as a guide if you are trying it yourself. You will note I haven't used some of the things it suggests, like malt and ammonium phosphate. I just wanted to try to be as simple as possible, and my volume was much smaller! (My bulk store was also out of malt, or I would have tried a starter yeast on it). After reading a bunch of conflicting info, I just picked out what sounded right to me, but this website certainly had the best instructions.

I will be updating this post as the brew progresses. If it fails miserably, let that be a warning to you about following the recipe and not going off on gut feelings and tangents. :-)

~Yvon

This is a boring little video of my "bubbling babies" in the hot water cupboard, the day after the first brew was put into secondary fermenters. They are the ones with airlocks.
The large jar is an apple cider experiment, and the brown jar and front soda bottle are feijoa and apple concentrate "leftovers" with my starter experiments chucked in. You can see the gladwrap (on the brown jar especially) is all puffed up with gas coming off the first fermentation, which I'm doing in the jar instead of a bucket, and in the hotwater cupboard instead of the waterbath
*excuse mouth-breathing, I have a cold!

The Home Chemist

2011-03-09T00:40:00.000-08:00

Got me some Borax from the local bulk store!
Experiments ensue.

Liquid Laundry:
(expensive to buy, cheap to make!)

4 cups hot water
1/3 bar soap (grated)
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax
12 litres water

Mix soap and hot water. Heat until dissolved (don't boil. I used the microwave, 30 seconds, then 15 second bursts, stirring lots in between).

Put 12 litres water into a bucket, then stir in the soap solution.
Next stir in the washing soda.
Lastly, add the borax and mix vigorously until it thickens.
(mine developed lumps, so next time I'm going to try mixing the borax with a little water first, or maybe rosewater for scent.)
Leave to rest in the bucket for 24 hours before use.
*****
TOTAL COST TO MAKE: $1.11 (for about 26 loads at 2 cups per load, I think).

I have bottled mine in 2L milk bottles, but you can leave it in the bucket, especially if it's one of those handy 20L buckets with a lid!

I didn't have a big enough bucket, so I used a standard 9L bucket, with 6 litres of water. Then at the end I poured half the mixture into the second bucket and topped them both up with the rest of the water and stirred thoroughly.

The result is thinner than commercial laundry liquid, and I'm not sure yet if you need one cup per load or 2 cups. I used 2 cups to wash my sheets (1/2 load) and it worked brilliantly. 1 cup probably would have been fine.
You won't see any suds, which is fine, because bubbles are just a marketing ploy! And anyway, it means you can use this for front-loaders too. Also safe for septic tanks.

This link is to the Frugal Kiwi website/blog, which has a similar recipe that makes 20 litres. The post has lots of comments with variations on the recipe, including substitutes for borax, and an explanation of what borax is.

Cold Cream
Just like Grandma use to use!

85mls Olive Oil
28gms pure beeswax (avail. at Harvest Wholefoods)
56mls rosewater (bulk store)
1/4 tsp borax

In microwave or double boiler, heat oil and wax together in a glass bowl until melted and well mixed.
In another bowl mix the borax into the rosewater.
Using a small whisk, beat the oil, and very slowly drizzle the rosewater solution into it (like making mayonnaise). It may curdle a bit at first, but will eventually turn creamy. Keep stirring until it cools down.
Pack into scrupulously clean glass jars. (makes about 3 small jars)
*******

I'm told this will keep for 3 or 4 weeks with no problems. Apparently if it goes moldy you can just scrape the mold off the top and still use it!!!
You can tell when it has actually gone off by the smell (the oil goes rancid).
Some recipes say to keep it in the fridge, probably to make it last longer.
You can make it without borax, but just use half the amount of rosewater. You will have to whisk it harder to get it to combine, and it won't keep for as long.

It's been great to use on my chapped nose (had a cold and been blowing it lots!), and has been good on the excema I have on one knuckle. I have also tried it as a night cream on my face. I've read it is excellent to put on your feet before bed. (wear socks to bed to keep it off the sheets).

How about that?

2011-03-04T17:46:00.000-08:00

I'm thoroughly intrigued.

These boots were made for......walking?

2011-02-21T02:55:00.000-08:00

These boots are my current obsession!
They remind me of a pair of boots I had in high school, that I had picked up somewhere second-hand. They had the same kind of detailing, but with a smaller platform and a blockier heel, soft thin leather.

