Clove Oil and Toothache

I'm sharing a rainy day picture with you because;

a) it's raining

and

b) the inside of someone's mouth is not the most elegant or attractive sharing experience

Craig complained of a toothache last week and asked me to make an appointment for him but you guessed it, a weeks wait.

I had a look and it seems he has a piece broken off one of his back molars.

By the time Craig says something, you know he is in agony as he has a very high threshold for pain.

He has taken some paracetamol but applying some clove oil with a cotton bud has been very helpful. It has anaesthetised the area and probably helped in an anti-bacterial way too.

I wouldn't advise using this remedy instead of going to a dentist because pain is the body's way of saying there is something wrong and it could be any number of things but as a remedy to help you get through the wait period till an appointment it's a big help.

I'm a big fan of clove oil for cleaning mould and killing spores and deterring spiders and insects. You can also add toothache remedy to the list too.  

We are getting some lovely rain today, just right for the seedlings and much needed.

Big smiles all round.

Vintage Fabric Sell Off

I have to face facts. 

I am NOT going to get around to all my projects in this lifetime.

I am going to reduce my fabric stash for starters.

Today I have uploaded some 1950s and 1960s fabric to the shop. Click on the shop tag at the top of the page under the banner heading and it will take you there.

The bark cloth type fabric at the top with the red lanterns is priced per metre but the others are all for the piece. 

Gorgeous Jackie Kennedy style suiting.

See here for inspiration

Soft wool to match

You just don't see this quality anymore. This woven linen/cotton has the most divine fall and drape. You know the sort? It just wants to fall and ripple off the table at every chance.

I know there are a lot of sewing girls out there who would really do these fabrics justice. 

Available for a limited time only in the shop for a week.

Christmas Makes from Our Better Living group

As I mentioned in my post about our Living Better group meet up for October, Sandra brought in some great easy ideas for crafting in the lead up to Christmas. 

Here is a tutorial for stamping on candles to give you some ideas.

You can watch a tutorial here for making the box in a bag and once you get the idea of the technique then you can personalise in your own way.

Making cards is a creative past time and is also a great activity to get the children involved in too.

This gorgeous hanging ornament was made using glitter card stock and running it through one of those cutting machines (like a Bigshot or a Cuttlebug) using a cutting template and then assembling and finishing off with a crystal in the middle. 

The best way (and the cheapest) to do this is share resources. Get a group of paper crafting friends together and share equipment, stamps, card stock and templates and make an afternoon of it.

Thanks Sandra for the beautiful images (I always get so caught up in our discussions and forget to take photos) and bringing along these ideas for everyone.

Living Better in October

We talked about 

Christmas gifts

Making decorated candles

Making home made paper hanging ornaments

which led to memories about 

saving foil milk bottle lids for decorating

and stories of painting pop corn for stringing.

(Milk bottle top bells image from here)

We talked about making simple salves from Calendula in the garden

soaps,

herbal tea bags for bath soaks

We talked about 

simple Christmas traditions, each family member taking a turn to stir the pudding for luck and the hidden objects in a plum pud.

We talked about the overwhelming amount of "stuff"

Georgia's family give the children coupons for fun things to do together. It's about spending time with children rather than buying more "stuff". They have coupons for going to the movies or an afternoon at the swimming pool or a trip to the beach.

We talked about broad beans;

The difference between planting in autumn or in spring,

their tendency to get rust, a fungal disease, as the weather warms up, 

About not composting affected plants.

About not trying to squeeze that last 6 pods from the crop and knowing when it is time to harvest and call it quits, ready for the next crop.

We talked about artisan pasta making and Brad is going to share his recipe for beetroot pasta and roasted capsicum pasta.

Gemma shared her recipe for Beet Leaf Ravioli. 

A great way to use the leaves from beetroot, both thrifty and nutritious, not to mention delicious.

Filling for Ravioli:

500g Beet Leaves (stalks Removed)

Maldon Sea Salt

1 small red onion

100g unsalted butter

4 tblsp marjoram leaves

1 garlic clove (finely chopped)

150g Ricotta (lightly broken up with fork)

100g Parmesan

1/2 nutmeg (freshly grated) or just use nutmeg spice!

Gently fry onion in butter until onion begins to brown. Add marjoram and garlic and stir for 1 minute then add beet leaves. Cook together briefly, season then allow to cool. Stir in Parmesan and ricotta. Add nutmeg and season to taste.

Make fresh pasta to your favourite recipe (or buy fresh lasagna sheets) Cut pasta into squares. Add small amount of filling to each square. Top with another square and pinch around edges to seal (ensuring you have removed as much air as possible - to stop them exploding in the water!).

