Crafty Girl with Ruffle

B-Gerk! or should I say "Cheep"

I admit that I'm a bit of a crazy chook lady amongst other things.  In my earlier posts you might remember me talking about Chickie who we got last Christmas as a week old chick and is all grown up now. This is what she looked like a couple of weeks ago. 

When Chickie was about four months old we thought she might be lonely so these two cuties arrived on the scene....


But alas..... the black and white one ended up being a rooster which left us with "Long Neck" who is a lovely girl and more recently Penny whom I'm yet to photograph. 

All was coming along nicely in the hen house until Chickie decided it was time to reinforce the definition of 'Pecking Order'.  I thought I'd seen it all after 25 years in the workforce but no.  It was either move Chickie into another cage or have Long Neck pecked to death.  Noice huh?  Penny has since moved in with Long Neck and it has become a very harmonious share house.

Anyway, back to Chickie.  She started laying about three weeks ago, one egg a day and if she missed a day she'd lay two :).  It was all very exciting until one day last week I noticed she was sitting in her nesting box looking something like Chief Sitting Bull.




 



It took a few days, but I worked out that she is broody.  I tried everything to distract her, explained that she was far too young and should have fun and play the field - you know, have a gap year (and maybe lay a few more eggs).  But no.  Chief Sitting Bull remained glued to her nest squawking loudly at anyone who'd come near her.   So after giving it considerable thought, I decided to buy her a present........ eight fertilised eggs that she now has under her.



 
  We'll see what happens after three weeks which is how long it will take for the eggs to hatch.  So far she is doing a very good job of keeping the eggs warm ...... 
Chicks anyone?

 

The Best Easter Ever

We had a great break over Easter at Mt Pilot Tourist Farm.  This is our third visit and we love it more each time.  The Easter Bunny found us and hid eggs in the most amazing places.  He even left a bag of eggs for mum to hide outside when the dew dried up. 

Best of all.... look what we brought home for Chickie...............

 

Little Miss Ruffle Has Learnt to Knit (or should I say Panda)

After a morning of swimming lessons and catching up with Nikki,  Leah, Curly Pops, and many other talented peeps at the Made in Thornbury Community Market.  It was the perfect day for a market, fantastic activities for children (hence the Panda face) and the stalls were great.  However, once we were back home, Little Miss Ruffle was looking for more action.  We decided that learning to knit was the next activity.  She mastered the basics really quickly using a little rhyme:

In through the front door

Around the back

Out through the window
And off jumps Jack

It worked a treat.  However, after four rows Little Miss Ruffle declared she'd had enough.  Oh well.  Maybe tomorrow......

Little Miss Ruffle's First Sewing Project

Isn't it cute?  This is the first sewing project that has held Little Miss Ruffle's interest from start to finish.  We made this on the second week of school holidays.  She sewed on the buttons herself and stitched around the outside with almost no assistance from me.  The best thing about it is that she is keen to do more.  I would also like to teach her to use the sewing machine.  Is 7 too young to start to do you think?

Frugal is Cool, not Mean!

Frugal would have to be one of the most misunderstood words around.  I know I certainly didn't "get it" until recent years.  The word "Frugal" conjures up an image of a mean, tightfisted old man living amongst piles of newspapers that the neighbours talk about in whispers.   Or the work colleague who never contributes to morning teas or collections (but eats the most).  Please bear in mind that any example I use bears no resemblance to any real person.

Then I saw the light.......Frugal is fun, empowering and makes you happy.  Yes, its true.  It took me many years to work out that going shopping for nothing in particular only made me happy only whilst I was making the purchase, but it was only a short fix (this doesn't apply to craft material :)).  In actual fact, I used to dread the credit card bill at the end of the month.  To be honest, I couldn't even remember what I'd spent the money on!

Being frugal doesn't have to mean being a tightwad - quite the opposite.  You just need to rethink the way you do things and change gradually.  For example instead of bringing a shop bought cake for $10 to a morning tea, bake one the night before and bring it.  To do this would cost less than $1 and people love something  homemade.