These ones are "Regina" made by Doc Martens. I can't find any in NZ, (I think they might be last season's) but Wild Pair sell a similar style called "darcie" which I tried on for size. ;-)
I have never bought shoes on the internet before, but I am seriously considering it. I fear it could be a gateway purchase, which could lead to heavier internet purchasing.

Yikes!

Oh!

2011-01-23T15:56:00.000-08:00

Oh lordy, it's been over a year since I posted anything! But it has been a year of creative drought. The only place that's seen the fruits of my labour is the garden at the Kings Arms. It's doing really well with all my cuttings and bit's and pieces from home. I did make some awesome chocolate cakes for christmas presents, but had no batteries in the camera to take photos of them. It's a bit weird to think I haven't done any sewing or anything for a whole year. Things have definitely felt out of kilter and I didn't know why! But things are looking up for the new year. A trip to New York in May is what I'm looking forward to. I'm hoping to write an online travel journal here. And speaking of writing, I have started a new blog just for my creative writing:

The idea is to start small with some daily haiku's and work up to a few short stories. It's years since I did any serious writing and I'm hoping this will kick-start the juices.

What have I been doing, apart from working much more than I ever intended to?

Playing Settlers of Catan, mostly with the boys but also online. And going to gigs and reading books. I think I've kind of stopped making things because I no longer have anywhere to put anything! I returned from camping at new years to find there wasn't even anywhere to put my tent and inflatable mat anymore! (someone had moved 2 boxes of shoes into the cupboard in my absence!) But on the upside, last month I rearanged the furniture and managed to squeeze my old formica table into my room. Hurrah! I finally have a proper desk again! I hadn't realized just how bad it would be without it until it was gone. It does make one end of my couch almost unusable, but the truth is, that end is covered in clean clothes most of the time anyway. (not enough drawer space!) It seems I've never recovered from moving a flat full of stuff into just two rooms, and then down to one room. Trying to have a bedroom/study/living space in a 5.6m x 3.8m room is almost impossible. Especially with no built in storage! The short hallway outside my room is cluttered with shelves that hold my kitchen goods (and photography equipment!) as the kitchen is too small.
New Years Resolution: Do something about it.
There are 3 options as I see it. Move somewhere bigger. Rent a storage unit. Or downsize my life.
None of these are appealing right now.

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2007/11/sneak-peek-amy-sedaris.html

Christmas Madness.

2009-12-20T01:21:00.000-08:00

I was part of twenty cent mixture's handmade christmas ornament swap this year. And this is what I made. I have to say that after doing enough finger knitting to cover 5 polystyrene balls, I was waaaaaay too over it to make one for myself!

Here is my tree with my received ornaments on display.
...and here are the blog links of the lovely members of my swap group!
http://unplain-Jane.blogspot.com
www.citrusdaisy.blogspot.com
www.stitchbirdfabrics.co.nz
http://normatikadesigns.blogspot.com
(There were six of us, by not all have blogs)

In the recent madness at work of trying get the place looking decent for a particular event, I ended up making some curtains for the back of the stage out of some red velvet that used to hang around the top of the bar. This inspired a bout of home curtain-making when I realised how easy it is. Black calico, you are my friend! I would never have been able to afford that floor to ceiling business otherwise. And I really needed to cover the top stained glass window because it lets the street-light in, and this room will probably become my bedroom in the coming months.

Sewing machine centre stage!

And finally, a potato update! I have dug up the last of my early potatoes, the Ilam Hardy, and here are the results. They are, of course, larger than the others, having been in the ground longer.

Well, that's me all updated! I suspect in the new year there may be some "zen furniture arrangement" on the cards, and possibly even a paint make-over for the old bedroom, which has been the same shade of patchy maroon for at least 12 years (I couldn't afford enough paint for the second coat!)Very excited by the possibilities!

Tatties, matos and pumerkins.

2009-11-12T21:09:00.000-08:00

Random fit of gardening.
I went against the advice in my pamphlet on growing potatoes. I didn't wait for the plants to flower. They weren't going to. Something GOT THEM. Despite coffee & eggshells, and then resorting to slug slam, something still ate them. I never found anything on the plants themselves. very sneaky. Anyway. The Swift's suffered the worst. I think it was more the wind that got the Cliff's Kidney's. They might have survived and proliferated, but once I'd dug up the swift's I just couldn't stop.

