Let us take a closer look at the second glass cabinet of keepsakes.
The top shelf is quite full so I’m breaking it down into two parts.
Lots to see here – various ceramic figures two of which I made myself right next to each other on the right hand side, the silver haired lady in the purple glitter gown, and the red haired lady in the green glitter outfit. Multiple fairies of various versions. Plus a Halloween snow globe which I believe Sephy sent to me.
Here we have another Fairy friend, a moonstone Dolphin which I got in Hawaii, another dragon, and a pink sparkly cat which came from a Korean friend of mine.. There is also another Fairy friend hiding at the back there.
This large doll came from the same Korean friend. :)
This large doll I found somewhere in a shop. My parents had a bunch of these dolls which came from Japan and I am trying to start my own collection.
The middle shelf – a couple of glass tealight holders at the very ends of the shelf – an elephant sits next to my very own DeLorean time machine. On the other side is a garden gnome I made myself. In the middle is a somewhat battered but extremely special to me keepsake – a ceramic dog ashtray that belonged to my Grandfather.
The bottom shelf – my Hawaii Domo sits in some glass desk units which belonged to The Other Half’s Mother. The two ceramic cats are from Sephyroth – the ones which were hidden in my new shoes! – a ceramic keepsake holder which has some glitter inside and a special mother of pearl jewellery case.
In future Wednesdays here on the blog, I intend to take a closer look at some of the keepsakes on Wednesdays.
As mentioned in this post – Long Weekending – we recently bought a new Soda Stream from Harvey Norman.
This week, we’ll take a look at my new SodaStream.
The one we bought is this one. It comes with an 2 flavour bottles – Cola and Lemonade – plus a c02 canister which will make 40 litres of bubbly drink and 1 one litre water bottle. It is an incredibly good value deal.
In fact such good value that if you pick up a 60 litre gas bottle while you are there, you can go home and make 100 litres of soda water for just over $100. That works out to around $1 per litre.
Future gas bottles retail at $51.95 – you bring in the old one and swap it for a new one – and make approximately 60 litres of bubbly water. You will then be making your bubbly water for .86 cents a litre. No more lugging soda water home from the supermarket. YAY!
Here is a look at the gas probe that goes into the bottle and fizzes it up, and the place where you twist your bottle into. The machine is super simple to use, and every 60 bottles or so you’ll have to replace the gas canister, which is also very easy to do. You do get an instruction book as well.
The gas canister lives inside the back part of the unit. You just press that button and pull the top upwards.
And here you see it pulled apart.
You can use tap water, rain water, any kind of water – and you can even bubble up things like white wine or some forms of alcohol, though it does mean you’ll have to find a good way of washing the water bottle afterwards. We have a filter tap installed here which I use.
There is an option to hack it and use larger c02 canisters. We have not done that here yet so all I can say about that is you can search for SodaStream hack in your search engine and you’ll see multiple different options.
I don’t use syrups or cordial with my mineral water very often. I find them to be too sweet and I have grown to love that tangy bite of plain mineral water. When I feel like I am coming down with a cold, I might do half orange juice, half soda water over ice. This makes a fizzy awesomeness and the super coldness of the ice soothes my throat.
From time to time, I put fruit in just to make it a treat. The fruit takes on that tangy bite, and the mineral water takes on the flavour of the fruit. You can use any fruit and even some vegetables like carrots if you are so inclined.
For the next few Saturdays, I am going to write a post about the different ways I use the soda water – or Mineral Water, if you’re posh – that I create with my SodaStream. After that, I’ll post one every now and then when I try something new.
Citrus is in season right now, and I’ve been citrus-ing it up just lately. Next week I’ll show you a fruit which people would not normally think of putting in their mineral water.
A couple of weekends ago we spent some serious time tidying up my art room, which had become a bit of a mess and a dumping ground for stuff that did not have a proper home. We also hung up a lot of art on the walls – some of it in order to hide where the previous people had pulled the paint off the walls when they removed some of their art work, which is why this next photo might seem like a slightly odd way of hanging art –
The little frame you spy next to the tiger is specifically hiding one of those paint ripped off spots. Probably some people might think it is a weird way to display art, but those ripped off paint spots irritate me enormously and I actually kind of like the non-symmetrical aspect of this group of art.
Over on this side, it is more about where the studs were in the wall than trying to hide anything, because this side of the room has no ripped off paint areas.
This piece of art is an interesting one – it is actually similar to foil art and any photos I take do not really do it justice.
