8 Random Things About Me

I'm linking up to Stacey's 'linky uppy thingy boppy' and sharing 8 random things about me.

1. Tea. Love it. Some days I go on a bender and all I seem to be drinking is tea. But you can always count on me having a cuppa first thing in the morning and just before I go to bed.

2. I was 28 when I was baptized, along with my 4 children. 5 Baptisms all at once, I'm sure we made a great contribution to the church stats for that year ;) hehe

3. I've lived out of home since I was 16.

4. I have one incomplete degree, one incomplete TAFE certificate. I've just applied for another TAFE certificate.......(actually I'm waiting on news on my acceptance, should know by 24th June).

5. With the exception of working in the South of WA for 8 months when I was 18, I have lived in my town by the sea for 31 years now. My feet are beginning to itch though.....

6. When people tailgate and try and pressure me to speed over the speed limit, I slow down to about 5 under the posted speed limit. I consider this my community service, stopping tailgaters from getting speeding fines or getting into accidents. I'm probably not doing anything for their heart health...

7. I'm hearing impaired. Most people wouldn't know unless told. I can lip read well enough to get by. But I get really self-conscious about what I can't hear and I don't cope well in large social situations, I get all shy. I'm too poor to replace my hearing aids (they cost a lot).

8. I have quite a funny sense of humor, a bit on the sarcasm side, but funny none the less. The angrier I get the more silly my humor can be.

You can read more or play along too by going to Stacey's blog post and linking up. :)

Mummy Daughter Date

My daughter has been nagging for a few weeks to go to the Quilt and Craft Fair in Perth this week. Now I'm a crafty person and you would think I would love these things. And don't get me wrong, I like going to them....but $22 for myself and my daughter to get in...ouch. And I find that the majority of the stalls are the same stalls that were there last year. And the year before that.
Anyhow I digress.

My daughter had a good time. We ended up strolling through the city, and popped over to the Made on the Left pop up market. Not much was going on, only about 8 stalls.

Then we decided to do some sight seeing. Perth doesn't have a huge amount of stuff to see and look at, but nonetheless, still has some gems.

Photos are of us being goofs and a quote at London courts.

My Creative Space

Is running a little late, I think it's still Thursday somewhere in the world??

This week I have been doing lots of sewing. More long sleeve hoodies, beanies and a coat for me. But today I'm cutting out bias strips to make bunting flags. For christmas last year I bought myself a simplicity bias binder. What a nifty little machine this is, wind the cut strips on the spool and it will run through the machine and fold and iron it for you. Very cool. My only complaint is my machine gives off a really strong smell. It smells even when the machine is off.

More creative goodness can be found here.

Pleated Skirts for My Girls

Pattern: Prep School Pleated Skirt by Little Lizard King

Fabrics: Red and Cherry Corduroy and cotton print from Crafty Mamas, burgundy cord from Spotlight.

Pattern Alterations: I added length on the burgundy skirt, my daughter likes them knee length. I also made it so it sits differently at the front, like a solid panel.

Pattern Comments: Easy pattern to follow. I got a bit confused by the elasic bit, but then I hadn't done it like this before. I'll probably use this method of enclosing the elastic again. Sizing is 1y-10y and measurements for a 18"doll too. After making two skirts, I'm confident in being able to measure up a skirt for any size.

I really like this pattern. The skirt comes together well and the instructions are well presented with lots of pictures. I can see more of these skirts being made for my daughters. :)

More on Breadmaking

Oh Belinda I spoke too soon!

The day after my previous post, I loaded up my breadmaker, pressed all the buttons and left it to make dough. Unfortunately the machine was sitting to close to the edge of the bench and during kneading it fell off the bench. The lid cracked and it couldn't be closed properly.

I recieved the breadmaker for my 19th birthday preasant, I'm now 31, so I have got a good number of years out it. But I was still disappointed.

Anyway, on the bright side, my making bread by hand is steadily getting better. Getting the bread to rise sufficiently has been a problem. It takes several hours and the dough is still not that well risen. The inside of my house is too cold, and I live in a coastal town, so although the sun is nice and warm, the wind has a cooling effect on the dough. Not good.