Add to boiling water. Allow them to float to the surface but ensure they have had enough cooking time so that filling will be heated through.

We talked about poultry;

laying hens,

different breeds,

free range turkeys,

quail and their housing,

incubation,

chicken raising

We talked about growing up in small communities

outback towns, the syncronisity of life and the bravery of those a little different who swim against the current of life's stream.

We talked about Killiecrankie Farm's Open Day

We talked about Mount Gnomon products and Langdale Farm pork (also at the Killiecrankie open day)

we talked about Eliza's great video and that ham ordering had begun.

We talked and talked and reminisced and talked some more.

I probably have forgotten to mention lots more.

The most important thing is that everyone shares and brings knowledge of some sort with them and we all leave a bit richer for the experience.

Thank you everyone for a lovely time

xxx

The Utensil Drawer Challenge

The bane of my mother's life....

my utensil drawer.

I know I'm not alone and probably 95% of the population has one of these. Only last week Down to Earth blog writer, Rhonda, was feeling the spring cleaning urge and tackled the utensil drawer.

I spring cleaned the pantry this week and the utensil draw was also on the hit list.

So here are my "must haves-tools-of-the-trade" laid out.

How did all those crumbs get in the bottom!

And the plethora of rubber bands! Could never find one in there when I needed one but they were hiding at the bottom all right.

I purchased a plastic divider thingy from the op shop for $1.50 with the thought that it would seperate and contain some of the smaller items.

By placing it in the middle it created a natural divider within the drawer also.

HOWEVER,

I think to expect all that stuff to go back in and remain tidy is a bit ambitious.

Quite frankly two drawers are required, so I have removed some placemats and napkins to the linen cupboard and relocated the teatowels and dish cloths and given over another drawer.

Previously I had also purchased a couple of white coated wire storage racks from the op shop so I placed these inside the drawer on either side to "create" three divisions in a fashion. Hopefully this will keep things more accessible and orderly. I have grouped like colours and like materials together so that they will remain in a group and be easily found. The whole outfitting cost about $3. Bargain.

What about you? Are you up for a utensil drawer challenge?

Make it Possible - Imagine a world without factory farming

Make it possible

Yes some of your supermarket purchases perpetuate this practice, especially cheap chicken meat. There is nothing crueller than purposely breeding meat chickens to grow so quickly and so big that they can't stand up and can't even get out of their own excrement.

If you say you don't know about the misery of caged egg producing chickens then you are living under a rock because that has been exposed for decades and thankfully the consumer trend is changing.

You may not be aware of the plight of caged pigs though and this video is very gentle and doesn't tell you the half of it.

Yes some of your supermarket purchases attribute to this inhumane set of practices

BUT

it is most definitely your choice of fast food outlet that contributes to this.

For every chicken nugget pack you eat, several meat birds have died suffocated in their own hot smelly rank conditions with broken legs.

For every bacon and egg burger a chicken has had it's beak ground off so it can't peck. It only wants to peck because it is slowly being driven insane by the unnatural conditions and over-crowding.

A pig is penned so that it can't turn around, it has nothing to look at day in day out and all natural inclinations are curbed. It too is slowly going insane.

Our chickens are free ranging in a large yard and sometimes into the garden proper too. Even so we know a happy chicken needs change and variety. We change the landscape of their yard with blocks of wood, bales of straw and old tyres, giving them something to jump on or through. We hang bunches of greens from baling twine so they are pecking a moving object and being mind stimulated. 

A happy chicken produces good eggs.

Please consider ALL your food purchases carefully and consciously. 

It is not fair to blame a farmer who is responds to consumer demand. If you demand ethical food, they will produce it. 

Tasmania is phasing out sow stalls by 2014.

Tasmania banned battery hens in 2012. If you are still buying caged eggs in Tasmania then they are coming from the mainland.

We are so lucky in Tasmania, most of the meat produced here is ethically raised and it is easy to meet your farmer and your food face to face. We (Craig and I) buy pork (Landrace and Wessex Saddleback and sometimes a bit of Tamworth)  from farmers we know and they are often pigs we have met and patted in the paddock. 

I believe in eating meat and I believe in the consequences and the responsibility of that decision.

"Trayg"

What do you think of this design item made from recycled materials?

It is made from timber slats, has feet and a handle and uses brass rivets.

It is a cross between a tray and a trug....

Therefore...

it is called,

Trayg

(by Cliff Anderson)

What do you think?

Could you use one?

How much would you pay?

****************

Don't forget locals that the Living Better Group meets tomorrow night at the Cock and Bull (upstairs) from 7-9pm.