...really high!

So I sent Linda a text saying "send me that picture of me up REALLY high!"... and then I got this. Geeze, it doesn't look high at all! But I was moaning and groaning the whole time... it just seems so much higher when youre up there!!

Anyway, slow progress on this wall, but getting there. Infact Ive finished the logo in the area you can see there and Im onto marking the last line of text... Yay!

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And I've been back at Mum's for about a week now... and it's been ok! Being away at the flat must have been really good for me and taught me alot. I've put alot of boundaries in place I think, including my work life. My (old) next door neighbour has the spiritual gift of prophecy ( if you believe in that, which I do) and prophesied my business would do really well since I was taking a step of faith and flat out cancelling my benifet... and so far so good. I gave this quote for a van and pretty much tripled my usual price, and guess what? they still came back! Was not expecting that really.

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And YAAAAAY! again! someone shouted me tickets to go see this guy. Daniel Walker author of God in a Brothel. I bought this for myself for christmas. Hes a kiwi guy who runs an organisation that rescues sex slaves out of brothels in Asia ( and the US too). There are 20 to 30 million slaves in the world today. More today than when slavery was abolished, and most of them are in the sex industry. 

His website is NVADER . Donate if you can... and pray!

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And I'm working away at another dancing dress for Catherine. I'm tempted to post the preliminary attempts but I better not. I'll wait till I've done the draft pattern (and shown the teacher, coz it's all really serious you know).

Almost done one side of the Irish dancing studio that Catherine attends. Was alot more enjoyable with my friend Linda helping me out!

And goodbye flat sweet flat! We are moving out on the 10th of Feb! Temporarily back to mums, then onto the waiting list for a state house which will be waaaay cheaper rent. We had a great time! We survived on $20 a week groceries for 6 months... yet I recon we still ate well! We made friends with the neighbours and had alot of fun! But the best thing about moving out (don't get me wrong, I would have LOVED to have stayed), is that with the stricter benifit laws I decided Im going to cancel my benifit, I'll finally be off the dole. OMG I hate being on the dole. But my expenses were too high. But being in the flat forced me to cut them right down and now I've learnt to live on peanuts I think I can live off what I earn. Well I hope so. I 'm just excited to find out anyhow... which isn't usually like me but I just feel like this is gonna be a good year... it has been so far!

That's the plan

So I thought I'd put this in a separate post incase the people googling "Cheap Lip Balm Recipe" read this.

This is for my blog friends really.

So I went to WINZ on Wednesday, and they basically told me I have to be working 20 hours a week or my benifit gets cut. Now I'm self employed, doesn't that count for anything? I asked.

Nope. Doesn't count sorry.

You have 4 weeks to get back to us. Work or study or we will basically decide for you.

So, at first I was in a big huff. I was all for selling all my stuff I'd only just finished collecting for my flat and moving back to Mum's... but since I can't stand not having my own space I was actually seriously considering pitching a tent out the back!! "I'm totally gonna get on the news" thinks I. Drama Queen I know.

Basically my reasoning was if I can just cut my expenses right down they won't be breathing down my neck. And I didn't want to give up my business. 

But you know how I am with that... I've quit my business like 5 times now. 

Long story short....

I decided to skim the job section in the paper and I came across an article on a volunterr sewing organisation which I thought was cool.

Then it hit me. I love sewing. I should learn to sew on an industrial sewing machine and get a sewing job.

It would be perfect and it's the only type of job I actually like the idea of doing. 

So I looked up some courses and there's one down the road from me! I have savings to pay for it without a student loan (It will be the last of my savings but it may be worth it) WINZ will be off my back for 6 months which gives me more time in my flat... and I like the idea of becoming a good sewer!

So that's the agenda! Might not happen till next year, but that's the plan!

Guy Fawks... on the roof!

Bought some more beautiful 70s pottery today at the Op shop for a couple of bucks a pop. It's making me really want to try out my potters wheel!

BTW, check out some lovely pottery pieces here from someone whos just started!

And a friend went to Bali recently and brought back that purple lava lava, so I put it on the wall. Slightly tacky? Doesn't really matter. I scored a 1 out of 20 for hospitality in a spiritual gifts text recently, so obviously I don't set my flat up to please people!

And oh my goodness. I think I've created a new tradition. Because I decided to save money and spend Guy Fawks night with friends (which they had on Saturday instead), when the actual night came along, last night (Tuesday), I told Catherine we would climb onto our roof to watch them! It was really just to add a bit of excitement so she wouldn't ask me to buy fireworks, and WOW! it WAS exciting and the view is amazing from our roof. Who knew? The pictures couldn't do it justice. Pitch black with lights and fireworks all over the horizon. And although it bucketed down with rain and we had to get down so we didn't slip on the tin (!) I definitely want to give it a go next year and if it doesn't rain try and get some decent pictures. 

