Dinner worked well tonight.
Pork casserole with apple and sage. The flavours all melded in together very nicely, and I have lots in the freezer for later too.
I am very glad I took tomorrow off work. I didn't realise just how exhausting carving a wooden spoon was going to be, today has been a bit of a write off due to a complete lack of energy.
I think today is going to be an
indoors day
Coles has done a surprisingly good job of the substitutions this week, and there is only one thing left out entirely (although I do question whether they truly had nothing that could substitute for the pack of chicken fillets, there should be many options available).
I spent nearly twice as much as normal this month, but I am going to be very well stocked up on dried fruit and nuts as well as buying some extra meat for bulk cooking. But for today I just have to muster the enthusiasm to carry everything inside and put it away.
They were very big on safety procedures and they also had cut resistant gloves. I did not cut myself or come anywhere close to doing so. I did however cut myself last night on a piece of dried chicken marinade baked onto a baking rack, so I think it's fair to say that washing the dishes is an inherently more dangerous endeavour than spoon carving.
It's the 'Rare Arts and Lost Trades' centre at Ballarat. It's next to Sovereign Hill, in what used to be the gold museum.
Behold, my $275 wooden spoon
Assembly was required. Fortunately there was an expert instructor and all tools required.
It started out as a chunk of firewood, then we used an axe and various carving tools to turn it into a spoon. The wood is from a nectarine tree. Once it has dried out fully in a few weeks time I can sand and oil it to finish it off.
It was rather hard work, and I am definitely cancelling tomorrows planned weightlifting session, as I am unlikely to be able to grip anything, let alone lift it.
I also got a bonus couple of garbage bags full of woodchips to put on the garden.
I am starting to seriously look at buying a house, however my enthusiasm for the process is about on a par with going to the dentist. I wish I could just pick a house out of an online catalogue and skip all of the tedious looking/inspecting/negotiating bit.
An assortment of pretzels and some fruit salad, please.
What the place really needs is a couple of moving billboards and a board advising of upcoming roadworks that scrolls through the information so you never manage to actually read it all. There's nothing like increasing the visual clutter on the roads to enhance safety.
I've had a good result with beetroot and a couple of other root vegies - I have a few beetroot ready to pull up now. I need to do some more planting, I haven't really gotten onto doing any of the leafy veg yet, but I keep intending to.
I've converted my front yard to be mostly edible plants, I think they are often underrated in how ornamental they can be.
University of Tasmania currently have a Certificate and Diploma in Sustainable Living available with a HECS waiver - meaning that if you are eligible for a Commonwealth Supported Place you can enroll and they will waive the student contribution. The courses are fully online with no fixed times you need to be available, so are quite flexible to fit around other commitments.
Many of the courses are practical and the assignements relate you your own situation and local area. I am just finishing the Science of Gardening subjects, which has deepened my understanding of how plants grow and the interactions between different organisms in the garden. The assignments have included things like assessing the soil in my garden, and the final assignment is pulling together everything to create a comprehensive design plan for my own garden.
There are also subjects on sustainable housing and biodiversity, if you are interested in doing some study I highly recommend looking into this.
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I'm out at the slightest hint of dodgy. I'd rather over react and miss out on a few items that might have been legit than walk into a bad situation.
Sellers being reluctant to hand over an address in advance is one of my major red flags - I want to be able to check where I am going and let someone else know too. I've had sellers do this whole run around where they won't give you the street number until you say you are in the street. I've no idea how they think that's going to protect them from dodgy buyers, but I'm not following breadcrumbs to walk into a stranger's house. If people are not upfront I just don't deal with them.
People who are very pushy about wanting you to move off the sales platform and phone/text are also a red flag for me. Your phone number is important personal data that it's better to avoid giving out unnecesarily. Especially if you have Pay id linked to it, because then you are also giving out your real name.