Up to the task

Those who have been following my blog for a few years will recall when we purchased an old (seriously ancient) ride on lawnmower.

The cheaper ride on lawnmower we found on
Gumtree back in 2011

It was a very basic lawnmower, and, at ZAR1 500.00, it was all that we could afford at the time.

And it had it's problems.

Firstly, we battled to find a small but powerful battery to run the dang thing.

Havig finally source the battery, we discovered that the alternator was faulty, and it didn't charge the battery whilst it was working.  Plus it kept overheating - 1 hour of mowing, resulted in 1 hour of cooling off / recharging battery time.

Finally, the belt which drove the blades kept falling off - even after RMan "adapted" it to try and rectify the problem.

Spares, for an old ride-on mower, were unavailable.  Isn't that always the case...

It sat, covered with a tarpaulin, below our bedroom window providing a home for various generations of field mice who liked it's postition close to a food source - the duck enclosure and alpaca stables are nearby.  I forget how many times RMan tried to get the mower going again - and having to rewire it again, and again, due to mouse damage.

So, the old lawnmower was given to a very happy youngster who loves motors of any kind, and, with his superior knowledge and time to tinker, he got it working again. But, not to mow lawn, merely to ride on - I can't see anyone being able to fix the blade belt problem.  The youngster, having removed the blades competely, is going to use it to toddle round his father's expansive property - recycling at it's best lol  But - Yay! - no waste, and no landfill material.

So, for the past 2 years RMan has been walking behind his old heavy, petrol driven push mower - a full 8 hour day it took him to mow the grass area in front of our house.

In the heat of the summer sun.

Not fun.

Addmittedly, the excitement of mowing happened rarely - and it was a chore which took him away from other more interesting / necessary farm work.

But - long grass = ticks.  Long grass = hiding space for snakes.  Long grass = cover for mice to run around.  Long grass = other predators as well.

Such as:

The furthest pomegranate
tree down near the dam

Rooikat droppings.  We kept
removing them and they kept
reappearing - obviously
the rooikat was marking
it's territory 

Rooikat used the cover the long grass provided to skulk round at night.  We found evidence of their presence in a pile of droppings which kept being (re)deposited under the furthest pomegranate tree.  No wonder Miranda kept staring in that direction every night.

Something had to be done.

Again, I scoured Gumtree in search of a ride on mower.  For months and months.

I wrote to lawnmower places asking about 2nd hand units.

Nada reply!

Or...

...the only machines available were too far from us, and too bloody expensive.   And, too far to take back - if something went wrong.

Fianlly, in desparation, I suggested to RMan that we should stop in at the local John Deere outlet whilst we were in town for our weekly shop.

My, oh, my, they have some lovely shiny, sparkling new mowers on their showroom floor.  All with lovely shiny, sparkling new prices.

I nudged RMan and whispered - "Ask them if they have any 2nd hand models".  Which he duly did.

Guess what?

They had just traded in a smaller model for a bigger new model, and the old one was sitting in the back of the workshop.

Yeeeeeeha!!!

The price was right (less than half the cost of a new machine), they would give it a full service and a going over, and would then bring it out to our smallholding to give us a demo.

Which, 2 weeks later, they duly did.

And, for their effort, they made a sale :)

The grass was in desparate need of a mow...

And not a moment too soon either.  As you can see in the pic above, the grass was pretty high.

A bit of rust on the blade guard is the only evidence
that it is a 2nd hand machine.

Apart from a bit of rust on the blade guard, the rest of it looks in good condition and the motor looks brand new.

And we get a guarantee from the John Deere agent :)  Spares will not be a problem either :)

But, one of the features that makes RMan a little happier - he will not dehydrate during the 2-odd hours it will take him in the hot summer months when he is mowing because...

Now that is what I call a perfect machine
for RMan :)

... he has a handy bottle holder in a perfect position.  Trust John Deere to think of everything :)

Silent power?

I have the winter ( or is it blogger) blues it seems...

But, to share something a bit more positive, I seriously do fancy this.

Source: http://grist.org/news/this-wind-turbine-has-no-blades-and-thats-why-its-better/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post&utm_term=bladeless&utm_campaign

=Climate&__surl__=IgDOu&__ots__=1432478603793&__step__=1

For all those concerned about the danger to birds with a normal VAWT, or HAWT, this does seem to go some way to addressing those concerns.

Addmittedly, it is still in the design phase, but the promise is there... :)

If anyone wants to be part of the action, click here : http://vortexbladeless.com/home.php

Mother Nature

Please - take just 1.58 minutes to watch, and listen to this.  I did, and I am humbled.  Julia Robert's voice adds a powerful emphasis to these words which I have transcribed below...

http://natureisspeaking.org/mothernature.html

"Some call me nature

Others call me "Mother Nature".

I'e been here for over 4.5 billion years - 22,500 times longer than you.