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PS. When I say "our house" I tend to alternate between meaning my Mum's house which I grew up in ), or my little flat which is just across the road from Mums.Just to confuse things!

Bohemia!

Like my new skinnies? They were $5 jeans I got from the Op shop which were bootlegs I sewed down the side. Instant skinny jeans. And you see my pointed foot? I always do that to show I did Irish dancing for 10 years, like, yeah-boi, I still got it... but really, I got cramp just taking that photo.

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And spring is here in NZ, and our garden is bushy and beautiful. Some would say "overgrown"... I'm choosing to see the glass half full today and admire the daisies growing up in the middle of our vege patch.

And I just saw the weirdest thing before I came here. You can't really see it but there's a guy on the footpath jogging along... with a beer in his hand! I guess he's not jogging for health reasons then?

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And after crooning over the Moon to Moon blog I went to the Op shop and got myself some beautiful 70s pottery. It's my favourite type of decor and reminds me of smokey folk gatherings from my childhood. 

Maybe I should have put some kind of photoshop effect on these to make them more Moon to Moonish..

and what about this one?

Does it look like that photo I showed you? I went to Mums and picked up an old sheet I bought from Trade Aid years ago and pinned to my wall above my headrest.

Well, maybe if I had made my bed first!

I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok, got a big peppermint that lasts all day...

um... that's from an old tv ad...but check this out! This is how much wood I've chopped with an axe in 3 weeks. I've been doing it at the end of the day for no more than half an hour. (And probably no more than 3 times a week)...

And this is how much I've got to go...

And why am I bragging? Because it's a bit like a lumberjack finding out he could tapdance. I never thought I could chop such big pieces. I'm not done with the pile, and it will probably take me about 3 months to get through at this rate, but my hopes are high.

I'd like to add, at first I felt a twinge of self pity, untill I realised that other people spend $700 a year on gym memberships and this is free. I may even get to sell the wood, although the hippie in me wants to give it all away and make the world a better place.

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And on an equally self indulgent note... I have nets!!! I've wanted these since I moved in a year and half ago!

I took down the bubble wrap we used for insulation. I can't tell you if it was effective because we had the mildest winter here since 1908! buy I can tell you it stopped the condensation, which was a bonus. And now I have nets and don't have to wave awkwardly at people as they walk past my window hehe!

(And I saved up my pennys. Literally. In a jar!!) I love thrifty living!!

My Pad

So I did a little tidy and took some pictures of my lounge. I'm not really putting myself in danger coz we've got nothing to steal anyway! And everything was given to us, or scrounged off the side of the road!!

It's not the most amazing piece of interior design. Mainly I'm just happy to have a space to myself that is relatively easy to cleen and a place where I can be alone when I need it!

But some things of note are:

The stripey yellow couch actually belonged to my Great-grandparents. (Catherines Great-great-grandparents!!)

The ironing board belonged to my grandmother

All the chairs scrounged out of the hard-rubbish and done up.

Charcoal art by me.

Peacock feathers from my friends family's farm!

New from Old

Two blog posts in one day. Is that allowed?

Here's a chair I've been slowly working on since last year. It had no seat and was varnished and the leg joint was broken. I had to chip off the old glue and carefully put new nails in then bog the cracks. I pretty much sanded down all the varnish off by hand which is why it took me so long, then undercoat and a top coat of black which I have basically used for all the furniture in my flat.

I should really give my flat a good tidy and take a picture of how I've decorated it so far. Almost everything was salvaged or given to me.

Yay! I made it a whole week without any processed white sugar... except when I realised too late the peaches I ate had sugar syrup in them, and I was too frugally minded to chuck them out. I entred the Biggest Loser at church too. I hope I do well.

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And this is a picture I took in  a moment of self pity, planning to blog about how much work I have to do on my own (as if I'm the only one!). Now, in the cold light of day I realise... talk about first world problems!!

"Poor me!! I have too many kitchen appliances to wash!!!"

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In regards to the cot we got in the hard rubbish... I thought Catherine would be sick of it after one night,but nope! shes still happy as larry, sleeping in there every night!

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And speaking of things we picked up in the hard rubbish... I needed a broom for our carport.

I found this...

which I'm planning to tape to the handle of this...

(the worn out rakes you can see ) and make a new broom!

This makes me happy. :)

It's that time again!

We are totally the biggest scroungers around! Yes it's hard rubbish time again. I don't know how it works overseas, but in New Zealand, once a year we put out all our junk that can't normally put out, and the council comes and picks it all up for us. Last year was like christmas for us, especially since I'd just moved into a new flat and we didn't have much, and since I'm still doing up the chairs from then, I didn't think we needed anything this year. Untill I got a call from Catherines dad who asked me to bring the van so we could pick up a cot that Catherine wanted. A COT? are you serious. I tried to say no but went out to see it anyway... and this is what we came back with.

As you can see, there's no cot in there.

We got that later.

