Homemade, Handmade, Vintage or Repurposed - My Gift Challenge

Last weekend I received one of the most thoughtful and unique presents from my lovely brother- and sister-in-law. I loooove cheese, so they gifted me with this cute-as print above and a small wheel of the most delicious French cheese. Ever.

It stunk out their car on the way to our house, but seriously, it was worth it. Particularly for me, because I wasn't actually in the car. And admittedly, when they first handed me the package I thought, "Why are they buying me manure?"

Anyway, these guys give really thoughtful presents all the time and it has inspired me to a challenge. Every gift I buy for the rest of the year needs to be either:

Homemade (by me or someone in this family)

Handmade (by an independent maker/fair trade/market stall)

Vintage (pretty self-explanatory)

Repurposed/Recycled (either by me or someone else)

I think it's actually going to prove quite difficult, but I'm hoping it will also be super fun and allow me to get creative. Only drawback is it really requires organisation on my part, and when it comes to gifts, that is something I sorely lack.

Case in point: I had the idea to do a cross-stitch for Sparky for Christmas. It's the logo of one of his old favourite bands from back in the day (Swedish punk - super fun!) and while I started back in October, this is where it currently stands:

Wonky and only half finished. And it's not through lack of trying - I spend a couple of nights a week stitching away on this thing, it's just so. time. consuming. Maybe it will be finished for next Christmas.

So I have tonnes of ideas, I just have to, you know, act on them.

And first things first, we have Easter coming up. So I'm going to brainstorm some sweet handmade/homemade Easter gifts for my nieces and nephews. I'll let you know what I come up with.

Meat-free Monday, on a Tuesday: Zucchini Pasta

source

This is one of mine and Sparky's all-time favourite easy vege meals. We would eat this at least once a fortnight because it's simple, quick, tasty and relatively cheap.

You'll need:


3-5 anchovies (optional, but highly recommended. you don't have chunks of anchovy floating around, it just gives a beautiful saltiness to the sauce)
1-2 red chillis or chilli flakes (optional)
olive oil
garlic
kalamata olives
capers
3-4 good sized zucchinis, grated
pasta (fusilli is good for this but any short pasta is a-ok)
parmesan
salt and pepper

1. Heat olive oil in a pan and add the garlic, chilli and anchovies. Break the anchovies up with a wooden spoon.

2. Once the anchovies have broken down (a minute or two) add a couple of tablespoons of capers and a couple of good handfuls of olives. Cook for a couple of minutes.

3. Add some extra olive oil, salt and pepper. Add your grated zucchini to the hot pan and saute for a couple of minutes.

4. Drain your pasta and toss into the zucchini sauce. Stir to coat.

5. Serve with some extra olive oil, salt, pepper and a good bit of parmesan.

Seriously, so so good.

Weekend = Work + Fun

Sorry for the lack of post yesterday - it's taken a bit of extra time to get over what was a massive, yet wonderful weekend. IKEA, bed construction, turf laying, dinner hosting, cuddles = Saturday.

Backyard Before.

Backyard After Turf.

Cuddles!

Sunday we got free tickets to the zoo so decided at the last minute to make the trip in. So so so glad we did. It was such a pleasure spending the day as a family wandering around the zoo. Fresh air, lots of sprinkly showers (meant it wasn't too busy) puddles to splash in, ammools to see. It was memory-making magic.

Happy-Making: Flashmobs

I love a good flashmob. In fact, Sparky tells me that I'm like Cameron from Modern Family, "It's one of my life's ambitions to be in a flash mob," and I tend to agree with him aside from the fact that I am a straight lady.

I get all weepy and goosebumpy watching the good ones, and only mind a little bit that they're getting all corporatised.

This Bondi one is cute and I love love loved the bus driver birthday flashmob in Denmark.

Anyways, we've got a massive weekend planned around these parts. A trip to IKEA, 60 square metres of turf to lay, catching up with the outlaws, maybe some painting...