I'm aware that this may sound daunting which is why it is important to make changes gradually. I remember talking to people of my Grandmother's generation who had very little materially, but were happy with their lives even though they had very little.  Material goods weren't as important as they are now.  I decided that I wanted to put this theory to the test.  I set a budget, checked out various websites such as Simple Savings .  The cost to join Simple Savings was $47 and $17 every year thereafter.  I baulked at the cost but decided to try it out anyway.  It was the best thing I ever did.  Simple Savings has a wonderful community of frugal, generous, environmentally conscious people who want to do more with less.  I started making the changes gradually, starting with menu planning and only going grocery shopping once a week.  The savings were enormous.  My fortnightly grocery bill went from $700 to  $300.  To be honest, I really didn't notice the difference and certainly don't feel like we are missing out.  The reward?   I don't have to work as much and get to spend more time doing things I enjoy including spending time with my friends and family whilst still being able to give nice gifts or help out a friend in need.  Here are my top 10 favourite Frugal Tips:

1. Draw up a Budget.  Yes, I know!  But it doesn't have to be complicated.  You need to know how much you spend.  This shouldn't take any more than an evening and it is time well spent (literally)!
2. Menu Plan -   Advertisers and retailers rely on consumers not being organised and therefore going for the most convenient, highly packaged and expensive option.  Have a detailed shopping list before going grocery shopping and check to see what you have in your pantry already.  Limit grocery shopping to once a week and stretch it out as long as you can.  Simple Savings  have some great tips on who to do this.
3. Have A Grocery Shopping Purse - This money should be used for Grocery Shopping and nothing else.  It hurts more to take cash from your wallet than using EFTPOS. 
4. Have a "No questions asked" allowance for yourself and your partner to spend on whatever you want - no questions asked.  We budget at about $60 a week.  Draw your allowance out of the bank on pay day.   You may exceed that allowance from time to time, but at least you have a benchmark.
5. Have a Holiday and Christmas Savings Account that is difficult to access ie. ING.  A credit free holiday is fantastic.  You should try it!
6. Take advantage of Internet Banking - I lurrrve internet banking.  Check out the Bpay code on your utilities bill (electricity, gas etc), work out what you pay for each utility for dividing the grand total by 26 or 52 or whenever you get paid and set up a fortnightly Bpay deduction to go to each utility provider for that amount.  Then you never have to worry about a bill again!  My utility bills are often in credit.  There are heaps of other ways to use internet banking.  Please e-mail me if you would like further info.
7. Think before you buy - an obvious one I know, but how often do we get caught up in the big purchasing moment? 
8. Make Do - In this day and age we think nothing of throwing something out and buying a new one because it supposedly faster, bigger, better, you name it!  You only have to look at hard waste in Melbourne to see what people throw out.  A perfect example is the TV.  Do you really need a Flat Screen TV when there is nothing wrong with the one you already own?
9. Take your Lunch to Work - This is one of my least favourite chores but you will save enough for a decent holiday at the end of the year!
10. Cook from Scratch - Go nude!  Not you, your food!   It will taste better and you will save money when not paying for packaging and convenience.  Use plastic, airtight containers for lunches instead of gladwrap and alfoil.  This applies to school lunches especially.  Tupperware have some great "nude food" storage options.
11. Just one more - Make your own cleaning products.  My favourites are Bicarbonate of Soda and Vinegar.  Sunlight Soap is great for cleaning the bathtub and bathroom sink (with a non scratch sponge).  To make your bathroom smell extra nice, put a couple of drops of essential oil on a cloth and wipe over the surfaces.  Not only does it clean, but it smells great.

Grandad Gar's Typewriter

I don't know about you (by you I mean anyone born before the mid 80's), but I was always fascinated by typewriters when I was a kid.  Throw in a bit of carbon paper and I was in heaven!  We had a big old typewriter under our house (an old Queenslander) in Brisbane.  My sister and I would spend hours down there playing with it.  Not sure where it came from, but I suspect that Dad found it at the tip.

My Grandfather was a Telegraph Operator at the then PMG (now Telstra and Australia Post) in Townsville in Northern QLD.  Grandad Gar used to ride his bike to work in the morning and had a typing speed of 100 words per minute.  When he retired, he bought an electric typewriter.  I used to write to Grandad once a fortnight and he would respond with a typewritten letter.  When Grandad passed away about 12 years ago, he left me his typewriter.  It lived in a box in the shed for many years as computers became more of a part of our lives.  It has moved from Brisbane to Canberra to Melbourne.   A couple of weeks ago  I thought that I'd search for the typewriter for Little Miss Ruffle.  As you can see, I found it and it has been a huge hit.  The typewriter still works perfectly and even has a spare ribbon.  I know that Grandad would be rapt to know that his Great Granddaughter was getting so much pleasure from his typewriter.  The challenge will be to find more typewriter ribbons.........