Yes. Catherine, eight years old, slept in a cot last night. I'm consoling myself with the fact that when she gets sick of it I can always put it back in the hard rubbish collection.

I'm quite happy about my drawers find though. When I saw it I was like "I can fix that!!!"

Drawer runners 89 cents each, some squares of ply to pack the back of the knobs... which I got from another set of drawers from the rubbish collection and viola!

Also managed to take this....

to this....

with 4 screws and a bit of elbow grease.

And finally we picked up this.

It's taken awhile, but our little flat is starting to feel more like a home.

I think deep down we know what we really want. For me my dreams reveal to me my deepest desires. The other night I dreamt I bought a big pot, put it by my door and planted a lavender plant in it.

So I acted on my dream, trying to put a bit of paridise into my reality.

I think our blogs also reveal how we wish our lives were.

For instance we present our photos by cropping and colour inhancing like this.,..

... when the reality is more like this...

Im not sad, I'm not suicidal, but for me I know my deepest desires will never be met this side of heaven. My dreams tell me that every time I wake up each morning and they quickly fade back into my subconscious.

But there's work here for me, and I have no choice. So here I am... looking forward to a time when my deepest desires are met... Heaven... bring it on!

Were going vegetarian!!

Ok. Just for a week.

Were still on $20 a week, and guess what? ITS A PIECE OF CAKE.

For so long I used to worry about retirement. Will I have enough to eat or will I resort to eating dog food like I heard some elderly people had to resort to. Now I'm not really worried at all because I've discovered I can survive on next to nothing and its EASY!

I'm usually a real meat eater too... and was buying meat at the expense of eating not much veg. But then I was sifting through a Thai cook book I had and came across the vegetarian section... well, I had a supply of yummy asian sauces to spice it all up, so why not? Gotta be better for you than meat only.

ps. Is tuna meat?

oh, rain on the roof... winter is here!!

Remember this? 50 metres of bubblewrap? Well, the first day of winter is here, and I bubblewrapped my windows!! Just for extra insulation you know, coz our flat is an icebox in the winter!!

If you want to do it... easy as pie. Measure window. Cut to size (I used a book to get the ends square), then just spray the window with water and it sticks on!!).

The only thing is, it makes the room a bit darker. But we never got around to getting net curtains, so we have a bit more privacy now.

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Plus... still chugging away at my bags. I've been greatly encouraged lately. I had another purchase from someone at church, someone on facebook is keen to get another one, and I woke up this morning to find one of my blog readers had purchased one!! (You know who you are....THANK YOU!!)

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Also... I've made 4 of these babies for Catherine to wear under her uniform this winter... and 2 more to go. They are a merino blend and only cost me $1 each to make!!

I want to put pattern and instructions up soon.

Frugality is fun

Finally replaced the drawer runners in Catherines drawers. I thought it was going to be hard and expensive. Turned out to be easy and cheap!

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And I seem to have unintentionally worried a friend with my bragging about my $20 a week budget.

I guess I didnt mention that I had greens from our garden, and we got given fruit too.

So... we are fine.

I think we have a bizare idea of what poverty is in this country. On Cambell Live last night they had a story on child poverty, which was kinda riviting, and because I seem to fall into what they think is poverty, kinda annoying. One of the questions was "Did you ever think youd have to teach children with boils, scabbies and head lice?"

Head lice?? Ever heard of polio? Malaria? Whooping cough?

I think I'm going to write to my sponsored kid right now, and say "Hey, guess what... we are so poor we might catch head lice". 

Natures air freshner

I couldn't afford air freshner, so I made this. It's a small box made from pallet wood, just big enough to hold a cut up milk bottle.

Put in water, cut a large bunch of lavender which grows in abundance at our place and ta-da!

loo paper

Thankyou Pak n Save!!! Well... thankyou Jesus I guess.

For my $20 food budget this week I got a MASSIVE bag of pototoes... omgosh, enough to live off for the whole week if we had to. How to cook potatoes.. oh let me count the ways...

a massive packet of bacon, which I wrapped individually in bread bags I had saved, then froze!!

and a massive bag of loo paper which will last a while ... all on special this week!!!

WHY would I brag about loo paper you ask?

Well, I used to live with a girl who was pretty much in my position. A solo mum on the dole, with a kid to raise... and she never had loo paper!! or light bulbs half the time... or sugar or milk for a cuppa, but if she had money left at the end of the week she'd order home delivered pizza....CRAZY!

So I told myself I'd never do that. I always have light bulbs... and loo paper!

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And now that I really do have to save money,and not just pretend...

I'm having second thoughts about my newspaper duvet inner I want to make.

I've collected the paper....

...but don't want to waiste the poplin on the cover, even though it's only $3 a metre.

And I get the feeling ... it just wont work... really , I mean, it's gonna be stiff and make alot of rustling noise in the night!!!

Might still give a go though!

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Oh yeah, and I made my neice a cake.

Happy 10th birthday Aziza :)