I don't really need people.

But, people need me.

Yes, your future depends on me.

When I thrive,

You thrive.

When I falter,

you falter.

Or worse.

But I've been here for eons.

I have fed species greater than you.

And I have starved species greater than you.

My oceans.

My soil.

My flowing streams.

My forests.

They all can take you.

Or leave you.

How you choose to live each day,

Whether you choose to regard, or disregard me,

doesn't really matter to me.

One way.

Or the other.

Your actions will determine your fate.

Not mine.

I am nature.

I will go on.

I am prepared to evolve.

Are you."

Kitchen splashback

The state of the wall around the kitchen sink after living in the house for over 2 years is not acceptable.  Yes, mess happens, especially round the sink area.  I decided that it was definitely time to remedy the situation.

The kitchen sink area - a stunning view out of
 the window, but inside left much to be desired
   - it lacked a certain "je ne sais quoi"

Some of my new followers haven't seen some pictures that inspired me and about which I posted back in December 2011.

I just loved the "historical" look of the concept - the idea of leaving a permanent historical memento in the farmhouse.

This is what I am talking about...

A copper coin wall feature...

...and a copper coin floor.

Thankfully, RMan shared my attraction for the concept.

Well, I have been collecting copper coins since then.  To cover the area I estimated that we needed a couple of thousand of them.

But, coins don't come clean.  They come in all different shades of copper and various stages of cleanliness...

Some of the copper coins before they were cleaned

... so they needed cleaning :)  (As you can tell from the date on the photo's this process was started last year.)

Naturally, Google to the rescue again - "how to clean copper coins" was the search phrase.

Copper coins in vinegar

The toxic chemical abrasive agents were at the top of the lists.  Nope - not for me thanks.  The most eco-friendly ways I could find were to clean them in 1) vinegar, 2) tomato sauce and 3) coke.

So, first I tried vinegar...

... but it turned the coins a dull pink.

I didn't have commercial tomato sauce, and I'm not sacrificing my homemade sauce for this.

So, next up was...

Copper coins in flat coke

 ... placing some coins in coke.  We always have some coke on hand for instances of upset tummies (flat coke).  This method of cleaning the coins took much longer (3 - 5 hours of soaking) than the vinegar method, but did clean the coins more sparkly and to a more natural copper colour.

From left to right:
copper coins cleaned by the coke and
copper coins cleaned by the vinegar.
 The coke coins have a visible glow, whilst
the vinegar coins are dull

Three days of soaking a number of batches later...

...clean(er) coins :)

The copper coins, for the most part,
 cleaned up very nicely

Then RMan and I took the measurements.

Measurements of the
two areas next to the
kitchen sink

Then, we (well actually RMan) got to work on the plywood that we had purchased.

The measurements were
transferred to the plywood

Thank goodness RMan had
the angle grinder to complete
the task

The measurements were transferred to the plywood.  Not being too keen on woodwork, RMan doesn't have a jigsaw, and his circular saw gave up half way through the task (talk about planned obsolescence), so he resorted to using his angle grinder for the last small section(s).

Then, a retaining edge was tacked to the edge of the plywood, firstly to secure the coins, and secondly to retain the resin compound once it was poured onto the coins.

A retaining lip was added
to the plywood to prevent the
resin from seeping out

Some of the clean coins in a bag -
waiting to be placed on the plywood

So, when all of that was finished, I got busy with the bag full that I had collected - and started placing the coins on the plywood.

We decided, for history's sake, to leave the coins with the date facing upwards.

The result?

The way the light is reflected off the copper coin
splashback is gorgeous.  Isn't is funny how one
always "collects" containers near a sink - water jug,
bicarb in sprinkle bottle, vinegar pray, dishwash,
handwash, handcream.

 Stunning!  We love it :)

View of the splashback from the upstairs
mezzanine passage

The long section took 1390 coins, and the shorter section used just over 500 coins.

It was a lovely project to handle - RMan and I doing our creative thing together.  And getting down to it when it is getting chilly outside - the timing was perfect :)

Call all this work an investment LOL  Not only have we created a more pleasing feature of a utility area, but, with the value of the coins used, we have just increased the value of this house by roughly ZAR94.50  ($7.93 / £5.13 / €7.06)  Wow - how extravagant of us! Bwahahahaha...

The final question is : do we need coke in the house - even for upset tummies - if this is what happens to copper coins.  What is it doing to our stomachs overnight...?

Frugal food

I don't know if anyone else battles with deciding what to cook for their evening meal.  Don't get me wrong, I love cooking - when I'm inspired.  And when I have the time.

But, sometimes it is a terrible chore...

Frequently, I can't find the inspiration / be bothered to think at 7 - 8 in the morning what I should take out of the freezer for our dinner roughly 11 - 12 hours later.  It's not as though everything that I take out can immediately be cooked when it is defrosted - sometimes it's easy, but too often it's the main ingredient of a recipe - which requires quite a bit of further attention / preparation in order to prepare the meal.