In that photo above you see some stuff I have left on the table to sort through and find new homes for. Also some sparkly contact paper which I found at Kmart. I’ve used it to make some stickers of my Denkyem stencil which I’ve put on my laptop –
There is also a strip of holographic duct tape that Sephy sent me once. If I recall correctly, he took me on a video walk of Walmart and when I saw this holographic duct tape I declared it must be posted to me. And so it was. Please excuse my still drying from just being wiped with an anti bacterial cloth laptop. :)
In part this little tidy up was inspired by adult colouring in books becoming a thing, which is inspiring me to get back into art again. But also, it was inspired by things like me not being able to find all my wrapping paper and gift bags. These have now all been placed into one box –
I love holographic things, as I think you can tell by the awesome 35 metre roll of wrap I bought from Costco. Here is a closer view of that!
There you have a little tour of my art room, and you can expect to see some new projects appear here on the blog.
First I should mention that the cabinet itself was purchased several years ago at an imported furniture sale. It is similar in style to my other glass cabinet which we had purchased in Adelaide..
Second I should mention, I did a little photoshop in this next pic because the flash reflected on the wood and it hurt my eyebulbs. I did not wish to inflict same on your eyebulbs. So please excuse my dodgy bucket filling. ;)
At the back is my Take That Mirror – I had all kinds of Take That merchandise – In front on the stand is a ceramic jewellery box which I painted myself. The large blue puffer fish sits in front of my paperweight. There is a pink crystal triangle, another paperweight with fish and coral, a green crystal triangle, a block of glass with a dragon etched inside it which is designed to stand on an LED light stand, and though you can’t see it very well, a metal snake attached to a green crystal.
This is my China themed shelf. It has a special folding Panda screen given to us by my Chinese cousin. In front is a ceramic Buddha that The Other Half made at ceramics, and then some other Buddhas I have collected over the years many of which sat on my work desk in various call centres. They have Feng Shui uses. Also there is a Green Malachite cat which was brought back for me from Africa by my Dad.
On this shelf – Many of my glass snow globes. I don’t know why but the water inside seems to be receeding – they all were completely full when I got them and I can’t find any leaks.. There is also a moon lander bought from Aldi, a ceramic keepsake holder, a ceramic pig figure, and a copper pencil sharpener boat.
And the final shelf – – At the back is my ceramic castle which I made and painted. Also at the back you can see my Gruen Transfer mug, which I won in a competition. In front are some of my glass items including 3 glass tealight holders in green, blue and red, two glass globes which are used in a tealight holder that I’m not using right now, a crystal bell, and my gorgeous cobalt blue and gold glass container. I love cobalt blue things. :)
Drop back next Wednesday for Cabinetry Take Two! ;)
When you have two kitties both of whom like to get up close and personal with, well, everything, finding a place to burn candles can be a bit of a problem.
This location is very high up and there are no places where the kitties can make their way up here, no steps to make a kitty ladder. In fact, it is probably less than half a meter from the ceiling. Tealights can be safely burned here, and this is the location where I burn my wax melts.
I also burn a tealight in the Dusk Spinning Butterfly tealight candle holder. It puts a gorgeous spinning golden glow on the ceiling which is somehow comforting to me. The thermals that the candle throws out magically turns the turntable and it spins. Depending on the candle you use and the heat given off, it can spin at different speeds.
You might ask – why two different kinds of tealight candles? Well first of all, they have different burn times. The IKEA ones are regularly 4 hours or so, which makes them perfect for an evening burn eg 6pm-10pm. The Dusk candles are 6-8 hours which is a good daytime burn time. Combine the two and you cover the entire day – 10-6pm or so, then 6-10pm or so, and I can light them and forget them, because they will burn out before I have to think about snuffing them.
The spinning butterfly tealight candle holder can still be purchased from Dusk, though I do not see any purple ones or the teal green which I really wanted to get as well. I will cross my fingers that maybe our local store has one in teal when we next visit – we are nearly out of chicken, so we will be heading to Shellharbour and Warrawong next weekend. If no teal, maybe this gold owl version might come home with us.
Below I have put a couple of videos – they are just 10 seconds long each, you get a closeup of the spinning butterflies in the first one, and you can see the reflection the spinning holder puts on the ceiling in the second.
Last week I had the flu, and I spent a couple of nights staying up so the other half could get an uninterrupted sleep, so my body clock is all out of whack again. Even so, we planned a few things for Saturday. I wanted to go over to Berry to take some photos of the place I’m planning to go to in the event of the Zombie Apocalypse, and I also wanted to drop into haven and space and Candleberries – two great shops you should not miss if you ever go to Berry..
First we dropped into haven and space where we picked up a replacement coffee mug for one we had broken, and two new designs. These mugs are gorgeous and they last a very long time. Priced at $4.95 per mug, they are also great value. The candles pictured were $4.50 each.
As it was past two, we decided to get a snack as well. We didn’t want too much as we were going out to dinner at 7. haven and space have opened up a cafe behind their new store called Sakana and I’d eaten there before when family was visiting, so we dropped in for a bowl of chips and a couple of iced coffees.
