Homemaking This Week Was . . . . . .

Obviously, we must begin with a cute granddaugter photo. I cannot wait to see them again! I love how little Willow has her Rosie the Riveter look going on! That turban is too cute! 

The new, very loose schedule is working well. It has been particularly helpful to give myself a blogging limit as I can very easily get lost down the rabbit hole and spends WAY too long looking at blogs. I want to see them all!

The morning tea projects is also working well. I finished one of the projects from last week, the Waiting For Winter beanie. 

My daughter chose this fur pom pom to top it off. It came from Lovely Loops Designs on Etsy. You can get any colour of pom pom here!

This week's three projects are now:

1. Pool Party leg warmers 

2. With Angora Tie jumper - from my Adventures In Stitchcraft project

3. And adding in the Naptime Doll. This pattern is in a cute book I own called Knitted Toys by Tatyana Korobkova. This book has so many adorable patterns. I want to knit them all, just to sit them on my bookshelves!

The Big Project of cleaning out and organising the pantry was not completed this week. Terrible failing on my part as I had  the time blocked out for it. I used all the allocated time but still didn't get it done! It will certainly be organised by next week.

My one recipe a week this week was from Chicken and Egg. I made Warm Village Salad. It was easy and delicious! Not very challenging, I admit, but hey, I need some quick and simple recipes that everyone will like.

I love these multicoloured cherry tomatoes. I want to plan to grow a few different varieties next summer to have my own!

The pantry assignment this week from A Working Pantry's boot camp was to make at least one meal that can be frozen for future consumption. I do normally do this but at the moment my freezer is overflowing! We received lamb from two different farmer friends recently and now there is a lot of lamb in the freezer! But every week I make some spaghetti sauce to freeze for the next week, so in that went. I will often make pizza bases to freeze too. 

How has your homemaking week gone? 

Getting Organised

As I mentioned previously, I really need to kick start my routine again, or modify it to fit our changed life.

I have been using Rhonda's (Down To Earth blog) wonderful books to help me along as well as the homemaking posts at Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth. I continued to use the fabulous resources on this blog while Jes was away, but I was so happy to see a few days ago that Jes is back! I look forward to seeing what other lovely ideas she has for us.

So here is a very rough schedule for the moment. I will keep playing with it over time, but this will certainly keep everything ticking along nicely.

Monday

Grocery shopping, post office, library, other town errands 1.5 hours

Morning tea projects 0.5 hour

Blog 0.5 hour

Vaccuum 0.5 hour

Mop 0.5 hour

Gardening 1 hour

Total of 4.5 hours

Tuesday

Morning tea projects 0.5 hour

Blog 0.5 hour

Bathroom 1 hour

Baking 1 hour

Etsy shop 1 hour

Big Projects 2 hours

Total of 6 hours

Wednesday

Morning tea projects 0.5 hour

Blog 0.5 hour

Dusting 0.5 hour

Vaccuum 0.5 hour

Clean fridge 0.5 hour

Gardening 1 hour

Big Projects 2 hours

Total of 5.5 hours

Thursday

Shopping, post office, library, other town errands 1.5 hours

Morning tea projects 0.5 hour

Blog 0.5 hour

Etsy shop 1 hour

Big Projects 2 hours

Total of 5.5 hours

Friday

Morning tea projects 0.5 hour

Blog 0.5 hour

Vaccuum 0.5 hour

Baking 1 hour

Etsy shop 1 hour

Gardening 2 hours

Total of 5.5 hours

I haven't included here all the everyday things that just tick along. Such as, I do laundry every day, obviously cook dinner every day, wipe over the bathroom every morning. I am just trying to have a bit more structure as I can tend to wander aimlessly, thinking what should I do now. Hopefully this will help me!

A few ideas that I have included are:

Morning Tea Project Time - Every day, 10.30 to 11.00, will be morning tea time. A cup of tea and three projects to work on for 10 minutes each. This way, I will be sure to work on a few things consistently every day. I will then choose one project that will be my TV/nighttime project for that day. This will, of course, get more time spent on it so I will rotate these around. It may not always be knitting. I am hoping to get out some embroidery and cross stitch projects that have been languishing as well.

These are the three I am working on this week. You have seen them before!

Hopefully I will get some finished quickly so that they will change at least a little each week!

Big Projects - I will focus on one big project at a time until it is finished. This is definitely an area in which I come unstuck, with half finished jobs being left. First up in this category will be to empty and inventory my pantry spaces. As they are spread out in different places, it is hard to know exactly what I have.

I am ashamed to but I will show you my pantries, as they are!

These two cupboards live in two opposite corners of the dining room, just wherever I could fit them in. They are just cheap flatpack cupboards so the shelves are bowing a bit under the weight!

