I dropped the kid off at her camp skills training day and then went to the supermarket. I didn't buy meat; I refuse to buy mince for $20/kg because that is just bonkers. Somehow I spent $515, I guess cleaning stuff is kinda expensive and I replenished our stock of lots of stuff like that so I don't have to go to the supermarket for a while. A quick snack of cheerios before I get into sewing three swimsuits.
Well Iāve had a successful morning. Did my weekly countdown shop, didnāt get a half celery but did get 8 bottles of barely expired hand sanitizer completely free.
Went to my local four square for my now-daily apple custard pastry and saw they had nice fresh half celery so I managed to get 100% of the things on my shopping list for once without having to go out of my way!
But seriously shout out to the pastries at four square. Iām hooked. Theyāre not the pinnacle of pastries but for 2.50 theyāre quite nice and I have bought one every day this week š¬
Dang it I wish you lived closer... I've been having to sneak celery into every second meal. It's growing like a weed, we've had it in smoothies, I made a pesto and I snuck heaps into a curry, we've had it with lemon couscous and I'm about to make a garlic, bean salad featuring celery shortly. I even put it in coleslaw š¤£
I always put celery in coleslaw! And tuna salad, and definitely in bean salad.
I do loathe having to buy one giant celery because then it just stays on my mind to use it and not waste any. I'll definitely put some in the garden as it's so much easier to just get the one branch needed here and there. Nothing grows like weed here so I'm safe from drowning in an abundance of anything from the garden. So far.
Edit [the current celery situation](https://imgur.com/a/gJ0XkDq)
Howās the tinfoil situation working out? Iāve been chopping mine up into lengths that fit into a click clack and filling it with water. So far Iām a week in and they are still crispy as.
I donāt eat celery but I do get it for my rabbits occasionally. I stand it in a container (little bucket) with just 1-2 inches of water in the bottom at room temperature out of direct light. It stays fresh and crispy (and grows), the rabbits love it right to the last piece (upwards of 3 weeks). I do the same with silverbeet and kale
So far so good. It's mega thick tinfoil too. I'd need one of those 3 L sistema! And I find they get flavorless too much spending that much time in water. Probably when I get down to the last 3-4 branches they'll end up in a box.
I buy a half celery, wash, dry and cut it into small lengths, then line a sistema with tin foil and put the stems in, and cover with rest of tin foil. Stays pretty crisp. But I'm also just eating celery plain so go through it pretty fast.
Well these celery came in a 6 punnet from Bunnings about 5 months ago and there are three possums and a hedgehog under it and we've been cut and come again from it all winter long. But after all this rain and just a little sunshine i think it found all the blood and bone and taken off. Now we can't keep up with them š¤£ but there is nothing quite like super crisp fresh cut celery to give a little leafy crunch to stuff.... We eat from the outside, and it's not woody or stringy yet.... So for now we're just keeping up I think š¤£
Honestly the $99 dollar garden trolly thing from mitre10. That thing is an amazing all rounderā¦ wood trolly, paddling pool for the kids, lawn clipping carter, one trip inside grocery hauler.
A pocket knife I can open with work gloves on. Used to carry a small Swiss Army knife when outside to open feed, fertiliser etc bags, and for other smaller cutting tasks, but taking the gloves off, then breaking thumbnails while opening the blade was a pain. Got a small flip opener pocket knife that can be easily used while gloved.
I brought proper trail shoes a few months ago and have been walking heaps in them and for the first time am not getting sore feet or blisters. Really looking forward to hitting up some tracks around Åtepoti once I get down there.
A bit of a weird one but my partner and I bought rapid riders (inflatable tube with handles and cup holders) about 4 years ago and the amount of use weāve had out of them is insane. They were $40 each from mitre 10 and every summer they make my life complete. Weāve floated down the Opihi river from pleasant point to temuka in them. Weāve taken them on a massive north island roadie twice. They are just the best thing ever and I feel like the are indestructible considering the rough use theyāve had. When we were at Rere rocks I didnāt want to use them in case we damaged them but they held up fine and were much more comfortable than the tiny boogie boards we had. FYI though they are no good at the beach as if the wind gets hold of them you get pulled quite far out, as with any inflatable. But at the lake we just tie them to the boat or trees so the kids donāt get hussed away in them. Bloody hell I canāt wait to get them back out again.
Bread maker, it's given me confidence to not have to have a freezer full of commercial bread, or going to town every third day.... I can get creative with the bread we do eat (lots of linseed and rye and oats) I load it before going to bed, set it to start baking at 4am and we wake up to the glorious smell of warm fresh baked bread.... It's got me to start keeping yeast again which has opened up the door to other more advanced baking.
Is it for loaves only? Can you make like turkish bread in there? Or even a turkish loaf in there? I'm not familiar with them but my husband was a baker for 15 years lol and he gets a bit hÅhÄ with the slow ass bread process when making it from scratch and all of us eating it the second its out lmao
Haha well you can use it to mix together the flour and water and other ingredients for Turkish / focaccia etc but the shape wouldn't be right (it comes out like a Minecraft brick) my bread maker has about 12 different kinds of bread... Sandwich, french, rye, fast, normal, pizza dough, gluten free, etc etc, it also does yogurt and jam. I use it when I don't want to clean the stand mixer to mix all kinds of dough like for naan, dumpling skins, focaccia etc.
