I'm in Love!!!

I'm in love with my car Gerni 110.2! Freddy Mercury eat your heart out.

I've had my eye on this little baby for a while now. Did a bit of research and decided that 1400W of pure, awesome cleaning power was EXACTLY what I needed. Long hose, long wand, enough attachments to keep the boredom of cleaning at bay and light enough to move around without the need to lift weights for five years beforehand. Gerni has a metal motor which means it can be repaired rather than scrapped and is a wholly owned Australian company to boot! Ticks ALL my repurposing/shopping local/sustainability loving boxes.

Last summer it rained. A lot. All the time. As a result the pavers which have the house surrounded are now mostly covered with a dark green coloured mildew/moss/mould/alien growth and are patiently waiting surrender by the inhabitants. (Some may say it's Army Green which would work in perfectly with my theory that the pavers are dressing in army camouflage in order to lay an ambush. This would also explain why the cat has taken to walking across the roof rather than the pavers.)

Now that the dog has moved on to greener pastures and summer is just around the corner I thought I'd spruce up the pavers/general outdoor area in preparation for the bbq/pool party season. So after a morning coffee with Bob & Cynthia I popped into the auto shop on the way home (who would have thought you could buy high pressured cleaning gear in a male dominated domain???) and picked one up. I got a bargain!! Not only was the price reduced to under $200, it came with a handy dandy attachment thingy with a spinning arm designed especially for cleaning pavers. Blow me down! Gerni must have women/men who realise that women use Gerni's/magic, mind-reading elves working in their design department!

So with a spring in my step and high hopes I set off to repel and conquer the invading army. OH MY LORDY!! With a simple wave of the wand the pavers emerged one by one shaking off the shackles of inhibiting mould and emerging fresh and rejuvenated. *Sigh* I love my Gerni.

Death - The Final Farewell

Death. The culmination of the cycle of physical life for every living organism on this planet. A natural, integral part of existence. Yet one of the most difficult to experience and be at peace with.

I've encountered death over my 45 years in this lifetime. Pets, friends and relatives but I was witness to the actual death process for the very first time a few days past.

4 months ago we adopted The Hubby's Mum's dog. She was moving into a retirement unit and didn't have the capacity to house and care for her large dog anymore. So we offered to care for her beloved Lucy who was becoming quite frail herself at 13 yo. Over the weekend Lucy's health deteriorated dramatically and on Monday the vet visited her and it was decided that Lucy was in a lot of pain, could barely walk anymore and had lived to her fullest potential.

I had decided beforehand that I would sit with Lucy until her very end so that someone she knew cared for her would be with her. The vet was very gentle and kind. He explained exactly what was happening as we went along and suggested gently a few times that he was happy to be with her if I felt I couldn't stay.

I witnessed her last breaths and surrounded her with all the love I could summon. It was one of the most profound and touching moments of my life. It was gentle, peaceful and dignified. A fitting transition for a fine, grand dame who had brought many years of companionship, happiness and love to The Hubby's Mum.

♥

Dearest Lucy,

I know that you are resting and are no longer in pain.

I know that you have brought love into your carer's lives.

I know that you are at peace.

I know that you will be missed.

I send you love.

I bid you a Final Farewell.

♥

Roast Chicken and Vegetables

Roasted Chicken

I sit here sipping on my chai tea ruminating over what was one of the most awesome roast meals I have cooked to date. Start with one fabulous chicken allowed to roam free with the wind in it's feathers chasing insects, scratching in the dirt, swallowing grubs and everything else required for a heavenly chickeny existence. Let it grow to a healthy size 18 and then sell it to me. For the extremely tiny price of $12. Local primary producers now occupy a serious chunk of my food loving heart.