I also have pantry items stored up in the top cupboards in the kitchen. But as we have twelve feet ceilings, you can imagine these are pretty high up! I cannot reach unless I stand on the benchtop or use a ladder!

So let's see how I can neaten these up a bit!

For cooking/new dinner ideas, I am adding the Recipe Book project - I read this post at Stay Home Instead recently. It really struck a chord with me when she said that recipe books aren't meant to just look lovely on her shelves, but "I believe you are actually supposed to cook from them".

Hmmm, I am definitely guilty of this! I have a terrible habit of borrowing cookbooks from the library and bookmarking the recipes I like. If there are quite a few, I think to myself that I may as well buy the book.

But as you can see, I have quite a few - more than will fit in the shelves in fact!

And then I have my homesteading book shelf, many of which include recipes.

Anyway, Fiona's idea is to cook through her cookbooks. What a great idea! :)

I am planning to choose a book each week and make one recipe from it. I am only committing to one recipe per week so I will actually do it! I may, of course, revisit books. Plus I have my vintage recipe project, cooking from each issue of Stitchcraft as part of Adventures In Stitchcraft.

I do tend to cook the same things as it is simply easier to cook what I know the boys like. But I think they can do with some broadening of their culinary horizons!

This week's book is Chicken and Egg, which seems to now be out of print. It is a book written by a backyard chicken owner so all the recipes are designed to use eggs (and chicken, as eventually you may need to cull). I have six hens at the moment, which is the lowest number I have had in ages. I lost eight hens to a fox just before COVID and haven't been able to replace them. Maybe I should hatch some? I haven't done that for a few years and it is so enjoyable.

I am drooling over some of the dessert recipes - Pumpkin Spice Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce, anyone?! Check back next week to see what I make! 

Please let me know if you have any other good tips for me! 

Let's Talk Routine

Routine - do you have one? 

We have all seen those blog posts and Youtube videos about 'I lived for a day/week/month as a 1950s housewife'. Google it and thousands of entries come up.

And while we may not want to follow all the advice from 1950s manuals, I do appreciate the routine chores lists that these manuals contain. 

As I'm sure is the case for many others, my routine has undergone a few alterations in these crazy times. And I have been somewhat lax in establishing a new one. My primary focus has been the boys' schooling so I have pretty much been fitting my other chores in around this. Which has been fine - everyone has been fed, has clean clothes and bedding and a relatively clean house. But it is the 'extras' that have been dropped from the routine - don't even look at the ceiling fans! Lucky it is winter and we are not using them or they would just fling dust at people! 

When I used to homeschool 'officially', I was much more organised, I promise! But as this was just a temporary arrangement, I decided to go with the flow somewhat and not stress too much about the deep cleaning. 

My other problem is that I am a ditherer, a procrastinator. If I do not have a list to 'tell' me what to do, I tend to jump from one thing to the next and not settle down to actually achieving anything. 

So now it is time for a revamp of the routine to make sure I can fit everything in.

Here is what I am wondering - I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

• Do you do one activity per day or spread them out over the five days so there is a little bit of something on each day?
• Do you schedule your own 'fun' activities, such as reading or crafting, to make sure there is a spot for them? Or just hope you can fit them in the little extra pockets of time?

I am definitely a proponent of meal planning. I definitely find that the days run much smoother if I have meals planned out and do not have to think about them every day. 

Maybe not these 1950s meals though! 

And I need to fit in at least one day a week to work on my Etsy shop. Luckily I do this from home so I can fit in other things around it.

So this week I will take a look around the house and make some lists. And check out some of the many vintage cleaning routines online and see what I can pull together. 

How have your routines been during these crazy times? (my official term for that which must not be named!)

My Top Ten Essential Oils

I want only the best, most effective, safest and purest support for my family. They deserve it! This is why I have chosen to replace so many of our health, beauty and cleaning needs with essential oils.
I LOVE these oils! 100% pure, no hidden fillers, synthetics or sprays, and sourced where the plants grow best, through ethical treatment of the growers and communities. An empowering health alternative. 

Everyone likes a top ten list, right? And I love my essential oils. So here is my list of my top ten favourite essential oils and why.

I'm only going to select from single oils, not the blends. Although all the blends are wonderful and I use them all the time.


1. Lemon


You cannot go past the basics and you definitely need Lemon essential oil in your life!

