Some gorgeous dresses in my sewing room

I have been so busy with alterations recently, to the point of overwhelm really.

That said, I have been graced with some beauties to work on.

#alterationsbykim

New guinea pig abode

When the temperature outside is consistently in the high 30's C, one needs to consider the option of keeping the piggies indoors. I was thrilled when I was able to get the pet cage for $22 and it was flexible enough to get it to fit into the space we had allocated.  The other up side is that I could add some second storey platforms for the boys to adventure on as the cage is nice and tall.

The other advantage is that the kids don't forget they have pets. I have found the piggies are more cuddly when we have them indoors too.

Yay for new abodes!

#guineapighouse

Dinner time

Guinea pigs like to eat... a lot!

The boys are growing well and are happy.
I'll be happy when the weather warms up and they can spend more time in their hutch outside.

Guinea pigs are taking over

We have taken the plunge and acquired some guinea pig pups. Oh my nerves! Cuteness in the flesh!

We have had then for just over a week now, and the little personalities are developing now.

We have Oreo and Chocco (short for Hot Chocolate. Oreo seems to be the more dominant cavy, but they are getting on well.

I have started a garden, just to feed them, but the wait for the lettuce is proving a long one. I have tried a few options... the ones we planted as seeds are only just starting to grow, after about 3 weeks, and the seedlings I bought are growing slowly, then I popped the base of a bought cos lettuce in some water, as many Pinterest posts suggest and it's growing at a rate of knots. I also have a sweet potato slip rooting and I have a tuber in water too, they lover sweet potato greens.

I'll post some updates as we go though :)

Soft shoes

I adore these little shoes. There are days where I would love a pair for myself, but these wouldn't fit my big toe!

Having fun with plastic bags

Last night while is was scrolling mindlessly through social media I saw a post about making a really cool shopping bag from plastic single use shopping bags... and since I have stopped using them way before they implemented the ban on single use shopping bags, I don't have any to play with... so... I used the next best thing... the bread bags which torment me.  I only had 3 to start playing with, but it is a start and the kids think it's the best thing ever.

I made the plarn cutting the bags in a long spiral and then have begun crocheting it. This will be the base of the bag, and I'm still trying to decide how I'm going to wing the rest of it.  I have some ideas of what I want to do with it though. The picture looks messy and I do need to trim ends etc, but it was a good way to keep my hands busy and not kill brain cells trawling through pages of rubbish online 😊

Stay tuned for updates, though I suspect this could be a long term project as we o my use one or two loaves of bread a week.

Baked pikelets

I've been doing some trawling of blogs and the latest trend seems to be sheet pan pancakes. I love that idea because I don't have to stand at the stove flipping the pikelets while they cook.

So I added my own twist to them. Enter the donut pan and some silicone moulds for pancakes I was given. The "donuts" came out a treat but i will have to work on the right quantity of batter in the mould to make extraction easy.

I baked them at 180*C for 10 minutes and they came out fluffy and delicious. 

While the "egg" looks like it was viciously attacked, this was only due to extraction difficulties. My expert taste tester wolfed it down happily.

Super easy meatball recipe

I take no credit for the original recipe I found in a magazine, however I have changed it up slightly and the kids love them! The other awesome benefit is if (and I do mean if) there are any leftover, they can go into lunchboxes for school. Double win!

Ingredients

500g minced beef / turkey

1 egg

1 pkg French onion soup powder

Method

Place all ingredients into a bowl.

Mix thoroughly.

Roll into balls and place on lined baking sheet.

Bake at 200*C for 10-15 min. Check them after 10 min for done-ness.

Serve with potato mash or chips and veggies.

The Purpose of Every Believer

The Purpose of Every Believer
Posted: 23 Aug 2017 05:17 PM PDT


When we come to Christ, we declare war on our selfish, fallen human desires. 
We realize that our life's purposes have changed. We aren't saved simply so we can get to heaven. We're saved for earthly purposes as well.
Our new calling includes:

Holiness:

Titus 2:14: He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. See also Ephesians 1:4.

Good Works:

Ephesians 2:10: we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. See also 1 Peter 4:11.

To Bring Glory to God:

Matthew 5:16: let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. See also 1 Peter 2:12, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 and 1 Corinthians 10:31.


This last purpose sums up all other purposes in our lives. Let's glorify God, dear Christians!

Rosie and mints

Rosie (my birthday gift from my mom) has been planted into her pot and is soaking up the sun outside.  I can't wait to see how she grows and flourishes.

I've planted my mints into a planter now. One is chocolate mint, which smells like a peppermint flavoured chocolate and the other is peppermint, destined for many cups of peppermint tea.

The syrofoam container that I have used for the planter was from the fruit and veg shop and I have pierced holes in the side, about an inch from the bottom of the inside of the container, to allow excess water to drain, but still allow there to be some water storage at the base.  I have used this one with much success previously.

Self watering plant pots from yogurt containers

So far the lettuce in the soda bottle SIP are doing well. 

I made a second one from a smaller bottle and have planted a purple or white daisy in it.  I was concerned it wouldn't survive being moved from a less than ideal spot between the pavers to the pot, but it seems to have.

I also stumbled on another gem with some 1L yogurt containers. The beauty of these are they nest beautifully making a natural reservoir for the water without any cutting or addition of extra bits. All I needed to do was make some holes in the bottom and thread some yarn though them and get ready to plant.

First you need 2 of these containers.  Make sure they have been cleaned properly as you don't want your plants to suffer from mouldy, sour dairy products.

Next. Make a few holes at the bottom, and thread your yarn through them.

I tide a knot making a loop at the top so that they stay put and can spread the water.

