Thursday 11 January 2018

Plodding along.

I was going to name this post 'Puddling along' but the online dictionary tells me there needs to be water involved and there is certainly no water, as in rain, around here at the moment. It has just been hot, hot hot!  The older I get the less I can function in the heat for some reason.

The rain we did have before the heat set in made the kikuyu grow overnight and areas I finished weeding a couple of weeks ago are now full of weeds once again and it is much too hot to be outside pulling them out. It seems that the rest of the bloggers around the world have hit the ground running and are well and truly organised for the year and making this and that and decluttering and so on. Not so in this neck of the woods as all I seem to have achieved in the crafting world is one button necklace.


This is a great way to use up old buttons. If you have lots of buttons and can do basic crochet you can find the instructions in this post Crochet Button Necklace. They are really easy to make and don't take long at all. The perfect project for a hot day too. 




I made one with white buttons a while back. Some of our Op Shops sell containers of buttons quite cheaply if you don't have the 120 needed to get started. 




I have also started to crochet the tops on some hand towels which I bought a few years ago and have been sitting in a bag beside my recliner waiting for me to stop procrastinating.  These are some I made a while back which have worn out as it seems to be difficult to buy good quality towels these days. I use the pattern Crochet Tea Towel Topper from Laughing Purple Goldfish Designs. Mine are a little wonky but they are okay for me. 



Unfortunately the procrastination will have to come to an end as I counted over fifty Bishop's Crown chillies the other day which have to be dealt with and hopefully I will be able to dehydrate them to make chili flakes...that is if I ever get around to unpacking my ALDI dehydrator which I bought last year. Tomorrow that will be done!!!! Of course it will.  Then again, perhaps not as I am waiting on a call from the NBN call centre ;-)

I hope you are enjoying 2018 and are highly motivated. Surely not everyone is procrastinating in the heat! Then again, perhaps you are in the Northern Hemisphere and are trying to cope with the freezing temperatures. Stay safe wherever you live if you are experiencing extreme temps. 









24 comments:

  1. It is disappointing looking out at the gardens, reflecting how nice it was at Xmas but now weeds everywhere! Spraying is one remedy but trying to get away from using chemicals.
    My dehydrator has been busy, plenty of mangoes. I froze cheeks from my tree but had the opportunity to pick free from a neighbour and am drying those, then freezing to reduce the volume. The house smells of mango and sourdough yeast mixed with ginger from the ginger beer starter. The smells of summer- delicious! Until you walk outside and are remaindered of the heat. Like you, I find it also great for crochet and knitting small items in the heat of the day. I love every moment!

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    1. Yes I am trying not to remind the CEO that he said he was going to spray the kikuyu but it is getting out of hand. The huge garden needs constant weeding which he used to do but he is getting older now.

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  2. I've never thought of making necklaces with button, Chel. Lovely! The NBN visited our place yesterday to connect us up and what a cranky comedy it turned out to be!! Apparently, the connection passed its "test" and it will be a few working days now before our provider finalises whatever it needs to finalise before we can use the new connection. If we get much better speed and a connection that doesn't keep dropping out then I will be happy with that. Meg:) p.s. It is HOT here and going to be even hotter. I'm making ice-blocks today in preparation for the 35C forecast for the weekend. I also have to find a cooler moment to bake a boy's birthday cake!

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    1. All the best with the NBN, Meg. We are fibre to node here so were just sent a kit in the mail to set up ourselves. Hope it works well for you.

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  3. I bought a whole heap of hand towels from a lady at work who had crocheted toppers on. They are great and have lasted nearly 2 years thus far.
    I could have made them myself, but supporting someone else's creativity and practicality was a good feeling too.

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    1. Mr.HM, you can crochet? That is amazing! I can't imagine the CEO having the patience to do that. LOL!

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  4. I think I might have a go at making a button necklace. Thank you for the link. We are managing to stay on top of the weeds but only just. We mowed in the early morning yesterday but still came in at 8am wet with sweat. The weather man keeps saying rain on Sunday. Yes please.
    The bishop cap chillies dehydrate really well. I put them into the dehydrater whole. I ran them through the coffee grinder to get nice flakes. I also added a couple of birds eye chillies and the combination gave us a good dried mix. Get your dehydrater out of the box as the chillies go red overnight. When it cools down tonight I will be picking some more and have them in the dehydrator overnight ready to be flaked and put in the jar tomorrow.