I don't think I'll grow Swift's again!
I haven't dug up the Ilam Hardy's yet. The plants still look pretty healthy. With the other 2 it seems I need not have added the extra tyre to the stack, all the potatoes were down in the first tyre and below. But I'll wait until I dig up the Ilam Hardy's to make a final judgement.

The soil in the tyres was so lovely, I decided to plant my little tomatoes from Bron in there! Beam's Yellow Pear and Riesdfjoeuru (no that's not how it's spelt, it's German and I can't remember).

On the right is the Ilam Hardy's, still in action. I saw no reason to go 2 tyres high for tomatoes.

In previous years I have had no luck growing pumpkins on purpose. I can grow them by accident just fine! Or rather, the compost bin can. But this time I planted the seeds in little seed trays (I know you are supposed to plant them in the ground) and they ACTUALLY sprouted! Not only that, I have transfered 6 plants to 3 mounds down the back, (near the compost bins). I'm watching them like an eagle, an EAGLE. They are Butternuts though, which might be trickier than our compost pumpkins.

In other news, I've entered a handmade Christmas Ornament Swap! I have no actual plans for what I will make as yet. Paper Mache??? Hmmm... at least I will soon have something crafty to blog about!

Halloween & paper mache

2009-11-01T21:38:00.000-08:00

Halloween is THE season of paper mach I reckon. I think I'll plan to make something each year from now on!
Skully was my first attempt at paper mache in about 25 years. I always thought I wouldn't have the patience for it. But it turns out that glue is addictive. And a skull is a relatively easy shape. I am half was through making a pinata, which I think is going to be a duck, eventually.

I also tried to make a haunted house for halloween, out of the box my laptop came in. More like a slightly haunted facade. But it was a fun way to while away an afternoon! Reminds me more of the NZ movie "The Locals" than any real classic horrors. It's lit with christmas lights. Why is it that I always need Christmas lights in the middle of the year when they are either awefully expensive or nowhere to be found?

I wish I'd had the time to make lots of little skulls to form a necklace for my voodoo priest outfit, but I had to make do with bird bones tied to my hat, and a voodoo stick made out of a plastic bone. I'd forgotten how much fun face painting could be!

Spring cleaning

2009-09-20T02:31:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted a blog in 4 months. Opps. You know what I've been doing? Reading Jane Austen. LAME. And watching the movies. Sheesh. Oh, and helping to clean out nana's house. Nana shuffled off her mortal coil some months back, not unexpectedly at all. I had kind of been looking forward to helping clean out her house. Of course I thought it would be full of wonderful crafty treasures. How deluded of me. Most of her delightful 70's polyester clothing was gone. :-( I suppose she must of had a clean-out back when she first found out she was sick, thinking she would save us all some trouble.
So although it is taking endless sundays to get through all the stuff and all the cleaning, I'm not digging up much crafty stuff. Just boxes of nice mementos of grandma. ~ An Oroton coin purse, a wind-up bedside clock, the "good" cutlery (actually that plasticy handled stuff), a large paua shell ring, a book of 365 Puddings, The Singer Illustrated Dressmaking Guide, etc.

Tomorrow I'm thinking about being a grown-up, and doing something quite grown up. That is, going to look at a 1/2 acre of land that I might actually be able to afford. The drawback, of course, is that it's down near Huntly,(What's wrong with Huntly?), and some of the section is pretty steep looking. But the up side is that the Waingaro hot springs are nearby, it's cheap, elevated, and faces north. ;-) Of course, there is no house on the section (yet), but there was one there, because there is a water tank and power lines.
I'm not sure if I'm ready to be a grown-up.

mmrrreow?

2009-05-12T03:41:00.000-07:00

This is the smallest member of my family. Possibly also the noisiest.

She was born somewhere in our backyard to a local stray, and we took her and her brothers in (now gone) when her mother abandoned them to have another litter.

Jojo is the scardiest scaredy-cat I've ever known, but she is also the most communicative cat we've ever had. She somehow manages to tell you exactly what she wants. Not just "food", "let me in" and "let me out". She also tells you

"you are not sitting in mummy's chair. I want you to sit in mummy's chair so I can sit on your lap",

"I want some vegemite on toast please",

"I want Jimbo's pet food please",

"I want cat biscuits please",

"It's time for you to lie down with me for a nap",

"it's time for tummy rubs",

"please get the flea comb".

