Changeover

Hi Readers,

I don't know about you but every year around this time I get those nervous itches to change a few things, or get the things done that have constantly been nagging at me.

Why this time of the year?

For my overseas readers, we had the Grand Final on Saturday, the last game of the Australian Rules Football season. Sort of like our version of the Superbowl.

As soon as the game ended my first thoughts were "Well, there's nothing on tv for the next 6 months!!", so I may as well start getting some things done around the home.

Many use the crossover to Daylight Saving as the impetus for spring cleaning etc, but as we have a bit of a wait until that starts I thought I'd get a head start.

Hang on, just after writing that last comment I went and checked when it starts and it is in 5 days!!! I had it in my mind that we had a month or two to wait. Just shows how on the ball I am!!

Well, I've been busier than a mosquito at a nudist camp the past few days, just getting so many piddly tasks done, that in the end made me feel as if I'd conquered the world!!

For instance, there are a few windows in the house that I keep slightly open at times to let fresh air in, but even with the flywire screens covering them, levels of dust and dirt still get in on the ledges, especially when I have the sprinklers on. Every time I look at them I make a mental note to clean them, but of course many months later I was still to do it. Until these past few days!!! And it took all of 5 minutes as I ended up vacuuming the entire rooms afterwards for good measure.

Now I was on a roll!

A strip on the exterior of the oven had worked its way loose. Another 3 minute job that had been put off repeatedly. Glue, done!

That was enough for that day so I went back to my relaxed lifestyle.

I watched the Grand Final and had the obligatory beers and rubbish food. I held out for the first half, but then cracked a beer and some of those horrid (but very tasty!) mini hot dogs.

                              

Later that night after enjoying the junk, then starting to regret it I decided that tomorrow would be more changes and jobs done. The body would be a temple once more!!

As I was laying in bed on Sunday morning, having a very rare sleep in, for some reason I had a sudden urge to have some soft boiled eggs and toast fingers (with a layer of butter of course - hello heart attack!!) I hadn't had them for over 3 years, and why I suddenly thought about them is anyone's guess. 

A quick google search on how long to cook them for and I was ready. At this point I should have possibly looked at more than one website for cooking times, as when they were ready they were only slightly runny, and not far off being hard boiled. Rather than dunk my toast fingers in I was stabbing the egg instead!!

While they were cooking, I searched for an egg cup. Surely we had some in the house as I'd seen them before. But was that in one of the other 4 houses we have owned?

Despite turning the kitchen upside down I just couldn't find one, so I sufficed with a coffee cup with a scrunched up paper towel inserted to hold the egg.

So I sort of enjoyed my sort of soft boiled egg but decided there and then that I needed to go and buy some cups. That took visits to so many shops, doesn't anyone stock them anymore??

But as I was rummaging through the cupboards and pantry, I noticed that there were a lot of food items that I either didn't use or were just out of date. When various people come to stay they invariably add items to my pantry when they are cooking, but many of these I just don't use. When one discovers things that have a Use By date that goes back to when I was still in my 50's, alarm bells start to go off.

Recently one of my sisters stayed here while I was away in Qld. On the day I returned she very generously offered to cook a roast, something that I rarely if ever do as it is too much for me. When I came back into the kitchen after a session on the bike in the shed, she was nowhere to be seen, but there was a can of tomatoes laying on its side with half the contents on the bench. Strangely, the lid was only slightly off and the top of the can was bulging slightly.

When she returned she explained that as soon as she started to open the can it just exploded everywhere. It turns out that the expiry date was 2022 and these cans had been hiding in the back of my pantry since then!!!

So what other dangers were also there?

After realising that I needed to do something that I'd been putting off for 3 years, I decided to empty the pantry and be ruthless in throwing out anything that was way out of date, or was something that I just wouldn't use, or didn't know how it got there in the first place. 

There were so many packets of various sorts of flour so they all got emptied into the green waste bin. I kid you not when I say that this amounted to nearly 3-4 buckets as so many had been opened and only a bit used, while others were in sealed ice cream containers that you couldn't see into or weren't labelled so they were just never used.

I wasn't risking using anything that had been opened and didn't have a use by date, so out they went.

I was blown away by the amount of crap I tossed out, but it has given me new incentive to shop more economically and sensibly.

I was however worried about my green waste bin getting emptied the next day as there was bound to be a fair bit of flour etc causing a bit of ruckus.

I hope this video opens, it shows the green waste bin getting emptied while I hide behind the gate hoping that I don't get into strife!

Anyway Readers, after more than three hours I was done, the pantry was spotless and all I have to do is try and keep it his way and try to remember where everything is stacked as I put everything into new spaces.

Early into the battle

Wondering why I started this in the first place!

Done!!!

Now that this was done, I had some containers that needed to go through the dishwasher after I pried out the previous contents that had well and truly moved in and were not ready to leave!

So where would all these containers go, as my container drawers were well and truly areas that should only be entered at your own risk.

You guessed it Readers, I jumped out of the fire and into another frying pan immediately and started on the container draw.

Surely each container must have a corresponding lid?

After making two big piles, one of containers and one of lids I began the process of making partners, and ended up with only 6-7 spare lids.

That was just he first part of his problem, as I now had to get them back into the draw, and in a manner which would prompt and encourage me to keep it this organised. So far so good, and if any visitors stuff it up, look out!!!

Every container has a lid, they are kept in the same pile and they all fit in the drawer!!

Ask me for a photo in 3 weeks and see if I stick with it.

After reading through what I've just banged on about, you must be thinking that I have the most boring existence if something like this gets my juices going. I agree! 

But it is amazing how getting those little things done can change one's perspective on so many other things, and change your mindset towards all other things that you do.

