Time To Get Out The Hotwater Bottles !

Yes its that time of the year once again !
Hot water bottle time that is ...Actually I have been making my son Jack a hot water bottle for the last few months. The weather has been beautiful here during the day, but as soon as the sun goes down, it becomes quite chilly ...Jack loves his hot water bottle in bed to keep him cosy and warm. I have been using hot water bottles for years not only to keep warm, but years ago I used to get some pains in my back and tummy area at that time of the month(period time that is ) and I found using the hot water bottles very soothing. Also they are great to use for pains like ear aches,tooth aches, back aches. So many uses, you can use them to help rise dough for making bread , I usually wrap Jack's pj's around the hot water bottle so they are warm when he puts them on , its those little things we do for our loved ones that cost nothing and make them feel special. Our hot water bottles all have covers on them that I made from pieces of left over fleecy track suit material makes them more cosy and soft. The red one in the photo was made by my middle son Anthony at school , sewing was compulsory ...Its lasted well as he's nearly 23 in a few months time, that's Jack's favourite one... They are very easy to make cut fabric to size make a bag and hem top and thread through casing a strap so it can be gathered up and tied.  I know a lot of people use wheat packs , but we don't own a microwave to heat them. So quick to just boil the kettle & during winter we have our slow combustion fire going and I have a kettle always on top , so I use that to fill the hot water bottles.I will use a hot water bottle during winter if I'm sewing or on the computer. What else do you use your hot water bottles for, please post and share them with us all.

Thermal Cooker A Great Energy Saver !

Our New Thermal Cooker !
The first meal we made in our thermal cooker was lamb and vegetable curry it was so delicious. We thought about buying one of these when we travelled around Australia for 6 months in 2007 but couldn't justify $299 which they were selling for at the time. Well last year Aldi had them on sale for $79 but as we don't have an Aldi here in the West I asked my good friend Kerrie who had just moved back to Sydney if she would purchase one for me and send it over which she kindly did, she is an angel. I payed her for the thermal cooker and $25 postage so all in total it cost us $104 which I was very happy with. It will be great to use for when we go camping and at home, it saves our electricity. Its so easy to use you just need to bring the food to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes in the stainless steel pot, then you pop it in the thermal cooker leave for 3-6 hours to cook, it couldn't be simpler. Very Energy Efficient . I would recommend them to every one. They would be great for taking dishes to friends and family for get togethers. They can be used for hot foods and cold foods. I might give it a try for making yoghurt, also would be great for making porridge over night and eat in the morning for a large group of people. Ours is 6 litres you can buy different sizes. I will experiment with ours and let you know the outcomes. So far we have made only two meals and are very impressed so far. I'd love to hear from others who have one, what are your best meals you have cooked in your thermal cooker, please post and share them with us.

Wind-Up Torch With Radio And Phone Charger & Being Prepared !

                                                                            Wind up torch and being prepared!                             We already have 2 wind up torches and a few months back we decided to purchase this one the torch is bigger and brighter has am /fm radio and phone charger a flashing siren alert . After all the disasters we have had here in Australia of late every one is talking about being prepared well this torch will be very helpful if the power goes out we can charge our mobile phones if we need to make phone calls we can listen to the radio for weather updates and news no need to buy candles as the light is very bright and it has a really loud siren which could come in handy you just never know. It could be used if travelling out at night by yourself I'm sure others would have some other useful ideas I said to Jack my 8 year old son if he ever heard the siren he has to come in immediately as we live on a large bush property it would get his attention quickly with out me yelling out to him . As I said every one is talking about being prepared how prepared should we all be ! I guess to every one that would mean different things. I have said to Kev since living here in the bush if a fire comes we are not going to defend our house we are going you can replace material possession's but not a life. People are talking about stockpiling food I would say be a little careful of that as I said to Kev if we loose our power our fridge and freezer contents won't last that long especially in the heat, if you have a generator to run fridge and freezer that will be fine but a word of caution don't use it in an unventilated room. Once when we were camping in Palm Cove Qld we were next to a tent/camper that had a generator running and the noise was bad enough but the fumes were terrible, so please do so with caution .We have talked about getting a generator so we could use the pool water to put out a fire .Last year we lost all our fresh water supply when lightning hit our rainwater tank, We rushed out and brought a 720 litre poly tank that we use just for drinking /cooking water, we were lucky it was winter and the next day it was filled with water. I would recommend stocking up on non perishables eg tins of salmon and tuna, tins of fruit and vegetables and dry products like flour and grains, long life milk, enough to see you through a tough time. A lot of people we have spoken to over the years say they would take all their photos and important documents so in saying that perhaps we can be prepared by keeping them all in the same place so they can be picked up quickly if you need to evacuate your home. Also I would  keep a small amount of money in a special place make sure your partner knows the hiding place of all these things also. I have a stash of money that I keep in the house in case! I always say to Kev if I die don't forget about this money in here will you, if if he sells the place some one get a nice surprise. If any one has any great tips on being prepared please post and share them with us . Regular people to my blog will have noticed I haven't blogged for over 2 weeks , It was because we had no land line phone our old analog exchange was having some problems so I couldn't use the Internet it was a little frustrating but hey not the end of the world. It makes you think how hard life has been in the past with no phones Internet and other modern cons ..How lucky we are ! So please post and share all your "being prepared ideas" as they could come in handy for all of us in an emergency situation. Just got back from having my lunch and I was thinking about this blog post I was thinking if we lost our power for a length of time we couldn't use our bore water with out a generator and we cannot use our rainwater from our large tank as you need power to run it . Every time we knew the power was going be off we used to fill up jugs so we had enough to drink . We don't need to do that any more, with our 720 litre water tank as we just have to turn the tap on the bottom. We always have our 20 litre water container inside the house and Kev fills it up a few times a week .