There are also odd ones like "There is a stranger at the door", or "It's the middle of the night and I've just discovered the back door is wide open and it shouldn't be". She also comes to check on me when I am sick. :-)

If she thinks something is out of place and she wants you to move it, she will stare at you until she catches your eye, then give a big sigh and look very pointedly at the object she want you to move. You also get a lot of big sighs if you don't get up and do what she requires. If you still don't get up, you get tapped around the legs. If you STILL don't get up, you get clawed around the legs.

She has also been known to climb up and put her paw over mum's mouth when she thinks mum is snoring too loud.

She is also the only one who can wake up my dad when he's had a few. We can shake him and he won't wake up, but she only has to meow at him once or twice and his eyes pop open. She's trained him better than we have!

I've noticed she is being a lot more demanding lately. I'm guessing it's because of the cold weather, and she is getting on a bit. There is a lot more "Put the heater or the electric blanket on please" .

The last creative thing I did, was make a Kimono. It's still not finished, there is quite a bit of hand sewing involved, and at first I couldn't decide whether to line it or not. In the end I decided I might ruin it if I tried. So right now it is awaiting it's final hemming and pressing.

Oh yeah, and I made plum jam. Although I had to cook it twice to get it to set. But it got my mum going and now she's been making guava jelly. :-) We had difficulty finding somewhere to hang the bag overnight to drip through, but in the end I came up with the brilliant idea of tying it to the collapsable clothes airer in the wash-house.

I'm sure it's what McGuyver would do.

Decisions Decisions.

2009-03-30T04:00:00.001-07:00

July is some way off yet. But that's when I am planning to take my annual holidays. No matter that there is no one to do my job while I am gone! By then it will be 19 months since my last holidays, and it's likely I will be about ready to crack. Unless I actually make plans and book tickets, no one will EVER be trained to cover for me, leaving me trapped forever in a downward spiral of never-ending responsibilities. I'm slowly learning that one must not do their job TOO well, as this only leads to more work with no pay rise in sight. In fact a slight aura of irresponsibility seems to be the best way to avoid being crushed by mounting responsibilities. I think I may need to call in sick sometime in the coming weeks to re-enforce this fact. I am in fact about due for the first cold of the season, so I think when it hits, I will actually take a sick day or two. I usually just keep working and suffer through, but to hell with it, why be a martyr?

So, July. At first I was thinking a little mid-winter sunshine would be the go. New Caledonia? Hawaii even? Asia somewhere? But then I got all fired up about trains again. Auckland to Wellington, catch the ferry, Picton to Christchurch, Christchurch to Greytown and back again. Then probably fly back to Auckland. I have, infact, never been to the South Island. Shameful. But what about the sunshine? I'll need a dose to calm the old S.A.D.
Shame those holiday deals always seem to be twin share. Anyone keen to escape with me?

Maybe I could do both? After all, now I have 4 weeks to fill instead of 3!

O.M.G (skite skite skite)

2009-02-23T21:39:00.001-08:00

Sometimes, something happens, and I think, "I must be doing something right" Today, this was it.

Le Creuset wok. Red. Salvation Army. $40. Excellent condition. Best I can figure, these don't seem to be available in NZ anymore (and after 2005 they started making then with a glass lid), but the large frypans retail at $250 - $500. :) EXTREME EXCITEMENT.

Lovely Max wrap dress. Salvation Army. $6. I'm wearing it out to dinner tonight to celebrate Mexican Flag day! Weeeeeeee!

I made Vegan Chilli Chocolate cupcakes to take with me.

What I did for my holidays

2009-02-22T02:20:00.000-08:00

Well, actually, I didn't really have holidays. But I did go down to Rotorua for Raggamuffin, and let me tell you, I can't wait for the next one! Breakfast at Zippy's, a night at the Thermal Holiday Park, and a day barfoot on the grass drinking beer and listening to reggae.

