Sewing. Motherhood. Domestic Engineering.

"Upside down, upside down" ATTENTI ON: THIS COMPETITION HAS CLOSED To win a free Adjustable Drip Spike for your garden all you need to do is be the first person to comment on this post with who said the above quote*.  To read the full post on drip/water spikes click here . *Terms and Conditions: Competition ends Wednesday 31st October 2012 at 11.59pm Australia EST. The prize can only be posted within Australia.

Got these adjustable drip spikes (aka; aqua/water spike) from Bunnings for $1.20 each. There are others available on ebay but these are Holman . Nifty little knick knacks that have some very mixed reviews online. Still running tests to get them to work perfectly. Will provide more information when I have mastered  it. This is how they work... Instructions (or destructions according to Mr Wilson) This is how big they are... Settings for drip rate Everywhere that I looked on the web didn't show these angles. So I wanted to be helpful to everyone else looking for the same thing I was. Gives you an indication of the type of bottle it will fit. These fit standard Australian soft drink and water bottles. "Upside down, upside down" Punch a hole in the base of the bottle. This was done with a skewer but I'm currently trialling using a smaller hole from a sewing pin. Pick somewhere next to the plant (closer is probably better but don'...

My tomato plants have just started fruiting but they look really unhealthy, the leaves are brown like they are burnt or something. Based on what I have read in my books ( Book 1 & Book 2 ) it is not blight or blossom end rot. I suspect it is a water/nutrient deficiency. These plants get a fair bit of sun time and when I go to water them in the afternoon the soil and pots are almost always dry. Solution – I’m going to construct a slow release drip bottle. Check it out....

This is the only brand of tea that I will buy. I like the flavour, it’s Australian and it reminds me of my Nanna :) Just the classic ‘Blue Label’ is perfect for a cuppa, ‘Australian Breakfast’ is also good. Now that I have a tea pot I also get ‘Rounds’ which are stronger so that each cup gets the right brew. Tea is also very healthy to drink (if you don ’ t put sugar in it, which I don ’ t any more). It ’ s good for your heart and blood vessels, and is a great way to increase hydration. I ’ ve started having 3-4 cups a day at work and even more when I ’ m studying (I make tea during my pomodoro break). Take the  Bushells Tea Test online to see if you drink tea like an Aussie or a Brit. Bushells also have a great program called ‘ Driver Reviver ’. They have 220 sites across Australia that serve free tea to encourage drivers to “stop, revive, survive”. Learn how to do the Tim Tam Slam - Coming soon...

I have been using this moisturiser for over two years now and have never turned back. I starting using this because I was looking for something that was going to make my face feel greasy or look shiny. Can no longer get the ‘Sensitive Skin’ version from Coles but can get if from Woo lies and it also comes in SPF +15 which is great and there is another on e which I can 't remember .

Haha, I've just about recommended all of the apps I've currently got on the phone! They are really good though. This one might be good for the handyman or tradie. This app includes rulers, level, protractor and a few other gizmos. But what I really wanted this for was the protractor overplayed on a camera, to use in risk assessments for height safety. Yet to officially put it to the test but looking forward to it. See my post on how to use the Smart Ruler Pro app to hang picture frames

The Assignment Planner app is a great little tool for monitoring high school and university assignments and grades. A new feature is multi-sized widgets, which is handy for those of us who have heaps of assignments :)

The  Moving Planner app is yet another fantastic app that I have come across. It can be used for all sorts of lists; shopping, holiday packing, camping, cleaning lists, moving, bucket list, party planning, wedding planning....the list goes on :P

Got these beautiful home-grown tomatoes from the markets on the weekend.  What to do with them....

After plenty of trials and fails I have finally come across a hair routine that I am really happy with. None of it is from the salon, it can all be found on the shelf at the supermarket. I have curly, frizzy hair which is a pain at the best of times. So I use a fair bit of product to get it to stay where I tell it to and it makes my hair fell yucky very quickly. Now that I'm using a good set of products, my hair is less frizzy therefore requiring less hair spray, it's much better at the ends, fells really good and their hair dress agreed that my hair smelt really nice :) Shampoo - Head and Shoulders It's a bit harder on the hair than normal shampoos which is great for me because it strips out the hair spray and stiffening product really well so that the hair and scalp is actually clean. Having clean hair also makes the conditioner more effective. Always get it when on special because it can be quite expensive otherwise. Conditioner 1 - Natural Organics, F...