Now take your free range, organic chicken and rub some soft, creamy butter over and under the breast skin of this gorgeous bird and run your hands over her legs as well. Cut an Aussie bush lemon in half and see if you can fit into the cavity. (A simpler and just as tasty version of Jamie Oliver's Perfect Roast Chicken.) If not, no matter, slice it into chunks and put in as much as you can. Gently place her onto a rack inside a roasting dish. I don't have a roasting rack.... I just use a cake cooling rack. Let her steam in a 200 deg C oven for 1hr 20 minutes. After the hen has been in the oven for 20 minutes I like to add in the vegetables and let them cook for a good hour.

Tonight I excelled myself and made real gravy like Mum and Grandma used to. Brown 2 tblsp of plain flour in a hot, dry frypan. Add in the juices from the roasting pan while continuously stirring so that no lumps form. Skim off the fat because it won't blend in. Season it with salt and pepper to taste. Bring the gravy to the boil and let it simmer for 3-4 minutes until the flour cooks. Taste the gravy. When it's ready you can't taste the flour.

Serve this glorious, fresh, delicious food at your table. Grab your fork and tuck in!

Grass Fed, Free Range Beef on the BBQ

*Edited 10/1/2013

Quite a while ago I reluctantly stopped ordering from Happy Cows Butchery. I loved their product, the pricing was very reasonable and their service was excellent. The only problem was the delivery service.

Chill Refrigerated Couriers were contracted for the delivery. I ordered through Qld Natural Beef and Happy Cows Butchery 3 times. Every time I had problems with the courier. Every time the problems could have been rectified with a simple phone call. The very first time there was a problem the courier was efficient and called through to say the delivery would be delayed. Easily dealt with.

The second time the manager rang to say it would be more convenient for them to delivery my order on Monday morning rather than Saturday and quoted a delivery time of between 10am and 12noon. I happily agreed as I did not require the meat for the weekend and it wouldn't inconvenience me. Unfortunately, the meat was not delivered at the quoted time. At 1pm I rang to enquire about the whereabouts of the delivery. It transpired that the delivery driver had no information about a specific delivery time. I was on his delivery list but he couldn't give me even an approximate time of when the delivery would be made. I eventually received it at 4pm.

The third time a delivery was expected I stayed at the house on Saturday morning to receive the order while the rest of the family went about their regular activities. The day came and went with no delivery and no phone call. I eventually contacted the butcher who had also not been informed that my order would not be delivered. To say I was livid would be an understatement. We contacted the couriers and the order was eventually received late Monday afternoon.

I rang the butcher and explained that while I loved their product and service, the courier had let them down and I wouldn't be placing any more orders. I then emailed Chilled Refrigeration informing them that their delivery service had failed a family business and they were the sole reason I wouldn't place more orders. I didn't receive any reply.

Unfortunately, the Happy Cows Butchery were unable to secure an alternate refrigerated delivery service. Sadly, It appears they are no longer offering their product online.

Edit:

Qld Natural Beef is now owned and operated by the butcher who worked with the company. The new name is:

The Happy Cows Butchery

That picture is seriously fun and cute!

*****************************************************************

I placed my very first order with Qld Natural Beef and had it delivered yesterday in time for a BBQ last night. We decided to throw Tbone steaks and sausages on the barbie.

I can't describe to you how much flavour there was in this beef. It was tender, it was beautiful. The sausages were out of this world. Melt in your mouth I've gone to heaven and I'm not coming back goodness.

I'll explain how it all works.

This is a family run farm. The cattle are grass fed free range. The way they are naturally meant to be. The family uses a local butcher and sells their beef themselves so they can trace exactly what has happened to the beef through the entire process.

The online ordering process is simple, easy to navigate and easy to use. There is a $15 delivery fee so I decided to clear out the freezer and place a bulk order. I ordered 17 kg of meat/chicken/bacon for the princely sum of $225.00 That averaged out to $13/kg. This is included a 2.5kg bulk pack of Tbone steak for $45. As a comparison... the local butcher/supermarket sells Tbone steak for $20-$25 a kg. The local organic butcher sells it for $50 a kg!!!