Here is a very small portion of my tomato crop. Low acid Roma tomato's in the front there, and a selection from a mixed 6 pack of seedlings at the back. I grew them in big white buckets against the north side of the house (which is the sunniest spot on our section, but is also our concrete driveway :( ) Applications of fish fertilizer and constant watering resulted in a bumper crop. They are finishing up just as my dad's fancy heirloom tomatos are ripening. How convenient! Sadly, my eggplants are not doing so well. Some mysterous pest has laid eggs in every one of the fruit and they are all infested with the hatchling grubs. :'(

In other news, next saturday I'm off on the "Waves and Wheels to Opua" train trip. Yippee!!!! Auckland to Whangarei by train on the north-western line, Whangerei to Opua by coach, And then Opua to Auckland by boat going around all the little inlets. Can't wait.

http://www.railfan.org.nz/

Vegan Piefest

2009-01-26T22:02:00.001-08:00

I managed to snap this photo just before the worst of the carnage! My pie was a big hit. Other favourites were Vegan Steak pie with peas and potato (everyone had doubts about the veganness of this pie, but it was made by the host, so it must be true!), Tofu, Spinach and Artichoke pie, Chocolate Pumpkin pie (I am not a fan of pumkin, but even I liked it!), and Conrad's Plum, Pear, Nectarine and Apple pies (that's his 2 in the front there). :)
I ate so much I had to go home for a lie down.

PiePiePiePiePie

2009-01-24T04:47:00.001-08:00

I've made a mean vegan pie for vegan pie-fest tomorrow. One of my favourite pies is a creamy chicken and mushroom pie, so I was trying to figure out something in a similar vein.
Mushroom and Onion Miso Pie.

INGREDIENTS:
-Vegan Flakey Pastry (New Way or whatever)

-Mushrooms

-Onions

-Olivani (or other vegan margarine)

-Miso paste

-flour (about 2 tablespoons)

-Black Pepper

-boiling water
(no quantities because it depends how big your pie dish is)

Slice up your onions and mushrooms. I used 4 smallish onions and about 18 medium-large white button mushrooms because they were on special. Melt some olivani and fry them up in it. Just until the onion is starting to go golden brown. Then strain out the liquid if there is a lot. Maybe keep it for stock if you like. Line your pie dish with pastry, poke it lots with a fork, and bung it in a 180C oven until it's starting to colour. (this is to stop the bottom from getting soggy). It will puff up, but you can press it down again. If you're fancy you can use pie weights to hold it down.

I use quite a shallow dish and make a thin pie. Now for the creamy sauce!

Make up about a cup of miso, maybe a cup and a half, using about a tablespoon of miso paste and boiling water. (depends how strongly flavoured you want your sauce)

Now we're going to make a kind of a vegan white sauce.

In a saucepan melt some olivani, about 2 heaped tablespoons I guess. Once it's well melted, chuck in a heaped tablespoon of flour and stir vigourously with a wooden spoon until smooth (it might go quite solid but don't worry). Add a little miso to thin it down and keep stirring until smooth. Add another tablespoon of flour and stir until smooth. (Basicly you are cooking off the flour as you go). Then add a little more miso, stir until smooth, keep adding the miso bit by bit until you have a sauce that is like a slightly thick pale gravy. Now add black pepper to taste. Mix the sauce into the mushrooms and onions. Fill the pie shell. (if the mix looks too runny, use a slotted spoon so you leave some of the sauce behind). Cut some pastry into strips and lay a criss-cross pattern on top of the pie. Brush the top with some oil, or the mushroom stock that's left over from cooking. Bung it in the oven on 180C until the top is golden. Let it cool a bit before cutting it.

It is delicious cold. Mmmmmm..... picinic!

It's too darn hot to sit in front of a computer.

2009-01-14T20:56:00.001-08:00

DO WANT

I'd like to be sitting inside one of these just now.

I've been having a lucky couple of weeks. Money and free stuff keeps falling in my lap. I bought a Big Wednesday ticket, but I guess it's not that kind of luck. :( Can't win them all I guess!
The monkeys are somewhat heat affected, they are so hot they can hardly move. Poor monkeys.
I went to Wellington for one night to see Throwing Muses play. It was awesomewicked. I also spent the next day shopping before my flight out, ended up having to buy another bag for my lovely second-hand purchases, 2 of which were Kimonos. They are from a place called Asia Gallery in Kilbirnie (look it up!) They import second hand stuff from japan. The kimonos are mostly only $25 each, although there was a big pile of $5 kimonos in the middle of the floor also. I wanted to buy some just for the fabrics, but didn't have the room! :( Maybe next time.

Eating pizza and drinking beer at Fidel's on Cuba St is also highly recommended. Best vegetarian pizza. Yum.

