Merry Christmas

 

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope however you are spending your day you are surrounded by peace and love. 

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How Do I Recycle That

We all want to do the right thing by the environment, but it isn’t always easy to find the resources we need. Below is a list of resources I have found that might help. It's not a comprehensive list by any means, but one I will continue to add to it as I find more information.

Batteries - Aldi will take AAA, AA, C, D, and 9-volt batteries, single use and rechargeable as do IKEA, Officeworks and Battery World.

Bottle caps - Both metal/aluminium and plastic bottle caps are recyclable. Put them into a larger container made of the same material and when the container is full, it can then go into the recycling bin. 

Don't put individual bottle caps in the recycling bin as they can slip through the sorting process or cause the recycling machinery to jam. 

Bread tags - Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs collects bread tags nationwide. The tags are recycled and funds raised are used to buy wheelchairs for disadvantaged people in Africa. You can find a list of drop-off points here. 

Brita water filters - Terracycle has a program for recycling these.

Car Batteries - Battery World, Repco Auto Parts, Super Cheap Auto accept old car batteries.

Coffee pods - Nespresso has it's own recycling program, you can read about it here.  

L'or, Moccona and Illy have a partnership with Terracycle. There is no cost involved, but you will have to sign up, and there is a minimum weight requirement of 2kg.

As well as the coffee pods mentioned above, Terracycle has programs for several other brands. Check their website to see if a program is available for the brand you use.

If you would like to check out what other programs Terracycle have available you can do so here.

If you would like a more sustainable option for your coffee pods, Pod & Parcel makes fully compostable coffee pods, including the packaging they come in.

Doonas -  Boomerang Bags will accept donations of doonas, quilting fabric and pillow cases. 

Ink cartridges - Australia Post accepts empty ink cartridges.

Flora and Fauna - Have a recycling program for all types of personal care products, including blister packs. Check it out here. You will have to create an account, and pay for posting, but you will receive a credit towards any future purchases.

Light globes - Can be dropped off at your nearest Mitre 10 store. 

Mattresses - This one is going to take some more research to find recycling centres nationwide. I will leave it here though and get back to it when I have some information.

Oral care products - Terracycle have set up a partnership with Colgate to recycle your old toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes ( remove excess paste before posting), and empty floss containers. they also have a separate program for electric toothbrushes. Check their website for more information. 

Organic material -The easiest way to deal with organic waste is to compost it at home. There is a variety of compost bins on the market, but if this doesn’t appeal, contact your local council and ask if they have green waste bins available for residents. Also, be sure to ask what you can or cannot put in them.

Pillows - Before you chuck those old pillows in the bin could you upcyle them? Make a bed for your pet, draught stopper, floor pillows, ottoman, and throw pillows are just a few ways to re-use them.

Postal satchels - Official Australia Post satchel can be recycled through the REDcycle program via Coles and Woolworths. 

Sports shoes - Tread lightly accepts athletic lifestyle shoes, any sports branded shoe, thongs and slides, football boots, sneakers, trainers, runners, and golf shoes. Click here to find a drop off point near you.

Towels - Can be made into unpaper towels, Confessions of an Overworked Mom has a tutorial. Alternatively they can be donated to your local animal shelter.

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Blogtober Day 22 - 29

Warning, a long catch up post following.

My apologies for not having posted over the past week but my life has been a bit busier than it normally is.

Day 22 - I spent today tidying the house and changing bed linen as I have a guest coming to house sit as myself and my youngest daughters are going away on Sunday to the Adelaide Hills for three days. I also walked into town to return some clothes that I had had on layby that either didn’t look as good as they had in the shop or were a wee bit tight.

Day 23 -I mowed the grass today. I won’t call it a lawn, as it still has weeds from winter in it. They will die off as soon as the weather gets hot. I also spent a lot of time watering the gardens and I put the vegetable seedlings into trays of water, so they didn’t dry out while I was away. In the evening, I ironed the clothes I am taking with me and packed my bags.