The iced coffees arrived in these magnificent tall glasses with my favorite colour blue around the rim. If you are reading this post here on my blog, see how that blue matches my blue background colour? :) ——> over there?
We dropped into Candleberries and picked up some wax melts and a new candle for The Other Half. Why yes, that melt set is scented salted caramel popcorn, and it does smell exactly like that. There’s also Home Sweet Home which will stay here and Black Cherry which will go off to my aunt in the next package along with the salted caramel popcorn. By the time she receives it, her cancer treatment will be nearly finished.
On the way back to the car we spotted these cows in a window. It is lucky the shop was not open, is all I can say.
We went out to dinner at our usual Chinese restaurant with my parents, my Uncle and his wife, and two other friends my parents know from work. When we arrived at the bowling club there was quite an impressive band setup including a sound desk and a proper drum kit which said “The Villains” on it.. Little did we know at the time what an amazing performance would come to us as a surprise.
The club was absolutely packed with people – I think it is the last weekend of School Holidays here and it is always packed in school holidays but not usually to this extent. My uncle reported back to us after one of his smoke breaks that he was talking to someone outside and that they had said this particular band had people coming from places somewhat far away – they had groupies following them.
Who knew Darth Vader was also a musician?
After dinner we could not get a seat out in the club, every seat was taken. We ended up in their function room off to the back, and we could see the band members in costume. They took to the stage a little after 8:30 and we all headed out into the room to see the band kick off with a performance of an Icehouse song called Walls which sounded more like a Pink Floyd song, it was just amazing. The sound setup was brilliant, the music was incredible, and the band was engaging and captivating.
The singer was dressed as The Riddler and he had a microphone stand with a question mark in it. I believe we had The Penguin as the keyboard player, The Joker as the bass player, The Devil as the drummer, and the most notable mention goes to Darth Vader as the lead guitarist. His costume must have been a total sweatbox, but he never removed any part of it, and he played in it for over 2 hours – with a short break in the middle. Plus instead of heading directly outside on his break, he took off into the crowd to let them pose for photos with him – and his lightsaber.
I have for you a short video clip of the Darth Vader guitarist. :) This was taken during Down Under by Men At Work. You will notice he is marching, despite being wrapped in much quilted fabric. This is some serious costume dedication right here.
When they took a break, we talked about leaving because one or two had an early morning the next day, but we all decided this band was too good to leave. And in the latter half of their show, even The Other Half got up and danced which happens so rarely I cannot recall another such incident!
I completely understand why they have groupies following them, and I could see myself doing the same thing. They are due back at our club in August and we will definitely be there. None of the videos on their website do true justice to this band. You have to be there in person.
When they left the stage we were among the very vocal crowd shouting for an encore, and they came back on with two band members in white coats and performed “She Blinded Me with Science” – a bizarre choice but we all loved it.
The final song they played was Underneath the Radar by Underworld, a song I have always disliked, but they made me love it. And that speaks many volumes. Most of the music was songs from the early 80’s and music I had on records, back in the days of records, music we played on Saturday mornings to clean the house, and music my friends and I used to create dances for.
They played music from bands like Depeche Mode, Madness, Split Enz, the ever wonderful and unforgettable “don’t you forget about me” by Simple Minds made famous by The Breakfast Club movie, and even a song from The Cure! It was one of my favourites too, Inbetween Days. There were a couple of newer songs, most notably Pretty Vegas which I knew from Rockstar: INXS and Mr Brightside by The Killers.
By the time we got home, I was so tired I went to bed at a reasonable hour for the first time this week. And can you believe, entry to the bowling club is free. We pay the tiny amount of $11 each year to be a member, and that allows the member many benefits, such as using the boat ramp, the courtesy bus, and various other awesomes.
The official name is the Tuffsteel Forge 32cm Roaster Pan. 32cm is the interior dimension – with the handles it stretches out to nearly 39cm wide.
I love this thing. Seriously adore it. At the moment I use it every second day – my meal plan has been planned out that way, so I can use the next day to get it in the dishwasher and clean again. I’m actually planning to buy a second one of these for a multitude of reasons, not least of which is in case anything ever happens to the glass lid. Glass and Snoskred is not a very good match.
Some of the reasons I love this amazing cooking unit include –
– Keeps all the cooking inside the roaster dish.
– Whatever liquid you add eg wine, lemon juice, chicken or vegetable stock, just plain water, steams up and cooks the food faster.
– Whatever liquid you add circulates through the food beautifully.
– Keeps the oven clean – we’ve had issues before with cooking food in a regular ceramic baking dish and having a mess all over the oven. This way all the mess is safely contained inside.
– I can make entire meals just using this one pan.