I read on another blog that placing a cup of water in the microwave, then zapping it to boil the water, then placing the dough in the microwave can work. And it does! The steam from the water combined with the contained space, creates a nice warm environment for the dough.

Hmm, I'm off to make bread ;)

Bread Making

I think I'm finally getting the hang of this bread making thing. I little while ago I set the lofty goal of baking my own bread everyday, then proceeded to make some pretty dismal loaves....5kg of flour later and I think I might be getting it right.

I'm using the recipie from Rhonda over at Down to Earth blog, (i'll add the link in later, not sure how to do it on my phone), with some changes. Firstly, I'm using more yeast that Rhonda. I started of with yeast that is not foil packed and in the stated amounts. The dough was heavy, difficult to kneading and slow to rise. The loaves were too dense, even the chooks weren't that into them.

So then I changed the yeast brand. It helped, but the loaves were still far to dense. So I increased the yeast amount to a while sachet, which I think is 7g. At this point I decided to add in a short cut as well. I have a bread maker, but I hate the shape of the loaf. However, my breadmaker has a dough option, so for the 1st kneading and rise I let the breadmaker do the work.

So far so good. My breadmaker also has a time delay option, so i can load the ingredients, pre-set the machine to be ready first thing in the morning and have fresh bread ready for school lunches in the morning.

Cool hey :)

On a cost comparison, bread can cost generally from $1.20 to $3.50 for a store bought loaf. I usually spend about $2.80 as I prefer to buy loaves I know my family will eat and I tend to buy several at a time, so I buy bread I know will freeze and thaw really well.
Home made bread doesn't keep very long, but then it is so scrummptious it tends not to last long anyway. The ingredients cost around $1.20 for a large loaf, that is a loaf that is white with no extra seeds etc. I know i can get flour cheaper, but have been reluctant to buy in bulk quantities until I'm sure I've got the hang of baking bread.

So on a cost basis, based on my normal buying habits, I'm saving $1.60 a loaf. Not much on one loaf but we go through two loaves a day so that is $3.20 a day. Or $22.40 a week. In the course of a year it is a potential saving of $1164.80.

My next experimenting will be in baking to freeze so that I can have a few loaves in reserve for times when we are running short, too just, kids are sick, I'm sick etc. I also want to play around with making rolls too.

Life is Good

Because it's all good :)

Life has been busy. Really busy. I'm in a happy place and plodding along.

I started a business which can be found here selling children's products and some mama items. I have some other business venture ideas up my sleeve...not sure if they'll come to fruition, but they are on my brainstorm map for sure.

My hope for The Treasure Tent is to have a decent income source so I can do the things that don't provide income (parenting, volunteer work, studying random units at uni). While this is my goal, I'm open to the timeframe in achieving it. It's hard work, damn hard work, establishing a business. I know this from starting a business with husband in the building industry. The running around, self-promotion, long hours and initially low/no pay. But I'm committed.

On the home front, my son turned 10 recently. 10!!!! A whole decade I've been a mummy! I'm so proud of him, and I know I'll continue to do so. From his various health issues (respiratory illness, epilepsy, hearing and speech impairments) as a toddler, to having to go to a specialist school, experiencing bullying as junior primary student, he has evolved into a young boy I am so immensely proud of. I look at him and see glimpses of the man he'll become .....and I'm getting goosebumps! He is going to be a great dad/citizen/husband when he grows up.

My other children are plodding along fine. My youngest continues to push boundaries, and although he is a trial, I see in him qualities I admire (innovation, persistence, strength). My girls are my babies. They are scrumptious and creative, they are sweet and they are lovely. They shine.

My sewing is going really well. Part of my business consists of my creations and it is so validating to sell things I have made. I got chooks, they were killed (by the dog), so Fort Knox a.k.a the chicken coop was constructed. I have 4 chooks now, only 1 layer, but the other 3 are young. The garden is sort of ok. Ok the vegie patch is dismal, but I have more fruit trees and they are growing lovely.

Life is good