Lemon, like all the citrus oils, is uplifting and energising and is a great mood enhancer. It can overcome mental fatigue and help in decision-making. Lemon is calming for someone who is emotionally overwrought and helps to instill a positive mindset. Diffuse Lemon in the morning, either alone or in a blend, and you can't go wrong! It will also act as an air purifier.
Lemon has powerful purifying and cleansing qualities as it is antimicrobial and antiseptic. Use it to make your own bathroom cleaners, dish soap, laundry detergent, carpet cleaners and more. I will be sharing some recipes for the cleaners I make in future posts.
Healthwise, Lemon acts as an astringent so is particularly good for teenage acne. It is an excellent detoxifying oil and can help to clear phlegm and treating the symptoms of coughs and colds when diffused, especially if used with Eucalyptus.
I would call Lemon the go-to oil! If you can only have one oil, make it Lemon for its multiple uses.


2. Lavender


Lavender has a long history of use in beauty products - think of Yardley's English Lavender which was launched in 1873. But of course, Lavender had been used for centuries at home before its use in commercial applications.

Lavender essential oil could be considered the opposite oil to Lemon as, whereas Lemon is invigorating and great for waking you up, Lavender is calming and useful for bedtime. Lavender is calming and relaxing and will promote restful sleep and ease tension.
Diffuse at bedtime or make a lavender water spray to spray on your pillow or bedding before sleep. Make some Lavender bath salts or add a few drops of oil to your bath before bed and you will drop off to sleep in a heartbeat!
Lavender is associated with healing of the skin. It can be used to ease sunburn and to ease the pain of burns and other wounds as it prevents infection and promotes healing. It is also helpful in the treatment of insect bites as it can relieve the itching.
All in all, Lavender is definitely on your must have list!


3. Peppermint


Peppermint essential oil is another oil with a long history.

Peppermint has a high menthol content, which is responsible for its contradictory warming and cooling properties. It is a 'strong' oil and as such care needs to be taken when using with children and those with sensitive skin.
Diffusing Peppermint will help to clear your mind and enhance concentration. It can also help when you are needing some insight and clarity when planning new ideas or taking in new or difficult information. Thus it is good for use when studying.
Menthol is an effective nasal decongestant - just take care when using with young children. Do not use direct inhalation with them or someone with sensitive nasal passages. Its head clearing properties also make it useful for treating tension headaches. A cold compress using Peppermint oil can clear a headache.
A spray made with Peppermint oil and water is very cooling on a hot day and can help relieve the discomfort of sunburn. Keep it in the fridge to make it extra cooling.


All of the above are the reasons why these three oils - Lemon, Lavender and Peppermint - make up doTerra's Beginner's Trio Kit. I would definitely start my journey into essential oil use with these three.


4. Tea Tree (Melaleuca)


Tea Tree or Melaleuca essential oil is sourced right here in Australia. It has been used by the indigenous people of Australia for centuries and they shared its properties and uses with Captain James Cook.

Most of us probably already know of Tea Tree's antimicrobial, antiseptic and antifungal properties as it is widely used in a number of products. In 1923, a study found that Tea Tree oil had an antimicrobial activity of 12 times that of phenol (the current product in use). It is helpful in treating wounds and infections. Tea Tree oil is also of great use when added to cleaning products. I add it to my homemade liquid handwash too.
Like Peppermint, it also has head clearing properties and can diffused to help with coughs and colds and to purify the air. It has strong immune-building qualities and is helpful for those with chronic illness or those who have trouble fighting infections.


5. Frankincense


Frankincense essential oil is called the King of Oils.

Frankincense promotes feelings of calm and peace, stilling the mind and aiding in prayer and meditation. It helps to focus your energy and improve concentration, so is useful for students. Diffuse Frankincense to dispel anxiety and release stress and to promote feelings of overall wellness.
Frankincense is wonderful for mature skin and can help reduce skin imperfections, such as wrinkles. It is also useful to help with minimising the appearance of scarring, due to its skin rejuvenation properties.


6. Geranium


If you are after the best beauty oil, Geranium essential oil would be it!

Some people don't like the scent of Geranium as it is quite sweet and floral and it can be cloying. But used in small amounts, it adds a lovely floral note.
Geranium has various beautifying properties and promotes healthy, glowing skin and hair. Add a few drops to your regular moisturiser for smooth, blemish free skin, as it regulates the production of sebum. Add a few drops to your shampoo or conditioner for silky hair.
Diffuse Geranium to calm the nerves and lessen stress. It relaxes the body and balances the emotions, lifting the spirit and fostering peace and well-being.
A little Geranium goes a long way, so it is an oil well worth purchasing.


7. Eucalyptus


Eucalyptus essential oil is similar in some uses to Tea Tree, but is worth having for its own benefits.