Day 24 -I was up early this morning and once breakfast was over, my youngest daughter, who stills lives at home, and I packed the car, we then drove over to my other daughter’s home to pick her up, transferred everything from our car into hers, her car is larger and has more room for all our luggage and the food we are taking with us. Because we knew we weren’t able to get into our accommodation until this afternoon, we planned to go to the market at Stirling which only happens once a month, it was so much bigger than we thought it was going to be. We arrived at 10 o’clock and didn’t leave until 1.30pm. Almost all of my purchases were food, including some Belgian chocolate, vegan cupcakes, which, although a little sweet, were delicious, and some delicious raw, locally produced honey. The only other thing I bought was this. 

It pretty much sums up how I feel about my life.

We stayed at McLaren Cottage, in Mount Barker a lovely little 19th-century cottage, which had everything you could want, including a wood fire which we were happy to make use of because, although it is spring here, the nights are still a little chilly. 

Day 25 - The next morning, we packed a picnic lunch and headed out to do some op shopping. Our first destination was Hahndorf. I have visited this lovely town founded by Lutheran migrants in 1839 before, but always on a weekend when it was teeming with tourists, so it was a pleasant change to visit on a weekday when it was far less crowded.  

After a wander around and a visit to the op shops, we had lunch in the park, then we headed back to Mount Barker to try our luck at the op shops there and on the way dropped into two others that we had been told about.

The two books cost me $7, the pottery was $7.50, the painting was $2.00 and the top was a bargain at just 50¢ because it had a stain on it which came out in the wash.

Day 26 - The last day of our mini-vacation we spent at Victor Harbor, a well-known whale watching spot, intending to go to Granite Island to see the penguins, unfortunately, the causeway was closed for maintenance so that will have to wait until our next visit. 

After a wander around down and a picnic lunch, we headed back to the cottage for a rest and to pack our bags, ready to leave in the morning.

Day 27 - We arrived home at around 11am unpacked the car, I did my washing, and just had time to check on my seedlings in the greenhouse before it started raining. I spent the rest of the day relaxing before getting my uniform ready for work tomorrow. 

Day 28 - It was cloudy this morning when I got up, then the skies cleared, but by the time I was ready to leave for work, the clouds had gathered and I could hear thunder in the distance. 

I had intentions of walking to work as I usually do until I saw lightning and thought better of it and caught a bus instead, which turned out to be a smart decision as not long after I had boarded the bus, it started pouring. 

By the time I left work, the sun had made an appearance, but the sky was still cloudy.

Around 6 o’clock, the wind picked up, and the rain came down in torrents and I feared what damage I might find in the morning, as the winds seemed almost cyclonic.

Day 29 - It turned out I needn’t have worried as the storm caused only minor damage to our town. The surrounding areas were not as fortunate. The tomato seedlings in the greenhouse got blown off the shelf but were undamaged. I had to go into town to take some money out of the bank as I have a skip bin coming this afternoon so that I can finally get rid of all the rubbish that has accumulated over the years. While I waited for it to arrive, I stewed some rhubarb, which is now in the freezer ready for rhubarb and apple crumble. 

Day 30 - The skip bin is full, and it is ready to be picked up, anything that I thought might be useful to someone else I put out onto the verge, hopefully, it will be gone in the morning.

Day 31 - Today is normally a rest day for me but as I am having my second Covid vaccination tomorrow and I’m not sure how it will affect me, I finished the yard work today and will make tomorrow a rest day instead. Everything that I had put on the verge had gone this morning when I got up. I’m glad somebody could make use of it.

There you are, my life over the past week, and if you read this post until the end, thank you for sticking with me. I take my hat off to anyone who writes a blog post every day. I don’t know how you do it.

 Writing a post every day wasn’t easy for me, but I’m glad I did it, it will be good to have a record of a month of my life to look back on. I enjoy writing, but I’m not a natural writer. I agonise over grammar, punctuation, readability. It takes a sizeable chunk of my day; I wish I wasn’t so critical of myself. It would make things so much easier. 

Well, that’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into my everyday life.

Until next time, stay safe and be kind to each other. Janette.  

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Blogtober Day 21

I had a beautiful walk to work this morning. The air was fresh and cool; the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds and the eucalypts are in full bloom. 