So, I often wish that I had some ready meals on hand.

Bulk cooking - to save  time and give me
inspiration

Last week I got stuck in and made some homemade ready meals.

Instead of just cooking enough mince for a spag bol (plus the inevitable remnants which hang around the fridge until I can hide them some way so that RMan eats the left-overs) I made 4 times the quantity (roughly 450 gms of ostrich mince).

Spaghetti Bolognaise - plus two portions in the freezer
big enough for a lasagne or two :)

That night we had our spag bol...

2 - 3 ready made cannelloni meals

The next day I took some of the remaining mince and stuffed some cannelloni tubes.

They went into the freezer as they are - and all it will take is opening a jar or two of my homemade tomato sauce, making a quick Bechamel sauce, putting the lot together in a baking dish with a sprinkling of grated cheese, and placing in the oven of the Rosie, and there you have it - an instant meal :)

My kale plants are producing madly...

...so I picked a bunch...

... and shoved them in my steamer.

Some of the mince Dolmades I made

When they were soft and pliable, they got filled with mince and rice - à la Dolmades or stuffed cabbage leaves style.

Whilst the leaves were steaming, I used the base of the pot to cook also steam some gem squash and carrots for our diner that night.  Why waste energy heating another pot - plus it's one less pot to wash lol

So, out of a normal four portions of mince I now had / have:

a  The portion of Spag bol which we ate for dinner

b  2 - 3 future Cannelloni meals

c  2 X future meals of Dani's Dolmades (which will be placed on a bed of kale and sliced carrots and just covered with hot chicken stock and baked for 3/4 - 1 hour, and served with an Avgolemono sauce)

d  2 X future portions of mince which I'll use for lasagnes.  (All I will need to do again is grab some lasagna sheets, open a jar or two of my homemade tomato sauce, whip up a quick Bechamel sauce - layer the lot in a baking dish, sprinkle some grated cheese and place in Rosie's oven.)

8 meals out of an amount of mince which would normally provide only 4.

This pot stand creates a perfect "keep
warm" spot on the Rosie and ensures
that the contents of the pot will not burn
at the bottom.

By the way, I'm loving having the Rosie fired up again, and, although the Rosie has a warming shelf, it is quite narrow height-wise.  Purchasing a simple pot stand, it now doubles up as a keep warm area on the Rosie - and it works perfectly :)

Still baking...

The banana bread recipe that came with my Ma Baker bread machine was a disaster.

Although in the true sense of the word banana bread isn't "bread", but is actually a banana cake, which is baked in a loaf pan.  Which is probably where it gets it's name from...

The banana bread recipe from
my Ma Baker information / recipe
booklet

But, was the disastrous recipe the machine's fault or mine?  I dunno.

Dense and heavy - more like bread than cake

Nowhere in the recipe does it say anything about removing the mixing paddle.  But, although it needs initial mixing to combine the ingredients, it wouldn't need the paddle later in the recipe because the recipe doesn't contain any yeast.  So, hesitating, I left it in.

The result.

It was heavy, dense and stodgy - although it did taste like banana bread I wasn't happy.

So I went searching for a bread machine banana bread recipe, and found one here or at the end of this posting.

My second attempt - light, aerated, and definitely
banana bread - or should that be cake? lol

The changes I made to the recipe was to prep everything before placing the already mixed wet and dry ingredients into the baking pan - and I omitted the paddle.  And I used the "Bake" cycle, not the "Quick" one - which included mixing at the oddest times during the baking process.

Ah - that's more like it.

You can visibly see the difference between the
two recipes and resulting loaves.  The booklet
recipe loaf is on the right, and the new recipe is
on the left.

This was definitely banana bread as I know it.

660 watts - that means the Ma Baker, on
bake cycle, uses only 448 watts
(by deduction)

With the fridge (132 watts) the decoder, wi-fi and laptop (+/- 35 + 10 + 35 watts respectively) and the bread machine all working simultaneously, the Owl electricity monitor was displaying 660 watts.  Which means that the bread machine was only using 448 watts.  Now, can one possibly bake a cake with less power? ;)

My final question:  those that have, and use, bread a machine - do you use it for anything other than baking bread / cakes?  If so, would you care to share?

This banana bread recipe was found at:  http://allrecipes.com.au/recipe/875/banana-loaf-in-the-bread-machine.aspx

Ingredients  Serves: 10 

·        2 1/4 cups (280g) plain flour

·        1 teaspoon baking powder

·        1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda

·        2/3 cup (150g) caster sugar

·        2 tablespoons (40ml) vegetable oil

·        2 eggs

·        2 bananas, peeled and halved lengthwise

Directions
Preparation:10min  ›  Cook:50min  ›  Ready in:1hour 

1.      Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine.