I sincerely hope your weekend is filled with fabulousity. xx

3 Quick Things To Do This Weekend

Recycle aluminium foil, or, you know, make an elephant out of your scraps.

As you know, I'm all about the "do what you can do, when you can do it" mentality. So here's 3 quick tips you can try this weekend, that actually do make a big difference over time:

1. If you take money out at the ATM, say no to a receipt. Over a year, this really adds up. (Just look at the contents of my purse for proof!)

2. Clean your dryer's lint filter. Apparently a clean filter means it takes 30% less power for your dryer to run (and if you've had damp and humid weather like us recently, that is very good news.)

3. Use al-foil instead of cling wrap. You can recycle al-foil in your council pick-up (just make sure it's relatively clean of food scraps and squish it into a ball so the sorters can find it.) If you want to know what else you can recycle in your council area, check this site out.

Easy-peasy!

Imagine

Vege garden from It's Complicated. Swoon! (Seriously. I'm so lame. I watched this movie three times to perve on the garden and interior design.)

OK, confession time. When I do the ironing, I like to geek it up and listen to podcasts on my iPhone. It makes a fairly boring task enjoyable, and I get to catch up on gardening podcasts, as well as listen to some awesome lectures.

The other day I was listening to some of last years' TED talks and came across one by Rachel Botsman. It was all about the idea of sharing and how she believed the way of the future was in shared knowledge and shared belongings as opposed to hyper-consumerism (her words, paraphrased poorly, I'm afraid).

How cool would it be if everyone in your suburban block grew one type of produce (herbs, tomatoes, apples, lettuce, leeks, whatever) in addition to anything else they may wish or have time to grow. Then, every couple of weeks you have a produce swap. You take some herbs and some eggs, some leeks and some kale and swap them for bundles of juicy tomatoes, or cucumbers, zucchinis, whatever.

If I let my imaginative and entrepreneurial brain run away from me I see a co-op, rows of homegrown produce, huge tubs of bulk staples and a program for renting out your underused domestic items.

Did you know that on average, a domestic power drill is used less than an hour its entire life? To quote Rachel again:

"You need the hole, not the drill!"

What if co-op members stored their drills, saws and other bits and pieces at the co-op and rented them to other members for a small fee? Make a little bit of cash from the things you own but use really infrequently. Cool.

Pardon my idealistic ramblings here. I've just had this idea rattling around in my brain for a while and thought it might do some good to get a little air on it.

Plus, I got doubly excited about it again when my sister told me about this local business called Healthy Harvest who are starting a shared farming program in the Blue Mountains. I think it's in testing phase this year and looking to go bigger next autumn.

I love that people are finding solutions to problems by looking outward, finding other people who feel similarly to them. Gives me the warm and fuzzies!

Project Compost: A Handy Tip

Raindrop from Life is a Pea

Lovely reader Sweet Pea of Life is a Pea contacted me recently about a possible solution to my can't-compost-weeds problem.

"in the past I have recycled weeds by placing into a 20litre bucket with a tight fitted lid. Covering weeds well with water. Stir whenever you remember, keep stored in a cool and if possible covered space. Eventually the weeds will break down almost completely to a mush. The resulting liquid makes a great tea with which to liquid fertilize your plants...make sure you dilute first. Good luck!"

I will absolutely be trying this over the coming weeks. After all this rain we've had an explosion of weedy growth (who am I kidding?! it's always weedy around here!) and I plan to tackle the weeding/feeding/mulching sometime soon.

I'll be sure to let you know how we go too.

Thanks Sweet Pea!! x

How Does Your Garden Grow?

The weekend just gone was a really insanely wet one, and I think it was only by sheer determination that I got outside and did a little bit in the garden. My rain jacket got a workout, put it that way, but it made me oh-so-ridiculously-happy.

I planted a flapjack in the chamberpot. It looked a lot healthier at the nursery, so I don't have high hopes for it, but we'll see how it fares.