Having a beer with Santy

2008-12-21T21:44:00.001-08:00

Sometimes cleaning and serving drinks just isn't enough to get me through the day. That's when the snacks come out and the creative juices start flowing. And I don't mean the tequila.
This took me multiple sheets of A4 and at least 6 goes at getting the face to not look too evil. I am not much of an artiste, in the drawing sense, so it was hard work. He is actually leaning on the bar leaner and having a pint with the locals.
I am proud to say that he has already caused much mirth and merriment.

Drat!

2008-12-18T02:37:00.000-08:00

I just made some gingerbread cakes. I put some leftover batter into muffin tins. The darn things wouldn't come out! The tops broke off, leaving the stumps behind. :( Which is funny :) because last night or the night before I was watching a Seinfeld re-run in which Elaine has a thing about muffin tops, and doesn't eat the stumps. Someone ends up opening a "muffin top" store, but then they can't get rid of all the stumps... hilarity ensues (but no too much, because it is Seinfeld after all).

I also just made chocolate christmas trees with M&M baubles, with greater success, though some of them look a little developmentally retarded.

More monkeys also. Thank goodness the monkey breeding season is almost over. The Orphange can't take many more!

What I've been up to.

2008-12-15T01:21:00.000-08:00

Retail therapy ahoy!

As usual, christmas means an excuse to buy myself presents! And other people of course. :)

The gleanings of my Craftwerk excursion:
The diary (top right) wasn't my first choice, but while I went to get change, the lovely pale green print that I wanted got snapped up. You'd think I would have learned by now wouldn't you? :)
Ninja xmas tag/tree decoration by R.W.Scissors. Labels and notepad by Nut and Bee.
Croissant earrings by R.W.Scissors.

Bobbin earrings from Toggle stall.

Pencils from Jellybones.

I made experimental chocolate coconut truffles last week. They are WAY too much work to make on a regular basis! They are also incredibly rich and will make you feel sick if you lick the leftovers too much.

I designed myself a Christmas Wreath of pohutukawa and fantails, but when I printed it out on A4 it was kind of dinky looking. I really need to get it printed on A3 card. In the meantime I turned the image into cards and tags. :)

And finally, these are my secret books, which I have been meaning to photograph for ages. One day soon I'd like to make a giant one, from an encyclopedia or something. For really big secrets!

P.S ~ I had my strawberry apple jam on scones with cream for Sunday lunch. YUM!

Accidents with scissors.

2008-12-05T04:44:00.000-08:00

Sock Monkey Orphanage will not be at Craftwerk this time, as our application was not accepted. (But I will still be there doing my christmas shopping!) Poor little monkeys. I've seen someone else selling monkeys, so maybe that's why. We wouldn't want the place to be over-run with monkeys! That's why we neuter them! :) We'll still be at Kraftbomb on the 22nd though!

New addition: Uncle Charlie, he is rather large is comparison to the others, as you can see! I'm not sure if I can give him up!

In other news.... I has a new camera! Small and dinky and able to be squirreled away in my purse! So I had to try taking one of those "myspace" photos that all the kids are shooting these days...
Yes? No? I'm not sure I have the hang of it. I also has new haircut, thanks to a small episode with the scissors when I got out of the shower on monday. Shouldn't leave monkey tools lying around like that! So dangerous!!!

2008-12-03T03:24:00.000-08:00

Won't be long now!

I forgot to take photos of my "secret books" I've been working on. They were a bit of a hit at the last Craftwerk, so I've made sure and sourced some pretty books to turn into secret stash holes for emergency chocolate rations, cash, hip-flasks, stuff-you-don't-want-the boyfriend-to-find...
Photos coming soon!

In other news, Kraftbomb went pretty well. I didn't sell all my cakes, but I sold enough to make it worthwhile. I did forget to take photos though. :( I think I will rush out and buy myself a small camera before the next market, so I don't have to contemplate lugging the huge Nikon DSLR around. Mmmmm... retail therapy!

OoOoOoOoo excitement!

2008-11-25T03:43:00.000-08:00

A little birdie tells me Craftwerk will be on the 11th of December and part of Cheese on Toast's birthday celebrations. I've got my application in and my fingers are crossed!

2008-11-24T01:22:00.000-08:00

The sockmonkeys have been busy. Busy making strawberry jam! Well, actually mostly they supervised and made sure that no lint got in there. It was so enjoyable that tomorrow I'm going searching at the op shops for more small jars so we can try making Strawberry Apple jam.