Eucalyptus is useful for opening the airways and promoting clear breathing. I use it for my son's asthma and hay fever. It is used for coughs and colds as it is a decongestant. When you have a cold, drip a few drops on the base of the shower. The warm water will release the oil in the steam and ease your breathing. It is also an effective insect repellent and can be used to relieve muscular aches and pains.
Due to its purifying properties, it is useful for purifying the air and for cleaning surfaces.
Eucalyptus can lessen tension and promote relaxation. It is considered to be an oil of renewal and can cleanse negative spirits and feelings of conflict.




8. Ginger


Ginger essential oil is probably best known for its use in motion sickness and digestion problems.

Ginger is a warming oil and such is good for stimulating circulation. This also means it is helpful in dispelling cold symptoms. Inhaling Ginger oil can help reduce feelings of nausea, so take some along on a long car trip.
Diffusing Ginger can increase clarity and determination so is useful when suffering apathy or indecision.


9. Cedarwood


Cedarwood essential oil has a warm, woody scent.

Cedarwood has a skin clarifying effect. Due to its astringent and antiseptic properties, Cedarwood is useful for improving oily skin and hair, such as acne and dandruff, as it helps to reduce oily secretions.
Due to its camphoraceous properties, it is an effective insect repellent and can be used to deter moths.
Cedarwood is a grounding and balancing oil, so can be used to soothe the mind and body and promote feelings of well-being. It is frequently used in massage therapy for this reason.


10. Bergamot


Bergamot essential oil is another of the citrus oils.

Bergamot is one of the most popular oils for use in perfumery and gives Earl Grey tea its distinctive flavour.
Bergamot is purifying and cleansing to the skin and is useful for treating wounds and acne. Used in conjunction with Lavender and Tea Tree, it can be effective against cold sores and shingles.
Bergamot is unusual in that is has both calming and uplifting abilities. I include Bergamot in my top ten for its emotional uses. Diffusing Bergamot can have a slightly sedative effect so it is useful for depression and anxiety. It has been found to be effective in patients suffering from eating disorders. Bergamot can restore joy and encourages the release of pent up emotions, particularly when used in conjuction with Lavender.


So that is my top ten. As you can imagine, it took me a while to narrow it down - and if you asked me next week, my top ten may be different!


If you are interested in learning more about essential oils or just want some beauty and cleaning recipes and diffuser blends, I share them all on my Facebook page. I would love you to come and visit me there! Sometimes there are even giveaways!

And just to start you off, here are some diffuser blends using some of my top ten oils.

And with this one, just replace the Lime with Lemon.

Enjoy!


Please remember that while essential oils are a natural product, caution must be exercised in their use as they are extremely potent. Please heed the below cautions and use essential oils safely.

Cautions

Possible skin sensitivity. Keep out of reach of children. If you are pregnant, nursing, or under a doctor’s care, consult your physician. Avoid contact with eyes, inner ears, and sensitive areas.

Recipes Using Essential Oils

I talked last week about my experiment making liquid castile soap. It worked! I am so pleased as this will save me heaps of money on postage. No point paying postage on water!

I don't know if you can see in the photo, but even after leaving it for a week, it still had lumps. So I tipped it into a saucepan and heated it up.

It turned from the gel into this clear liquid and I was a bit worried I had ruined it.
But when it cooled back down, it was back to a slimy gel, but super smooth, ready to use.


Using my liquid castile soap, I made the Gardener's Scrub.

It smells divine and works a treat. This quantity only makes about half a jar so I will probably double it in future.

Do you love my new measuring spoons and cups?

And who knew that there were actual designated measurements for these terms?!
I also made a Lemon Coconut Pudding, and various Bliss Balls - the recipes will be in my Monday Meal Planning post next week.


As noted there, please do not use any essential oils that you are not 100% sure are certified for internal use.


So why use essential oils in cooking at all? The concentrated taste is unbelievable. Just a few drops give incredible flavour. It takes a lot of lemons to make lemon oil!


Using the liquid castile soap, I also made laundry soap. I have tried this before over the years, with hubby never being quite happy with the results. Fingers crossed this will be a success over time!

Image from livesimply.me

I really wanted to store mine in a pretty glass jar like this.  But I have an outdoor laundry with a concrete floor and I just know it would get knocked over and smashed. So just a plastic bucket with a lid for me.

My daughter spends a small fortune on 'healthy' skin products. Some of these are crazy expensive! And they aren't even healthy, if you read the long list of synthetic ingredients. So I have been looking for some recipes for her to try.


I have also been using this Coconut Salt Scrub. I love that this recipe only has three ingredients and the blog post contains about 20 different essential oil blends to try. And leaves your skin super tingling and refreshed.
My favourites are the ones with citrus and spearmint, like Mojito, Sea Breeze and Chill Out. Just smell divine! And these are in a pretty jar!


Please do let me know if you try any of these recipes, as I would love to hear what you think.