I also dug up the liriope from the garden, where we plonked it about a year ago. We knew nothing about gardening then (still know very little now) and thought it was a native. It's not. And it would also take over the garden if we left it there, so out she came. I divided it into two and put it into two old pots though, which will go to the front deck.

We have a long, empty stretch of garden bed where my beautiful lavenders died off late last year (the shame!!). Too much water then not enough water meant very sad plants. We're not entirely sure what to put there yet, so rather than waste money I decided to throw a few snapdragon seeds in there for some winter flowers. I merrily emptied the packet in the turned soil and watered in well. Then I read the packet and saw that I had just planted 1500 snapdragon seeds. 1500! If it's not a spectacular display of colour then I will feel mightily ripped off. Of the 1500 I'd expect at least 12 of those seeds to give me some flowers. That's what I get for gardening in the semi-dark at 7:30 on Saturday night though, I guess!

Meat-free Monday: Quesadillas are good for a Friday. Written on a Tuesday.

My own (read: bastardised) version of Sally's delicious vege quesadillas. So awesomely awesome for a Friday night spent drinking porter and watching Arrested Development. Rock and/or roll.

1. Grate up your vegies of choice. Or whatever remains in the fridge at the time of cooking. We used squash, zucchini, corn, carrot and sweet potato. 


*Awesome side-note: leave the skin on your carrot, sweet potatoes etc. Much of the fibre and goodness in these vegies is in the skin. And you can't taste any difference. (Wash them first of course.)

2. Olive oil and garlic in a pan. Let them do their thing for a second.

3. Throw in your vegies and give them a good ten minutes. Stir occasionally.

4. Add half a can of refried beans (I know! Really though.) A full can is pretty salty so we cut down on account of the little one. Give it another few minutes.


5. Take a tortilla (we use wholegrain - you feel virtuous while eating, it's great) and spread some of the vegie mix over half of it. Sprinkle with grated cheese and fold in half. Repeat for as many as you need.

6. Heat some oil in a frypan. Pop the tortillas in the pan one or two at a time. Fry on one side for 2-3 minutes and flip to the other side. Cook for another minute or two.

7. Serve with guacamole and sour cream.

Delish.

** Quick guacamole: 1-2 avocadoes mashed up, 1-2 tomatoes diced up, a squeeze of lemon juice and some salt and pepper. Mix together. Deliciousness in a bowl. We have it on toast regularly.

We would have this at least once every three weeks. Its cheap because you can use up your left over vegies and it's healthy. Win-win.

Chamberpot Madness

So Saturday we made our way in the rain (seriously, crazy amounts of rain here. crazy) back to Dave's Furniture Bargains in Windsor, and my beautiful chamber pot was still there! Score 1 for the Brooke.

Unfortunately, it was $25. Score 1 for the Dave.

We bought it anyway. Score 2 for the Dave.

The Dave wins.

We have since decided that garage sales need to be part of our life. No-one is going to charge you $25 for a chamberpot at a garage sale.

And here endeth the lesson.

Get Out!

Get. Out.

They were my exact words when our wonderful cousins gifted us with this most amazing Jason Wing painting over the weekend.

Get. Out.

In other, less aggressive news, we had a wonderful, wet weekend. There was some gardening, a long drive, we visited the farm in Richmond to buy our fruit and veges and Sparky moved the three cubic metres of topsoil to prep for the turf next weekend. (Just a note: three cubic metres is a lot of soil.) I also managed to undercoat all the trim in the laundry, we played in the rain with Isy and we made French toast, vegetable quesadillas, lamb pot roast and chocolate brownies (not all at once).

Simple, yet really enjoyable. Maybe the Lav. Experiment is having a beneficial effect on this ol' stress-head?