New additions to the orphanage (except the green guy, he's just helping them settle in)

It's taken me 5 goes at making a box the right size and design for my tiny cakes. I was trying to make a proper cake box with a cellophane cut-out in the lid, but I just couldn't get it to work, and it was taking up way too much carboard. So I just went with this simple design. It will have cellophane wrapped over the top and that will keep the sides together. I didn't want to use glue if I could possibly avoid it. I've even got little paper doillies to put the cakes on. :) I think I will just do 2 flavours. Vanilla Delicious and Neapolitan. I was planning to make Choc-o-mint as well, but space limitation means I've decided to only make 6 cakes. So if you want one you'll have to get in quick!

Now I probably have too much stuff for Kraftbomb. So I'm hoping like crazy that there will be a Craftwerk before Christmas! Yikes!

Brown paper packages tied up with string...

2008-11-18T02:14:00.000-08:00

.. these are a few of my favourite things! Before the last Craftwerk I went a little crazy making recycled paper gift bows. I don't know what it is about them that made me make them so obsessively. Probably I just like to play with craft knives. I sold hardly any. I guess no one wants mine when you can get shiny $2 shop ones for cheap. I might take a few to the next markets and then hang the rest on the christmas tree.
I was asked if I could make fabric ones and turn them into brooches. I had a go at it, but they are really fiddly and time consuming. Just not as satisfying to make as the paper ones. And they are all floppy! My 3 prototypes will be up for sale at the next Kraftbomb. (the green one was the first, so it's a little bung).

Lego-tastic.

2008-11-17T03:31:00.000-08:00

Okie Dokie. Recent months have been productive. (I work much better when I don't have a deadline looming. ) But it's only in the last few days that I've gotten around to photographing the results.

It kind of started when I bought myself some Lego. As a kid I always wanted Lego. But like many families in the low income bracket, my parents refused to buy me any because it was too expensive. So I used to go downstairs and play with my neighbour's Lego. It only took me until I was 29 to get some of my own. It's still pretty expensive. Oh those precious Lego blocks!

Then I figured that if it's so easy to chew them out of shape, maybe I could melt a small hole in one and attatch a jump ring. First came brooches.....

...then some pendants on some leftover necklaces from another project.....

.... then some earrings, which I think are probably my favourite. Then.....

....more necklaces, this time on waxed cord with knot and loop closures. I like them because they speak the language of precious greenstone. And because it's one of the few things I can wear around my neck with my eczema. I probably would have put them on silver chains for the sake of other people, but the store had run out.

I don't want to make too many because I don't want to decimate my precious Lego supply. I did buy extra white blocks off Trademe a while back though. I blame William Gibson for putting it in one of his books.

Order Vs Chaos

2008-11-15T19:51:00.000-08:00

The problem with having multiple hobbies, especially multiple crafty hobbies, is space. Or more specificly, the space the mess consumes. This is my lounge just before the August Craftwerk.

Notice the trail of distruction from sewing table to coffee table to dining table.

I have spent my friday night and sunday morning having a go at the Zen Art of Furniture Arrangement. Now the room no longer works as a whole, but I do have a dedicated T.V-and-lounging-with-Himself nook. (Himself loves it) The idea is that we can retreat into a corner of the room that is not overwhelmed with chaos. (yes the monkeys have taken over the couch already).

An added bonus of this furniture shuffling is that I can extend my rescued oak table to it's full length. (rescued from Salvation Army and lavished with hours of sanding/gluing/re-varnishing). Hurrah! Sewing at one end! Dinner at the other! Papercrafts at formica table! etc.

I think really I've just piled a lot of furniture into the middle of the room.

This is the kind of procrastination that consumes me when I know I should be attending to monkey business.

Coming later this evening: actual crafty stuff! Like my lego jewellery.

Fresh Monkeys

2008-11-11T02:47:00.000-08:00

These guys and gals are currently hanging out at Roasted Addiqtion in Kingsland.
From left to right - Larry, Camille, and Odette.

This trio of triplets will hopefully be up for adoption at Kraftbomb on November 30th. (I haven't been to one yet, but I've heard good things from R.W Scissors)

Moving House

2008-11-10T14:49:00.000-08:00

Kingsland Sockmonkey Orphanage is finally shifting it's e-address! Because honestly, who uses Myspace anymore?