One Pan recipes I have cooked inside this roaster pan –
– Chicken Mini Roast & Potatoes
– Chicken kievs, potatoes, cauliflower
– Chicken kievs, cheesy baked potatoes
– Chicken filos, broccoli, pumpkin
– Roast Beef, potatoes, pumpkin
– Roast Pork, potatoes, sweet potatoes
– Pasta Bake
– Fake Lasagne
– Quiche
– Bacon and Leek Mac and Cheese
Soup recipes that use more than the roaster pan – eg you take the roasted items out, pop them into a plastic container, add chicken or vegetable stock and milk or coconut milk and whiz up to make them into a soup.
– Roasted Red Capsicum and Potato Soup
– Roasted Potato and Leek soup
– Roasted Potato, Leek and Pumpkin soup (recipe coming soonest!)
– Roasted Cauliflower Soup
I am planning more soups for winter. :) Especially a mixed veg one with swedes, turnips, pumpkin, potato, sweet potato, capsicum, leek, and anything else I can fit in the roaster pan.
I found this roaster pan at DFO in Canberra while I was looking for yet another ceramic baking dish. We’d had multiple bad experiences with ceramic baking dishes cracking and breaking, and I’d just lost our most recent somewhat trusty Ikea ceramic dish, leaving us with only one baking dish large enough to cook the things that we regularly cooked.
This roaster pan was found in one of those kitchen stores with every possible thing you might ever use in the kitchen and I figured – at least it can’t crack and break – I’ll give this thing a try. It has seriously changed the way I cook in our kitchen.
Unfortunately it is not so easy to find online. Deals Direct do stock it but it is presently out of stock. According to other sites when it was in stock it retailed around the $45 mark. Mine cost me $80. At that price, I might even buy two extras and put one away for later on.
You can get roaster pans with a lid that is not glass – however I do prefer to be able to look inside and see how things are going without having to open the oven and take the dish out. Plus, our convection microwave is a Solardom which uses a halogen heater to cook and that does not work very well if the food cannot see the “light”. The pan has a true non stick coating. As in, nothing ever sticks to it, for reals.
The oven in this house has never been used by us due to absolute dirtiness from the previous homeowners. Seriously, I turned it on once and it smelled so bad, ew. The design of this house means cooking smells congregate in the main bedroom, walk through robe and bathroom, so using the oven again was not an option. The landlord has finally agreed to replace it and I intend only to use this roasting pan in it – that way I will never have to clean the oven.
We have a bit of a rodent issue in our yard. Some people would say that chooks and rodents go hand in hand – in our case we have two very elderly people who live at the back of our block and their block is completely overgrown, full of weeds and rodents. If we can’t fix that, it is very unlikely we are going to fix the rodent issues on our own.
If you go out there at night, you can hear the rodents scampering and squeaking on what was once a tennis court belonging to the elderly people but is now an overgrown mess..
Traps do not work for these creatures, either because they are way too smart or they don’t like what we’re putting in them. Usually peanut butter has worked for us in the past. Maybe we’ll give cheese a try.
However the other half bought an ultrasonic pest controller which might be stopping the rodents from going near the traps at all.
What we are catching instead – without even trying – is some very poisonous arachnids. And here I will put a read more for those who do not like eight legged creature tales to come as a surprise. Click through to read a fascinating yet terrifying story. Continue reading →
So, here’s a quick and somewhat hilarious arachnid story.. without images because I don’t want to see pictures of an eight legged creature and neither do you. :) I’m putting it behind a read more for the arachnophobes. :) Click through to read it.
So, yesterday, I was watching Judge Judy on Channel 10 at 3pm, as I sometimes do when it seems like the wait to 6pm double episodes of Judge Judy on Arena is too long to wait..
I should point out that I had my little cordless headset on, and I was actually in the kitchen trimming up 1kg of bacon which was purchased on the weekend. I guess that is more like listening to Judge Judy. I got 5 lovely packages of bacon bits, 1 package of bacon bits for dinner that night, and 2 packages of offcuts which we like to grill up in the oven till they are super crispy.
One of the downsides of not watching a lot of free to air tv is missing out on local ads. Sometimes they are not very interesting, but today I heard that Spotlight was having a 30% off sale. My little ears connected with my shopping brain, and the message I heard was THIS SALE SEEMS NICE!
I did some maths in my head, working out that 30% off takes $9 off a 29.95 candle. I should go to Spotlight and buy some Yankee Candles, I thought, as I drove to my 4pm appointment to see my amazing psychologist.
And a couple of hours later, I did go, because Spotlight were open till 8pm. They told me that in the ad too. I got a couple of the “medium” candles in Black Cherry and Vanilla Lime and 4 wax melts, 2 Mango Peach Salsa and 2 Pineapple Cilantro.
Apparently the 30% off is for Tuesday as well, in case you did not catch an ad and you want to go get yourself some Yankee Candle, or something else.. :)