High in the treetops, the Magpies were warbling, the Rosellas and the Lorikeets were squabbling with each other over nesting sites and the Noisy Miners were being, well, noisy as they defended their territory.  It was a perfect start to the day.

Australian Magpie

Adelaide Rosella

A pair of Rainbow Lorikeets

Musk Lorikeets

Noisy Miner
Photo courtesy of John Torcasio via Unsplash

© All text and photographs used for this website were produced by me unless otherwise stated and are copyright of Blue Jeans and Dirty Gumboots. Please do not use, alter, or edit my text or photographs without my written consent. 

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Blogtober Day 19

As you know from a previous post, I have a problem with the pump in my fish pond. I’ve been checking on the fish every day since the pump stopped working, and they had been fine until yesterday. I feed them twice a day, once in the morning and then again in the early evening, when I went out last evening to feed the fish I noticed one of them lying on its side gasping for air, the oxygen in the water was running out and the fish were suffocating. I did not know what to do, as by this time all the stores were closed. In desperation, I emptied almost all the water out of the pond and replaced it with fresh water. My thought was that freshwater should have oxygen in it, so I filled the pond back up, crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. This morning when I checked on them, they were all okay and swimming around happily. As soon as I had finished breakfast, I walked to the nearest hardware store and bought a small pump to put in the pond to keep the water moving and aid in oxygenating the water.

Photo courtesy of ISO Republic

Once the pump was installed and doing its job, I could relax knowing that the fish would be all right and I got on with doing a few things around the house. I cleaned the microwave; took the kitchen bins outside and cleaned them out; repotted a few of my houseplants; pulled out my celery plants that had unfortunately developed a fungal disease and gave the outdoor area a tidy up. 

As I will be at work tomorrow and Thursday I probably won't be posting as I won't have a lot to write about. I will be back with a post on Friday. 

Until then, stay safe and be kind to each other.

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Blogtober Day 18

 I have been lazy this past week; I haven’t kept up with my Italian lessons; I haven’t written in my journal; my colouring supplies have been neglected and worse of all, I haven’t walked once this week when I usually walk 4-5 times a week. I know the reason for it, I’m tired. Our elderly dog has been waking us up during the night because she needs to go outside, once back in bed, it takes an hour or more for me to get back to sleep, by the time my alarm goes off I feel like I’ve had no sleep at all. I’m out of my routine and I don’t like it. 

I worked a half-day at the Heritage Centre today. At the moment, I am cataloguing school children’s copybooks they used for practising their cursive writing, not an easy thing to do with pen and ink. Some are very messy. There are also some history and scripture exam papers as well, they make interesting reading. 

When I arrived home, I noticed that the garden was full of blooms, spring has finally arrived. I will leave you with some photos I took.

Bearded iris

My favourite rose of all time, Double Delight.

Cornflower

Erigeron aka Sea Side Daisy

Grandma's Rose, beautifully fragrant and thornless.

Lewisia

Dutch iris

Red valerian "Kiss Me Quick"

I will be back tomorrow.

    

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Blogtober Day 17

 I woke to sunshine and blue skies this morning a perfect day for doing the laundry. After I had hung the clothes on the clothesline, I sat down at the computer to work on the plan for the summer vegetable garden. I use Grow Veg, a subscription-based program that helps me keep track of what I've planted and where, it also helps with crop rotation.

I have three different varieties of cucumber, Lebanese, Marketmore and a gherkin cucumber, that I need to find room for. I might extend the garden on the left-hand side and grow them there, the grass there is very patchy so it wouldn't take a lot of work, it would also give me more growing room for winter crops. Before I plant anything, I have to check the irrigation system to ensure it's all working, it saves me so much time and, I no longer have to stand out in the heat to water the garden.

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Blogtober Day 16

My self seeded apricot tree in flower.

Another cold day today. I feel like spring is never going to arrive this year. I had quite an easy day today. I finished cleaning the bathroom, the laundry, watered some houseplants and vacuumed the floors. I had another go at fixing the pump in the hope that the missing grommet wasn't the problem but to no avail. I placed an order for the impeller which will hopefully arrive sometime next week.