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    1. Jane we were told we might get a storm today and it is hot and muggy but there is nothing on the radar apart from storms near Glen Innes. Tomorrow is going to be a scorcher. Thanks for the chili tips. I will pick your brains on the forum about dehydrating them.

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  5. Chel I think you've done extremely well making that lovely necklace and also crocheting the tops for those lovely hand towels during this hot weather. Hope your experience with NBN is better than other stories I've heard...not good at all.

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    1. Maria some people down south haven't had any NBN problems so I was wondering if it is a Queensland issue. Maybe we are too far away from Canberra. Ha ha!

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  6. No more mowing here Chel, have to avoid the dust for a few more days. Not enjoying the heat, lots of time working on a very fine linen knitted tunic top.
    Couldn't cope with cooking lunch so had 2 diced nectarines with yogurt.
    Forcast is for showers later, so will check out the radar to see whats coming...fingers crossed.

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    1. Margaret nothing on the radar as yet unfortunately. I might go and buy a wading pool to sit in :-)

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  7. Was muggy here this morning but we've had lovely rain since which cooled things down. But that means the lawns and weeds will go berserk!
    I'm like a headless chook this week. I'm working full time in our business as my office offsider is away, I have weeds to pull, some sewing to do, the washing and housework to do, I am out of bread rolls for the freezer and I've got lots of stuff to watch on Netflix that I haven't been able to get to! Poor me, haha!
    We are home this weekend so I think I'll shut the garage door down and pretend I'm not home!

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    1. Good idea, Joolz. As Rhonda says...the gate is shut. :-) Take it easy.

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  8. I can relate to your sentiments about procrastinating in the heat. I have a whole lot of chillis in the refrigerator earmarked for Sweet Chilli Jam. Hopefully tomorrow, bright and early.I have started knitting some more face washers while we watch the tennis so that I feel productive. It's not worth worrying about much in January, just embrace the Aussie summer for what it is. Pauline

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    1. Pauline, so many of my veggies have shrivelled up in this latest heatwave that I think I will take a break from trying to grow much now. Some years it is okay but not this year. I have heaps of beetroot to pickle and I might try and cook them in the crockpot first instead of cooking them on the stove for an hour or so. They should have been picked a while back.

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  9. My chilli plants died - obviously they didn't like the position or soil I planted them in, although the eggplants are loving it. I wanted to make sweet chilli sauce, darn it. I'll have to see if any of my friends around here have spare. Thanks for the link to the crochet tops for hand towels. I've only got one of those and need a couple more. Hoping desperately that the predicted storm for late this afternoon eventuates. Cheers Lyndie

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  10. Lyndie my cucumber vines are shrivelling up but the chillies are thriving in this heat. It is currently 35.2C here and getting dark in the west but nthing much on the radar unfortunately and no rain forecast for the next week either. I am ready for winter :-)

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  11. Your post has made me feel wonderful and appreciative of the cold! Sometimes I forget how much I hate the heat (you should sit and do nothing when it is hot!) and now I am counting my blessings as I sit at the computer with the blanket around my knees! Thank you!

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    1. Kathy, I am glad I made you appreciate your winter :-) I have no choice but to sit and not do anything much when it gets so hot as the heat makes me feel sick. It got to 37C yesterday. Very hot for us here.

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  12. I know what you mean, I wish it was winter all year, 10 degrees is perfect for me! I have also made some towel toppers, but as I'm not very good at crochet & can't follow a pattern for it, I found a pattern on pinterest for plain knitted ones which are perfect for me. I made a heap & gave them as presents for Christmas & they were very well received.

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    1. Karen, I think that 26C maximum year round would suit me. LOL! Today won't be as hot here with a maximum of 33C forecast then it should cool down a little for the next few days.

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  13. Hot everywhere Chel, all that moves is the weeds! Everyone I speak to finds it hard to get moving to do anything, so you're not alone in your procrastinating. Your necklaces and tea towels look good.

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    1. You are not wrong about the weeds, Nanette. I have finished off a dishcloth and crocheted two towel toppers so at least something has been achieved.

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