Sometimes we just need to stop and focus on the little things in order to get the bigger things done.

How is this for you??

My next venture took me into the laundry where another clean up occurred, but by this time I'd spent all my enthusiasm tickets, so the poor old laundry will have to wait for the real makeover.

Speaking of the laundry, a question that someone might help me with. Please feel free to post a response in the comments section at the bottom of the post.

I have been really putting in an effort to keep my whites seperate from my colours ("Derrr" I hear you all saying) but this one thing has been bugging me for ages.

I have a blue and white striped rugby top.

Should it go in with the whites, or the colours? It's a sort of 50/50 option, so which way should I go? Earth shattering problem I'm facing I'm sure you'll agree.

And while sorting out and discovering the various things in my pantry, I discovered a cake mix for a chocolate cake, and to my surprise it was well within its use by date. 

I haven't baked a cake in years, so I've decided I just might give it a crack this week.

If you hear about me being in hospital again, it just might be because of this cake!

And while on the subject of cooking, while I was in QLD recently I went down to the Tallebudgera Creek kiosk and bought one of their unbelievably delicious bolognaise sausage rolls. These are to die for, and are a must on every trip up there.

Maybe I could make some sausage rolls?

Rather than googling it, I decided to go commando and see if I could do it myself.

After buying the pastry (as if I was going to make my own!!) and making the bog sauce I dutifully filled some sheets of pastry, rolled, cut and basted them and gothem ready for the oven.

But hang on, this is a great opportunity for Sausage Roll Surprise! (See previous posts where I make "Surprise" dishes 😳)

So in the remaining bog sauce went some cannellini and kidney beans, god only knows what type and amount of spices and just like that some 'other' sausage rolls.

Not only was the making of these a load of fun, it was the anticipation of altering the recipe and then looking forward to tasting them that had me on tenterhooks.

Readers, I'm on a winner!!!!!

Speaking of hospital, and getting things done that I've been putting off, I contacted my doctor yesterday to make an appointment to get a referral for my shoulder that I hurt last year when I crashed my bike when visiting Jen at the cemetery. Thinking that I wouldn't get an appointment for a week or so, I was booked in straight away and she saw me yesterday. 

Next it was off with my referral to the reception of the surgeon who did my other shoulder a year or so ago as well as my hands to make an appointment. Imagine my surprise when the reception rang me before I could even get there, as the reception at my doctor had already emailed the referral through.

Normally it takes months to get in to see him, so I wasn't too flustered, but they said they'd had a late withdrawal and would see me next week.

Bloody hell!!! Here is me thinking that I'd have a few months grace before going through the potential surgery merry-go-round again, and suddenly it's all happening at warp speed.

I'd had some shots into the shoulder three weeks ago, all to no avail, and with past experiences I'm not crossing my fingers about this one (not that I can cross my fingers now anyway 🤞

That teaches me to try and be so organised, I end up getting more than I expected.

Not complaining though, I'm extremely fortunate to be in the situation I am in to get these things done.

Two funny things happened when I was at the surgery reception this morning though.

While at the desk, the surgeon who did my ankle walked past and greeted me and had a quick chat. He then says "Am I seeing you today?" to which I reply "No, I'm booking in for this" pointing to my shoulder, and is done by another surgeon at the practice. He just rolled his eyes and started to laugh before apologising at my predicament. Didn't worry me a bit as it is what it is. I'm not sick, just a bit sore whereas others are doing it so much tougher.

Then when I was finalising my appointment, the receptionist says "We also have a new specialist here. He does knees and hips. Do you need anything done there?"

OMG!! Do I look that bad?? My hips are good (touch wood) and I've had more than enough knee ops, I'm sure they will be okay for now!

So this week, which is only a few days old I've managed to get things done in the house, jobs that are apin in the arse but give a huge sense of achievement once done.

Then I've started the ball rolling with some more panel beating of the body that needs doing, but I've been putting off. Admittedly I had to wait to get off the crutches and walking stick, but the sooner it is sorted the better.

And I've saved the best for last.

I freely admit that I'm the worst gardener. Jen looked after that job here, I was just the free labour. Being more mobile now I decided that I need to try and do more in the garden, especially as we are blessed with such a nice one and I want it to stay that way.

What I did yesterday looks so purile and mediocre, but to me it was a big goal being kicked.

I actually went and bought some seedlings and planted them!!!!

I don't know what prompted me, perhaps an ad on tv for Bunnings (overseas Readers, that's a home and hardware superstore here in Australia) and I saw tomato seedlings being advertised. So down I went, bought a few different ones as well as some soil mix and duly inserted them into a spare section in our garden that I'd prepared.

Just three random tomato seedlings, but it gives me more purpose out in the yard now to see them through to harvesting and proving to myself that maybe I do have some gardening skills after all. And I have been out to check them more than once today!!!

Well Readers, a glorious morning sitting in the swinging chair in our garden and realising how lucky I am to be doing this today. I also realise that I tend to let little things be perceived as big things, and unnecessarily so. How refreshing it is to just make that effort to knock some of them over, as the big things then seem to be so much smaller.

So what piddly little things do you keep putting off, when in reality you could knock them over in the next 15 minutes? Go and try one and see if you get a similar reaction as I did. And then you might get on a roll and end up cursing me for strating you off in the first place 🤣

Just another totally 'nothing' sort of post today Readers, but one that always finds me relaxing as I ponder the things that have been happening lately. The next two weeks have something significant possibly occurring, I just have to wait and see if I'll follow through with it, so I won't say anything yet. Physio this afternoon, which means another step forward in my recovery (pun not intended) which really puts me in a positive frame of mind.

Until my next post,

Cheers 😁

p.s. Help me out with the rugby top washing!!!