Some more comparative pricing:

Sausages from the local organic butcher $9/500g - I paid $8/kg

Organic Chicken Thighs from the local organic butcher $14/500g and Organic Chicken Thighs from Coles Supermarket $14/kg- I paid $13/kg

I think there is a pattern/trend emerging. I'm happy to pay a little more for a good quality product (in Coles's case it was less!!) but I refuse to pay such astronomical prices and have believed all along that there must be a cheaper option. Now I've found it. Even taking into account the delivery price, I paid less for beef/chicken/bacon that I would at the local supermarket/butcher. The quality is better, the flavour is better and I'm supporting local primary producers, reducing my carbon footprint and providing quality, healthy food at my table.

I would urge everyone to keep searching, keep looking for information. Primary producers are recognising that people are looking for an alternative and are starting to provide it. If at all possible, talk to primary producers. Tell them what you want. Get your family and friends together and approach them to see if they will supply a bulk order. It is worth the effort.

Possibly The Best Birthday of All Time

It was my birthday. On Wednesday. I had the best birthday I could ask for. Let me explain.

Every time it rolls around to a Birthday/Christmas/other culturally gift-giving appropriate occasion I get the same question. What do you want? What can I buy you? You know what? I don't want anything. I have all I want and need. What I'd rather you give me is a wonderful meal, great conversation, laughter, an enjoyable outing and beautiful memories.

The Hubby delivered. Big time. Let me describe my day to you.

It started with Birthday greetings and hugs from The Hubby and our beautiful children! The Hubby had decided to give me a gift. A beautiful, thoughtful gift. I'm a creative person. I love beautiful things. I particularly love red, metallic colours and dark neutral colours. He knows this. Because he cares enough to pay attention. There was a beautiful card. Black. With a red satin ribbon and small bow framing a picture of the bust of a woman dressed in 1920's clothing with feathers in her hair. The picture was red and silver on a black background. Beautiful to behold.

It accompanied a bottle of champagne. Very special French champagne. You see, today is our wedding anniversary. We were married 11 years ago, 2 days after my 34th birthday. The Brilliant Hubby decided that a bottle of Moet and Chandon would be perfect. He tried specifically for a 2000 vintage - the year we were married, but had to settle for a 2002 vintage. Who's complaining? Not me!! This was a fabulous gift. It was carefully thought over and lovingly selected. By someone who cared enough to give me a gift that was meaningful.

This was followed by great coffee and croissants for breakfast with our family all together. The rest of the day was spent in a peaceful, relaxing way enjoying each other's company and doing things together. Dinner was Indian takeaway from our local, family owned Indian restaurant that prepares the most delicious food!

You can't buy a day like that. It's created. With love. Thank you Sweetheart for a most perfect day.

How to Iron A Business Shirt in Less Than 2 Minutes!

I hate ironing. It's a long standing, well known fact in my family that Vicki detests ironing.

I just don't see the point in smoothing out wrinkles in clothing that only reappear as soon as it's worn and laundered. Then you have to iron it. AGAIN!!!! Madness. Complete and utter madness.

I'll let you in on a secret. I detest ironing so much that when I used to wear a suit to work I only ever ironed the front of my shirts!! The back and sleeves never saw the heat of an iron. ;) I look at everything that might need ironing. If I figure that those wrinkles will return as soon as the wearer puts on a coat/pulls on a seat belt/sits on the train for half an hour then I don't iron it. I hang it up just as it is.

So I give to you Vicki's Complete Guide to Ironing for those who would rather be cruising the Caribbean, sipping coffee or creating their next masterpiece.