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Blogtober Day 13, 14 and 15

 I didn't post on Wednesday because I had nothing to write about, I went to work, I came home, that was it. 

Thursday was much the same except that for the first time in years I went late night shopping with my youngest daughter. I wanted to buy some fabric to make myself some face masks to add to the ones I already have. The solid coloured fabrics were all from the remnants bin and the patterned fabrics were all on sale.

Each mask will have three layers a solid coloured layer, a patterned layer and a layer of muslin in between.

I also bought three new jigsaw puzzles at a price that was too good to pass up.

 

The sky on Thursday evening.

We had 26.4mm (1.03in) of rain overnight which I was glad of as it saved me from having to water the  gardens in my front yard.

That brings us to today. I had quite a long list of things to do today and I got most of them done. One of the things on my list was to give the fish pond pump a thorough clean. I took it all apart and cleaned it, put back together, put it back in the pond, turned it on and, nothing. So I took it apart again and made sure the impeller was seated properly, turned it back on and it still wouldn't work. I got the manual out to make sure I had done everything the right way and as I was looking at the diagram I noticed that on the bottom of the impeller was a small black grommet which I no longer had. Apparently it helps hold the impeller spindle in place and without it the pump won't work, so now I have to order a new one as they are a special order and not available in store. I just hope that fixes the problem.

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Blogtober Day 12

I had just a few things on the agenda for today, the first being a visit to the pop-up blood donor centre. My family carries a genetic disorder called hemochromatosis which causes a build-up of iron in the blood. I don't have hemochromatosis, but I do carry two of the genes that cause it so to keep my iron levels low and avoid any problems associated with iron overload I have to give blood on a fairly regular basis. 

Waiting for the bus.

Not something you expect to see when donating blood, but he was a very cute distraction.

Once back at home I had lunch and then I got busy potting on those tomato seedlings that needed a bigger pot. I forgot to put name tags in the pots as I transplanted them so I have no idea which tomato is which now. I guess I will have to wait until they start fruiting to find out. I also planted out the beans that I was meant to do the other day but never got around to. 

 

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Blogtober Day 11

 I had a very bad nights sleep last night, my wrist was so sore the pain kept waking me up throughout the night despite the fact I had taken painkillers before I went to bed. Today I will be taking it easy, I need to catch up on my journaling, I might do some colouring and just generally have a relaxing day. 

Just one of the many pages I have coloured over the past 4 years. Colouring helps quiet my overactive mind. Artwork by Johanna Basford.

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Blogtober Day 10

Yesterday I was out in the garden in a T-shirt, today I'm wearing a jumper. Apparently, winter isn't quite finished with us. I'm not complaining, I am definitely more of a cold-weather person, and I don't look forward to the hot days of summer.

I didn't have a lot to do today, some clothes needed folding, both my desks were a mess so I tidied them, and I watered the outdoor pot plants and the garden beds that I didn't get to yesterday. 

I also had a surprise visit from my niece, her husband and their 16-month-old twin daughters. Due to them being born premature and Covid it was my first time meeting them. I had forgotten how noisy two small girls can be, but it was lovely to see them.

All the weeding I did yesterday has caused the tendonitis in my right wrist to flare up so tomorrow I will be taking it easy and resting it. 

 

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Blogtober Day 9

Today was a day of sunshine, blue sky and it was the perfect temperature (22°C) for working outside. I spent most of the day down in the vegetable garden weeding and digging up spent broccoli plants. I don't think I've ever had so much Milk Thistle in the garden before.

The garden before.

I have a real issue at the moment with whitefly on my Brussel sprouts but decided not to spray as the garden needed watering. It will have to be done soon though or the whitefly will start to affect the growth of the plants.

The garden after. 

The only thing left are two very healthy bok choi plants that were hidden under all the weeds, and the Brussels sprouts which I'm hoping will reach maturity before it gets too hot, I had to cut the top of one as it was going to flower. Tomorrow I will plant out my bean seedlings which should have been done a while ago.

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Blogtober Day 8

 There were only two things I needed to do today, one was a visit to the doctors to get a referral to have an x-ray on my hip and the other was to get the results of an ultrasound I had a couple of weeks ago. The results were exactly what I thought they would be, but I will need to have a follow-up ultrasound in three months time.