Happy-Making: Campfires

There's something truly hypnotic about campfires. Whenever Sparky and I go camping I'm the one who is all, "Is it time to light the fire yet? Really? Just because it's 11am, I can't light the fire and sit around it and drink red wine? Are you sure?" I even remember having quite an argument with Sparky after we tried (and failed) to light a campfire in. the. rain. I got quite emotional. In my defence, I was pregnant.

Camping is absolutely one of my favourite things to do. It's just so damn relaxing. The toughest decisions of the day are based around food, fire, beverages and marshmallows. What's not to like?! This is so what I'd like to be doing this weekend:

Instead, we just received a delivery of 3 cubic metres of topsoil that needs to be shifted to the backyard and laid down where the slab used to be. We're turfing next weekend so we need to get it sorted tomorrow. So Saturday is all about the shovel, shovel, shovel, push wheelbarrow, dump, rake, rake, rake. Rinse and repeat. I'd also like to do some more paint prep but we shall see. I'd also really love love love to do something garden related, as I feel the autumn planting season slipping away from me, but I should probably just fertilise the plants we have. (Remember, the beginning and end of the footy season are the ideal times to prune, fertilise and mulch your native garden. Just make sure you use a native-friendly fertiliser.)

Hopefully Sunday we can go for a drive and see some lovely people, drink some coffee, maybe go for a walk. There's some easy bushwalks around here that we've never done, so we'll see.

Hope you have a fabulously wonderful weekend!! x

It's Time... Organic Mascara, Here I Come!

Sorry for the break in transmission, folks. The smalls have been sick with colds this week and we're all feeling a bit under the weather. I plan on picking up some Olive Leaf Extract over the weekend to see if we can boost our immune systems before winter. Ergh.

Anyway, my trusty tube of Natio Black Mascara is about to run out, and as I mentioned a while ago ,I've been on the hunt for an organic or natural mascara for aaages. So it's time. I've done a bit of reading and decided to buy a Miessence Organic Mascara. I'm inordinately excited!

There are actually quite a lot of products out there, which is nice to see. They each seem to have a similar list of ingredients, with minerals providing the colour and jojoba oil and other essential oils helping to condition the lashes. There were a few that included almond oil which is a no-go for me (gives me itchy eyes) but the Miessence looks the goods.

I'll be sure to let you know how I go!

Crafty Tutorial: Pom Pom Wall Garland

A while ago I mentioned how enamoured I was with pompom garlands, and over the past few weeks I've been slowly working on my own version. I finished the mini one last night and thought I'd share a quick how-to (they're super dooper easy though - you may not need a how-to!) and some of photos.

You'll need:

- a few balls of wool
- some scrap cardboard
- a compass or various sized tins/drinking glasses
- scissors
- time

1. Using the compass or tins or glasses, trace two large circles on the cardboard, with two smaller circles inside. Ensure that the smaller circles are in the exact centre so you get nice, even pompoms.

2. Cut out the outside circle, and then the inside circle on each of your pieces of cardboard. This should leave you with two cardboard doughnut-type shapes. They don't have to be beautiful, don't worry!

3. Chase your little helper around and retrieve your cardboard rings.

4. Measure out a length of wool (I usually do about three armlengths at a time, to stop it from getting too tangled) and start wrapping the ring.

5. Keep doing this.

6. And doing this.

7. Until you can do it no more, or until the wool won't fit through the middle of the ring.

8. Using sharp scissors, separate the wool to find the cardboard rings and carefully cut the wool, making sure your scissors stay in between the two rings. Cut all the way around.

9. Cut a length of wool and wrap it around the centre of the pompom (between the two rings) several times. Tie it off nice and tight. Be sure to have enough length on the wool to be able to form the garland later.

10. Carefully cut the cardboard rings off the wool and remove them.

11. Trim any long bits of wool, fluff up your pompom and presto!

12. Repeat for as many pompoms you would like, or for however many episodes of Kell on Earth you wish to watch.

13. Using the lengths of wool attached to each pompom, tie them together in whatever way you wish, leaving some extra length at each end of the garland to attach it to your hook/nail.