1. Make sure that as much clothing you buy/borrow/make/receive as possible is made with non-iron fabric.
2. If you wear business shirts and can't get them in non-iron fabric get ones with well stiffened collar and cuffs. You'll never have to iron a collar or cuff again!
3. Launder them gently. And I do mean gently. Use the gentle cycle on the washing machine with a slow spin if you have the option. A regular wash and a fast spin will have those long sleeves tangled around everything within a 30 metre radius creating even more wrinkles.
4. Use the dryer. Horror!! I know!! Let me tell you why I use my dryer. It costs the same to run the dryer as to run the cook top/oven. I use the dryer only for clothes that need ironing and use small items to fill it up to a full load. Don't dry a small load. It's uneconomical... says so right there in the instruction manual. Which I read and then promptly put in a safe place. Somewhere. I think.
   
   Anyway. I'll let you in on another deep, dark secret. I never iron the kid's school uniforms. EVER. Wash them, give them a really good shake out and then put them through the dryer. Shake them again and hang them up while they are still warm. NO wrinkles. Do the same with microfibre clothing. And business shirts. Some shirts will actually not need ironing. Swear to God. And the ones that do need ironing can be ironed in under 2 minutes. You know why? Because they aren't wrinkled to buggery by the washing machine and then have the wrinkles baked in by the sun. Using the dryer saves me about 2 hours ironing every week. That's about 100 hours a year. 100 hours!! That's more than two whole working weeks.
   
   Now let's do the sums. It costs about 50c for a dryer load which takes about an hour. It costs about 20c an hour to run the iron. If I hang all the pj's, trackies etc, I use the dryer for about 2 loads a week costing $1. I can save two hours ironing a week which would cost 40c. Using the dryer costs me a total of about 60c a week. That's $30 a year to save 100 hours of work. That's 100 hours I don't have to spend doing something I hate. 100 hours I can spend doing something more productive and enjoyable.

Doing all the above has made ironing more manageable for me. I just ironed 8 business shirts in 15 minutes. You know how? Because they were hardly wrinkled and just needed a run over. And I didn't need to use any ironing aid spray or starch. Saving me more time and money. That's less than 2 minutes a shirt. I spend less than an hour a month ironing. Seriously!

And that, folks, is how I manage the ironing.

Self Sufficiency - An Urban Myth? or Why I Don't Think It's For Everyone

"Self Sufficiency" is the buzz. Grow your own fruit and vegetables, raise chickens, eat less meat, make your own everything.

Over time we've made the progression to a greener household. We have 12 solar panels on our roof feeding into the grid. They are designed so that if we move we can unclip them and take them with us. You won't find many harsh chemicals, food additives or the like in our house and lately it has become even more so as I've discovered a passion and joy for creating more of my own foods and goods.

The reality is though we will never be self sufficient. The Hubby isn't a gardener. He's an electrical engineer. He's a thinker and he loves physics. Not everyone is born to be a primary producer. Which is why communities moved away from self sufficiency in the beginning. Someone needs to build bridges, design new technology, run the government, provide our health care, install and maintain infrastructure, fly the planes, drive the trucks, maintain law and order, a myriad of other needed functions in society and in The Hubby's case plan and manage new infrastructure for communication systems (including faster and more reliable Internet connections).

On a typical work day The Hubby is gone at 7:30am and not home until 6:00pm. He's busy. I'm busy too. I have children to raise, cooking to do, along with all the laundry, cleaning, planning, shopping etc needed to keep the house and family running smoothly. There's no spare time to grow our own food and we don't want to. That's fair enough. I've been able to source plenty of local fresh produce, eggs and meats for our needs from primary producers who DO want grow their own and sell extra to people who prefer to fill other needed functions within our society.

Self Sufficiency isn't a total truth unless you don't have modern communications, don't drive a car or operate motorised machinery and make and produce absolutely everything you need in your life including fabrics, tools, utensils and the like. I think you can see my point. Not everyone on the planet can be completely self sufficient. Most of us rely on outside supply for something and we all possess different skill sets. That's how society and community operates. We support each other. It's pieces of a puzzle slotting together to form a whole picture.

I don't think self sufficiency is the answer. I think forming, linking and working with a local community works better. Let's focus on community, supporting local business and forming relationships within that framework.