Wardrobe Organising

I have this on my mind for a while now.  Actually it pops up nearly everytime we go away.  I only take around 5 to 6 days worth of clothing with me and recycle them again and again.  (I do wash them in case you are wondering.)

So I have bit the bullet and opened those wardrobe doors and had a good hard look at what is in there.  It was getting to the point where not much more would fit in!

I found a list of clothing that I feel is an acceptable amount, given how I wear my clothes and often I wash them.  The list is this:

3 pair of long pants - jeans, dressy, tracksuit, etc

2 pair of long leggings

3 pair of shorts

2 skirts

3 singlet tops

4 long sleeve print tops

4 short sleeve print tops

2 long sleeve white shirts

2 long sleeve t-shirts

2 jumpers/sweaters

2 fitted cardigans

2 dresses

2 cropped jackets - these to suit my hour glass figure

1 trench coat

So after filling 1 and half large garbage bags this is what I am left with.  I can now move things around in the wardrobe and not have to use too many muscles!

6 pairs of long pants - 2 jeans, 2 black dressy, 2 trackys

6 pairs of leggins - 1 long, 5 mid length

3 pair of shorts

3 skirts - 2 black, 1 brown

6 singlet tops - these will be culled

10 long sleeve print tops

11 short sleeve tops

4 knit tops - 1 long sleeve, 2 short sleeve, 1 sleeveless

0 long sleeve white shirts

1 long sleeve white t-shirt

4 jumpers/sweaters - only 1 is what you might call thick; we don't have the weather for those here

1 loose cardigan

5 day dresses - 4 without sleeves

3 maxi dresses

2 evening dresses

0 cropped jackets

0 trench coat

1 overcoat

Not quite the same as the first list and I do believe some of the remaining items will end up going too, but I think it is a pretty good start.  Not sure if I will add in the white shirts or the cropped jackets, but I do like the idea of the trench coat.  I may have to get sewing again.

If only I could go thru hubby's clothes like this!

Vege Garden Update

Well the seeds I put in for Broccoli and Lettuce are really doing well.  They are both getting tall (should they do this?) but have yet to get their first set of real leaves.  I am still waiting on the arrival of my tomato seedlings.

I really need to weed out the front yard beds - but I can't be bothered!!  This is not a good way to be for someone who is trying to be a tiny bit self sufficient.  I keep coming up with excuses - too cold/wet/windy - BUT I really need to get to it SOON.  Otherwise I will have seedlings and no where to put them.

The Potatoes are snug in their bags and showing no sign of growing up just yet.

On another note - Hubby is home for the next 2 weeks.  The company he works for has no work for a lot of their staff.  He works on constructions sites - the last site he was on had 25 guys sacked!!  Some were with the company for over 20 years.  Things will be a bit tight here for a while me thinks.

Carrots

Just pulled up the last of the carrots that were planted AAAGES ago.  Every single one of them is puny beyond belief.  There is 1 or 2 that may be fit for people to eat - I'm thinking dog food for the rest.

Watered the potatoes - locked my self out of the house and had to go get the spare key - thank goodness the last person to use it had put it back.  No sign of spuds growing much yet.

Checked the other seeds in their mini hot house.  The lettuce is coming up and so is the broccoli (they're towards the back).

Bought a long trough to transplant the lettuce into once it gets big enough.  Need some more potting mix to do this.  Still waiting on the tomato seedlings to arrive.


Yesterday being Sunday was Joyday.  So I took the day to start making a new dress to wear to a weeding we are going to in 3 weeks.  The fabric I have is a mid-grey with cream spots satin.  The dress pattern  was a bit small, but I figured with my sewing skills I could up-size it to fit.  Cut it all out adding in extra fabric where I thought I needed it.  Sewed up the bodice - includes a wrap-shawly collar.  Thought I had better see if this will fit.  So chucked it on and got eldest to see if it would do up in the back.  Noooo, it won't!  Boo Hoo.  So back to the fabric store for more fabric and the larger pattern...  This is what I get for not buying the correct size pattern in the first place.

I have visions in my head of this being a really nice dress. 

Plantings

Yesterday I bought some straw, manure and seed raising mix for this seasons vege patch.  Today I potted up, in an egg carton mind you, some seeds for Tomatoes, Capsicum, Broccoli and Lettuce.  The carton is sitting in my mini greenhouse with the lid on.  There's not much to show, so no pics.

I have also bagged up my potatoes.  5 bags with 2 potatoes each, 8 are the Nicola variety and the other 2 are Cream spuds.  These 2 are from the supermarket, so I will see what happens with them.  The others are certified seed spuds. 

Interesting about potatoes - they say you HAVE to use certified seed spuds in order to grow disease free produce.  The company I bought them from is heavy into Heirloom seeds - those that are free polinated without any genetic mods, etc.  You'd think spuds would be the same deal.  Surely in this day and age the spuds you buy at the supermarket would be disease free?  Hhhmmm   Now to put them in a sunny spot in the front yard.

I will also be re-doing the 4 vege beds out the front for pumpkins, zucchini, the broccoli, tomato and capsicum seedlings.  I also have another $4 upside down container for tomatoes.  This I will be using for Tigrella variety....  Just bought 3 seedlings - they should arrive late this week or early next week.  I also bought some corn seeds - will try those up against the fence in the backyard - hopefully the dogs will leave them alone.....

MMMM Caake...

Found a new recipe the other day and so far have made it three times in the past 2 weeks.  It's a whole orange cake.

Very rich, not too orangey with a crsip outside.  Would be really nice iced - if I could be bothered and could keep the vultures, um family, away from it long enough.

The recipe came from a book I purchased after seeing there were 28 people waiting to get their hands on it at my local library.  The books called Down to Earth and was written by a Queensland lady called Rhonda Hertzel.  You can read her blog here - probably find the recipe too.  She talks about all sorts of things relating to trying to live a simpler life.

So back the cake.  The first one I made was with 2 mandarins that were in desperate need of being eaten.  Popped them in the food processor and set it going, and going, and going.  My food processor does not have a chop blade, only a mix blade so it took some time for the mandies to be in small enough bits.  Added the eggs, butter, sugar and flour and set processor to mix again.  Turn the mix out into a lined and greased loaf tin, cooked for 35 minutes.  Deliciously mandarin taste.

Then next one was a pineapple one - used some left over crushed pineapples.  Also nice with a slight pinapple flavour.

This lastest one, the orange one, has butter that I actually measured - I didn't measure with the other two - not margarine which I used for the other 2.  I also used the blender to break down the orange not the food processor.  I think is too buttery, so next time I will cut down on the amount used.