14. String it up and admire your handiwork.

There's something cozy about these little fluff balls, cozy and homely. I'm working on a bigger one for maybe one of the hallways or our bedroom, not sure yet. Maybe both.

Meat-free Monday: Carrot and Zucchini Fritters

Here at Lavender HQ, we're trying to cut down on our weekly grocery spend, and one way we're doing this is by eating one or two extra meat-free meals a week. Not only is meat one the priciest parts of our weekly shop, but it also adds to the footprint of our groceries too. (But budget is the main factor here, let's be honest).

These carrot and zuchini fritters sound really, really bland and boring but to be honest we all enjoyed them. Isy even ate a couple, which is a bonus. Plus, they're a super easy, one bowl-one pan wonder.

source

You need: 


1 carrot, coarsely grated
1 zucchini, coarsely grated
a handful frozen peas
1 tsp ground cumin
pinch of salt
1 tbs chopped fresh herbs (we used parsely)
1 beaten egg
2 tbs flour

(Greek yoghurt and coriander, to serve)


Mix all the ingredients together. Heat a few tablespoons of vege oil in a pan and drop tablespoonfuls of the mixture into the hot oil. Gently fry for 2-4 minutes, flip and cook until golden and cooked through. Drain on paper towel.


Serve with yoghurt and coriander.

We also had ours with some veges or salad. Seriously satisfying. And I didn't expect it to be.

Renovation Nation: Slow progress is still progress, right?

Such a lovely weekend, if not a little hectic. I had a fantabulous birthday (thank you for the birthday wishes!! X) with some shopping time to be had, some coffee to be drunk and the most amazing meal I've ever had, at Como. In short, I was spoilt.

Then we spent Sunday painting the first part of the house exterior, in preparation for the water tanks to go in later this week. Crazy, right? We spent a day painting the house only to have it covered permanently by water tanks! 

At least it meant we had to finally decide on a colour for the outside of the house. We went with Gracieux from Wattyl. A nice, soft grey. And for the record, the white trim isn't finished - that's only the undercoat. I'm not that dodgy a painter!!

 

Then this morning, bright and very very early (sorry neighbours) the excavator turned up to remove the slab. Finally, I feel we're making progress again!

We'll probably turf the area this weekend or next, just to keep it tidy til spring when we sort out the gardens/vege patch.

We were going to get the deck done soon, but our dear friends the Bank are engaging in some douchebaggery and we may need to do the kitchen first. Will find out more later this week. Not to worry, it's all fun and games. And, really, good problems to have.

I hope you had lovely, productive weekends yourselves? x

Happy-Making

The smell of freshly-baked banana bread and the knowledge that tomorrow is my birthday. Yay squared!

The weekend holds for us: hanging out as an awesome foursome, shopping, birthday dinner, painting (of course. but this time, it's the outside of the house, which is a novel turn), coffee and at least one walk around my newest favourite walking track near the lagoon.

Hope your weekend is just as fun! x

Second-Hand Clothing Store Score!

Vintage is a catchier phrase than "second-hand clothing", I'm sure you'd agree, but there is not much vintage about the amazing finds I had at our local vintage/retro/second-hand clothing store during the week.

I have a kid swap with one of my sisters that gives each of us a few hours smalls-free once a fortnight. It's awesome. Just a few hours to ourselves, to go for a walk, have a coffee, read the paper, browse the shops - whatever.

Anyway, I found three great tops and one brand new dress for $40. Colour me stoked! Check it out:

mustard blouse = $9

cliche, yes, but i really, truly love stripes. sucker for stripes. plus this tee was only $6.

brand new dress = $17. looks frumpy off but cute on.

apple print top from wesc (one of my favourite labels) = $8. so chuffed.

I also found a couple of glass jars at the local Vinnies for the princely sum of $2.50. These are going straight to the laundry to hold my washing soda and bicarb soda.

'Cause I'm rock and roll like that.