Sounds yummy and it is! This recipe has come from Super Food Ideas magazine. Serves 4, Prep 10 minutes Cook 40 minutes  (I did prep, cook, eat and clean on 40 minutes - yay for me!) Fritters 2 zucchini, grated 1 potato, peeled + grated 4 short cut bacon rashes, trimmed + finely chopped 1/4 plain four (don't bother with the sieve) 1 egg, lightly beaten 2 tbs chives (from my garden :D) Oil for frying Yoghurt 2 garlic cloves, crushed (I used jar) 1/2 cup plain greek-style yoghurt OR Yoghurt (as per me!! got adventurous and did it a bit different) 1/2 tsp crushed garlic 1/2 cup plain greek-style yoghurt salt pepper 3 tbs finely chopped chives Squeeze excess moisture from zucchini Combine zucchini, potato, bacon, flour, egg, salt, pepper and chives in a bowl. Heat oil in a frying pan Spoon mixture into pan and press flat Cook until golden brown, and crispy and then flip over Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel ...

Having done a little bit of piping with macaroons and a few sweets, and having seen some of the cool cupcakes my sister ( cartBOX ) has created I have ordered some new nozzles from Ebay . This was helpful to watch... I also ordered a heap of disposable piping bags (so cheap) which I’m excited about. Fingers crossed the quality is good. When I have received everything and had a chance to give it all a go I will do another post and maybe even a video on the different types of nozzles and what effects you can get. YAY!

Saw this on the Ellen show and I think it is so cute. I've always wanted a goat but now I really want one!!

I originally learnt how to make fondant roses from  this video but there are plenty of other videos out there that teach the same method. This is the rose I created on my first go and I was really impressed! It is a very easy to follow process. And some others that I was experimenting with… instead of the plastic pocket I use clip lock bags because they are made of food grade plastic.  

--> I found these a while ago when I was doing research for my veranda garden. Thought they looked really cute. There are plenty websites with instructions on how to do them yourself OR you can even order them off the internet. The letter and number stamping sets were a lot cheaper than I expected, but still umming and ahhing if I will get one. Can even get punches for little pictures like hearts, dogs, four leaf clover, Christmas shapes etc.

My parents put me onto this one when I moved out. Instead of buying the little 2-5kg boxes of laundry powder from the super market go to a hardware store and buy a 10kg bucket which yield a better per kg price - and to get even better saving, wait until the bucket is on special (we wait for half price). Don't forget to get 'NP' = NON PHOSPHORUS! This article can tell you why... Then get a smaller plastic container (mine is fairly big) and fill it up with powder and throw in a little scoop. Now, where the hell do you put a massive 10kg container? Well we are in a smallish rental apartment and we just stuck it in the hot water cupboard. Any dead space that you can't use practically will do.

I actually made these!! A little while ago Macarons or Macaroons became a huge hit in Queensland and in my kitchen. Bede and I got the book 'Secrets of Macarons' by Jose Marechal from his grandmother as a wedding gift. Didn't take me long before I was making an attempt at the yummy sweets. I also used another recipe for chocolate macaroons that I found somewhere on line but I can remember where it can from.  Basic equipment for making most macaroons: kitchen scales electric beater piping bag (pretty cheap from ebay) piping nozzle (round) large flat baking tray baking paper sieve whisk spatula thermometer (I just guessed) macaroon template   The template ensures that when you join them together they are all the same size. You can grab a template from here and just print it out (some you print twice and stick them together) and slip it under the baking paper - Don't forget to take it out before baking. So here you have it. This is a combi...

3/5 - This book includes all the information on growing fruit and vegetables but also how to raise chickens, goats, pigs, bees, cows and more. I'm not such a fan of the layout of the book, just a bit all over the place. There is a fair bit on how to design the garden and building things like trellises and frames for vertical plants. A good reference for herbs. It's completely American - so months of the year, regions and plant types will be different for most other parts of the world.