A photo of a bottlebrush (Callistemon) simply because I don't have another photo to include in this post. They are all out in flower at the moment and they look stunning.

The other thing I had to do was the grocery shopping which I only do once a month. I managed to buy everything on the list for less than I was expecting which is always a nice surprise. I will have to go back in the middle of the month for more fresh fruit and vegetables, but for now, it's done.

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Blogtober Day 7

As I mentioned in my blog post yesterday I love history, I especially love ancient history. I enjoy watching shows about our ancient ancestors and how they lived so when I saw this book by Alice Roberts, who is an anthropologist and Professor at the University of Birmingham, and has presented shows such as The Incredible Human Journey, (if you haven't seen it yet you should watch it), on BBC2 I had to borrow it and have a read. I'm not that far into it yet, but what I have read so far I've enjoyed. 

I recently finished Terry Jones' Medieval Lives, an era that has always fascinated me, an informative look into the lives of people from different walks of life and how they really lived during this time. An enjoyable read this book taught me that what I thought I knew about that time period was not entirely the truth. 

Are you a history lover? Is there a particular time period that fascinates you? Let me know in the comments. 

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Blogtober Day 6

 Today is a workday for me. I work part-time at our town's cultural heritage centre helping to organize and catalogue the history of the town, which includes a large collection of books some of which are well over a century old.  At the moment I am collating all the correspondence dating back to the 1850s. It's work I enjoy as it combines two things I like, history and organisation. As well as working at the cultural centre I work one morning/afternoon a week at the visitor's information centre which I enjoy despite not really being a people person.

I live close enough to town that I can walk there which is easy to do on days like today.

Today started out much like yesterday with blue sky and sunshine, but by the time I had finished work the clouds had gathered and it looks like we are in for a rainy night. I will be back tomorrow with another post. 

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Blogtober Day 5

I slept in this morning after having had a very bad nights sleep due to a sore hip which I could put down to getting older, but my left hip has been giving me problems on and off since I was in my mid 30's, lately, it has been causing me a lot of pain more often. Arthritis? Probably! Which I'm sure an X-ray will verify. 

Today is in complete contrast to yesterday, the sun is shining and the sky is blue so I took a walk into town by way of the river late this morning to pick up a few necessities, by the time I got back home, it was time for lunch. 

Fumitory is an annual weed that germinates in winter and flowers in spring. It is considered a noxious weed in agricultural areas.

Nasturtiums grow wild along the river bank at this time of the year

The river that runs through my town.

The view along the river path.

My plan for after lunch was to spend some time weeding the vegetable garden which due to all the rain we have been having is almost overrun with weeds, but because of the rain we had yesterday the ground is too wet to walk on so that will have to go on my list of jobs for this coming weekend.  

Instead of weeding, I sorted out the last of the small plastics recycling which was all my empty tubes of skincare and toothpaste from the last 18 months or so, they are now outside drying.  

Once it is all dry I will package it up and send it off to Flora and Fauna for recycling. After hanging out my washing it was time for a cup of coffee and some chocolate something I look forward to every day.

I will be back with another post tomorrow.

 

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Blogtober Day 4

 Hello everyone, I have decided to participate in Blogtober and write a blog post every day this month. I'll warn you now that some days will be boring, but I'm hoping that writing every day will get me back into the habit of writing more often than a few times a year.

I woke to gloomy skies and rain this morning which made it the perfect day to stay inside and potter around catching up on some of the things I had been putting off like sorting out the small plastics recycling. I'm pleased to say that I got it all sorted and into the recycling bin except for the empty skincare and toothpaste tubes which have had the bottom cut off them and are now soaking in the laundry sink, tomorrow I will clean them out and get them ready for recycling. 

Another job on my list for today was checking on my houseplants, of which I have too many, and seeing which ones need to be watered. 

Just one of my 40+ houseplants, philodendron "Congo Red".

A lot of my afternoon was taken up trying to find places to recycle various items like printer cartridges,  batteries, water filters and the skincare tubes that I mentioned above. I'm happy to say I found a way to recycle them all. I will be back soon with another post.

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