Then you can nest them, the prepared on into the untouched one, and they are ready to serve as an awesome SIP for your next plant.  They are snug enough not to have an evaporation problem, but still separate easily so when it comes time to top up the reservoir, its simple.

The ease of this makes so much sense, and the way my kids homemade frozen yogurt pops, I could be overrun with these one of these days.

Stock photography update

I checked my stock images I uploaded and two were accepted and have been made public!!!! Very thrilled about that.  I just have to keep getting more images to upload and making more too.  Woohoo!

Rosemary topiary

Right, gardening adventure no. two.

I've taken a few cuttings from the huge rosemary bush we have outside.  The plan is to make topiaries from them to give as gifts. A well thought out and very forward planned Christmas project.

I've stripped the foliage from the bottom half of the stems and stuck them into a vase of water which I'll keep refreshing every so often.  I've found in the past that if I "forget" my cuttings they thrive, but when I panda them they don't grow. Go figure.

So, let's see how that works...

Wicking potted plants

After looking at the Styrofoam box in my laundry for 3 weeks I have finally turned it into a self irrigating pot (SIP).  When Missy was still at her old school we learned how to do this during an after school activity. It's not difficult to do and there are many posts on the Web as to how to make them.

I also made a coke bottle SIP the other day with some lettuce seeds in it.

The Styrofoam planter has herbs in it, given to me by my mother-in-law. I was thrilled to get them and knew they were exactly what I had been waiting for to actually get my bee into gee and make the SIP.

I hope to post updates of the progress of both planters and some other adventures I have on the go.

Stock photography, again...

Today I have uploaded my first set of images to a stock photo website.  Now for the wait on tenterhooks to find out if they will be approved.

Stock photography is a pretty difficult area to get into, with images not just being taken, but made, and while there are a gazillion things to take pictures of, you have to be quite careful about what you photograph, and how you "market" it.  I'm really hoping that these images are accepted.  I was gutted when my first attempt at this many years ago was met with complete failure.

This photograph was taken at the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial in Albany, Western Australia.  It held me captivated for a long time, with all its detail. Lest we forget. A memorial for the ANZAC's who fought for this beautiful country.

The first wallpaper Psalm 145 v 8-9

Click on the image to download the fullsized image.

The new school year has started

DS has started Kindy this year, and while I thought there may be some issues with him "missing" me during the day, he has sailed through them happily, to the point he doesn't even wait for me to settle him in class.  He loves his new teacher and he has really embraced it.  Although, I am sure that he would happily attend 5 days a week, rather than the 5 days per fortnight.

DD has also settled in class, although she seems to be battling a little with finding her space properly.  I'm hoping that this will settle soon too and that she would become her usual happy little lady.

I have decided that this year I would like to put together some inspirational desktop wallpapers so I will keep you up to date with this.  I will be posting them onto my KSP website though rather than here.  I will create a like to it on the side though.  While this one won't make the ranks of wallpaper, it could end up in a printable bookmark or devotional type card set :)

Love this devotional from Bible Love Notes.  Perhaps I over-think things too much.

Over Thinking

---

People deal with difficulties in different ways.  Some folks analyze and ponder. Others consider the situation, but quickly move on. Introspective people can bring clarity to subjects by careful, logical examination, while laid-back personalities can bring perspective because they don't take things too seriously.  However, we often operate in extremes, over-thinking or under-thinking problems.  Over-thinkers who struggle with negative, sad, or angry thoughts can take these steps: 1. Ask God for His peace in the midst of your difficulty. John 14:27 2. Identify specific Bible verses that speak truth to your situation. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 3. Memorize these verses or at least write them down. Psalm 119:9-16 4. Whenever you begin to think obsessively, read or recite them. Psalm 119:9-16 5. Make sure you meet with God daily for perspective. Psalm 130:5 When we replace obsessive thoughts with "God thoughts," we are reminding ourselves that God is our refuge from every problem. He is our comfort, wisdom and peace! (Psalm 46:1-3) Tomorrow we'll discuss solutions for those who "under-think" problems.

Christmas wishes from our family to yours

As I sit listening to my kids splash in the swimming pool, I am grateful for all that we have been blessed with. We have two healthy children, a home we could only have wished for and the end to a whirlwind year.

We have been through a lot of changes towards the end of the year, and have moved home, Chloe has integrated into her new school like a fish to water and Josh has been enrolled into kindy for next year.

We just want to wish you a very merry Christmas, filled with special memories, blessings, love and joy.

All our love
Paul, Kim, Chloe and Joshua
Xox

Healthy Chocolate "Fudge"

Or at least I'm telling the kids it's chocolate fudge.  I have to thank my family in Melbourne for introducing me to the no sugar concept, and while it's taken over a year to pluck up the courage to make this slab of delish, it has been well worth it.  One child is already sold on it, and now I have to try it on the other, more fussy, one.

So the recipe is as follows:

Healthy Chocolate Fudge

1 1/2 cups pitted dates
3 tablespoons coconut (I used desiccated as it was all I had)
3 tablespoons cocoa powder (although I may try a little less next time)

Throw everything into your food processor. Turn it on, let it run until you have a smooth-ish sticky ball of yum.  If the mixture is too dry, and a dash of water, or if it's too wet add a little coconut to dry it out.

Line a loaf tin with cling wrap, and tip the mixture into it, fold the cling wrap over it and press it down to form a nice flat slab (I used another loaf tin to get a very smooth finish). Pop it into the fridge to set (min an hour or 2) and then cut into squares (little ones as this is sweet stuff).

Enjoy!

Update: Fussy Child doesn't like the coconut flavour that comes through (although I think its part of the attraction) so I will have to figure out what I can use in place of the coconut.

Update 2: It would appear that I can use rolled oats in place of the coconut. I will post the method once I have experimented.