2.      Select the 'Dough' setting, and press 'Start'. Mix the bread for 3 to 5 minutes until the bananas are mashed and all ingredients are thoroughly combined. If necessary, use a rubber spatula to push the dough from the sides of the bread pan. When 3 to 5 minutes have passed on the clock display, press Stop. Do not continue mixing.  I sifted at the dry ingredients together, beat the eggs gently, mashed the banana and, mixing those two together, added the oil.  The wet mixture was then carefully added to the dry ingredients and the mixture was placed in the Ma Baker - sans the paddle.

Then I continued as the recipe states:

3.      Smooth out the top of the loaf with the rubber spatula.

4.      Select the 'Bake' setting, and press 'Start'. The 'Bake' cycle time may vary with machines, but should be about 50 minutes. To test the bread for doneness, insert a wooden skewer into the centre top. Remove the stick. If the bread is done, the stick will come out clean. If there is dough on the stick, reset the machine on Bake and continue to bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes. Test again to assure the bread is completely baked.

5.      Remove the pan from the machine, but allow the bread to remain in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove the bread to cool completely on a wire rack. 

Welcome to you all

Firstly, it's been a while since I welcomed new followers - my followers fluctuate as I lose a few and gain a few :)

So, with  no further ado, welcome, and thank you for hitting the followers button to:

The Undomestic Diva - sorry I can't provide a link as I can't find a blog for you.

The African Gourmet who's blogs can be found at:

http://nonebutgod1.blogspot.com/ and http://www.theafricangourmet.com/

Elaine at: http://elainesjustbeing.blogspot.com/

Kirsty Udall - http://ruralretreatrestoration.blogspot.co.uk

Dawn - http://doingitforourselfs.blogspot.com/ and http://mycraftylogcabin.blogspot.com/

and

Zelda Haupt  - no blog found...

Finally, new Bloglovin followers are:

Kimberly May at : http://turningthepagesx.blogspot.com/
and Ruwen Niklas Gierls.

If anyone above does have a blog and I haven't linked to it, please let me know and I'll edit this post.

Phew - sorry to be so tardy in welcoming you.  Thanks for joining us on on-going our journey towards self-sufficiency and for exposing yourselves to my ramblings, observations, opinions and soap-box moments.

Speechless...

Only a few words from me today - and a request that you watch this:

http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/gmo-omg-2014/

Finally, after watching the above documentary, do you check the contents of the products you're purchasing from the store, or consider what exactly you are putting into your bodies when you purchase "fast food"?

Ma's baking lol

As yesterday was a holiday, we went through to town on Thursday for our weekly shop.  Popping into the co-op - they had my bread maker in stock!!! :)  Even more exciting was the fact that the machine states it's a Mellerware Ma Baker III and it only uses 550 watts!!

By the time we got home it was too late to start experimenting, so yesterday, being a holiday, the moment seemed opportune.

Choosing from the recipes in the booklet I picked a loaf of brown bread.

Nervously measuring and filling the baking tin with the ingredients, I hovered, torch in hand (to peek in the view window), for the +/- 3 hours it took to produce.

kymber asked for pics - so here you go :)

Brown bread all snuggled up in it's towels.
I read that storing homemade bread in a kitchen towel
was best, but the kitchen towels I could find locally were
all so ruddy thin.  So I ended up stitching together
two new hand towels - roughly, for I hate sewing lol 

That yummy, freshly baked bread smell only became obvious to me towards the end of the baking cycle, and then we had the 15 - 30 minute wait for the loaf to cool down before we could taste.

Conclusion - topped with plain melted butter it was worth every minute of the wait.  And what crispy toast it made to go with our eggs this morning.

So, with that successful, I decided to go ahead and make the banana loaf.

Banana bread à la Ma Baker.  The recipe didn't ask
for the paddle to be removed, so I left it in.  Thus
the visible gouge out of the bottom of the banana
bread on the left hand side.
Next time I'll remove it before it bakes...

That turned out OK too - but the consistency was more like bread than the cake-like textured banana bread that I'm used to so I was a little disappointed.  So I'm going to try it again, but this time I'm going to add more banana's and cook it on the cake setting - without the paddle in place.

As most of the brown loaf is gone, I'll be making a french loaf tomorrow... :)

Chickpea - you mentioned gluten free bread - yup, it cooks that too.  Here are a couple of the recipes that come with the machine for you to peruse...

  

Chickpea - click on each of the two images to enlarge

Does anyone have a favourite bread recipe from their bread machine?  And, does anyone know if you can cook RMan's favourite rye bread in a bread machine?

P.S.  Only found out this evening - I am a very happy and proud Royalist today.  Welcome to the Princess of Cambridge.  I'm betting on Alexandra, with her second name being Diana.  May she bring much joy to her family.