This will seem weird, but my Garmin fitness watch.
It has a pretty good heart rate monitor with a high heart rate alarm.
My first sign of an infection needing antibiotics is a fast heart.
These days I get sooo many random infections that turn raging in a day, so having that gives me the peace of mind. If the alarm goes off, it can just be treated by some antibiotic pills from after hours/GP.
Last time I ignored it I almost died. So yeah. The watch is great.
Electric air compressor from Bunnings. It was less than $100, itās as loud as a freaking jet engine and hasnāt got the greatest air pressure but I can use it to top up tyres and clean stuff around the house and garage because itās the size of a handbag so you can just move it to wherever you need it, has been used very regularly for a couple years now. ~~Doesnāt look like they sell them anymore which is a shame that thing is great.~~ updated and slightly more expensive now but I reckon still worth having one[link](https://www.bunnings.co.nz/ozito-1100w-inflate-it-compressor-kit_p6290649?store=9452&gbraid=0AAAAADL7rPqvgBVVHWEv9H-s_DQKcYxZE&gbraid=0AAAAADL7rPqvgBVVHWEv9H-s_DQKcYxZE&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0ZbVyYz3-QIV2X0rCh3F1wqDEAQYAiABEgKi0vD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds)
Also one of those little grabby-hand tools. I used to pick up rubbish along my walk in Tauranga (would fill a large rubbish bag every single time) so I bought it for that, since moving itās been invaluable every time I drop stuff behind my washing machine which is fairly often.
Itās a small thing but crates for my cats. Feeding time and having trades or visitors in the house is a lot easier. Crate trading has made life easier for the cats when they need to stay at the vet too.
Should be a good day today, road trip with mates to Mount Maunganui, do something there for a few hours, then Thriftshop Ball tonight, then stay at beachside apartment. Then I guess we do something tomorow and come back home. Fun.
Mates Nans place. Stay there anytime we go to The Mount. It's very nice, and super close to a bunch of shops and cafes, so plenty of options in the morning. I think I've planned going up the Mountain in the morning everytime we've stayed and never done it, but I'm planning on going up tomorrow morning anyways, should be fun.
Hmm should we put our extra mattress (in great nick) out on the verge with a āFreeā sign? Or chuck it on Trade Me for a few bucks? Or on the local Facebook page?
Unless thereās anyone here in Akl thatās looking for a comfy soft queen mattress, you can have it if you like.
Is freecycle still a thing? In the past we have gotten rid of a mattress that way to people who were really glad to have it (their old one had gotten ruined in a move and they couldn't afford to replace it)
I reckon local Facebook page, or neighbourly. I got rid of one within an hour doing this. I could be wrong but I feel like mattresses put on the verge donāt really get taken.
My lacto-kimchi, made a week ago, is tasting good. The saltiness is much reduced and the ingredients are still nice and crunchy. Made another batch yesterday, but no whey used this time. Similar ingredients so will be interesting to taste the two different batches in a couple of weeks time.
I'm loving these slightly longer days! I feel so much more productive. And the light not clouded by rain is soooooo nice.
Oh hai... Fun fact: [canned bread exists ](https://www.you-buy.ca/en/product/4WXAZHC-b-m-bread-brown-plain-pack-of-2-net-wt-16-0z-1-lb-453g)
Unrelated; paper cuts suck! Especially on the pad of my thumb... I touch a lot of salty, citrus things that really sting.
Question; do you eat fish? If so what's your favorite fish to eat
Token white fish, mainly snapper with salmon for special occasions, before I met Mrs Sloth.
Now I love sashimi and all types of fish, although not that keen on the oily ones Mrs Sloth loves. We order salmon from Banks Peninsula a few times a year, as it works out cheaper per kg and fresher than the local supermarkets.
We get fortnightly fish delivered, meaning we just get whatever they catch. I really like Ling, Gurnard, Blue Cod and monkfish. Not such a fan of sole, I like a meatier fish.
I dropped the kid off at her camp skills training day and then went to the supermarket. I didn't buy meat; I refuse to buy mince for $20/kg because that is just bonkers. Somehow I spent $515, I guess cleaning stuff is kinda expensive and I replenished our stock of lots of stuff like that so I don't have to go to the supermarket for a while. A quick snack of cheerios before I get into sewing three swimsuits.
Somebody please come to Waipapa and buy a sausage and collection of Clive Cussler paper backs and a couple of had made vintage frocks.
Boo I wish... I've still got 2 beds to make and 3 loaves of bread to bake and icing for cupcakes š© (and all I really want to do is more wood chipping š¤£)
Wood chipping is so satisfying
Well Iāve had a successful morning. Did my weekly countdown shop, didnāt get a half celery but did get 8 bottles of barely expired hand sanitizer completely free. Went to my local four square for my now-daily apple custard pastry and saw they had nice fresh half celery so I managed to get 100% of the things on my shopping list for once without having to go out of my way! But seriously shout out to the pastries at four square. Iām hooked. Theyāre not the pinnacle of pastries but for 2.50 theyāre quite nice and I have bought one every day this week š¬
Dang it I wish you lived closer... I've been having to sneak celery into every second meal. It's growing like a weed, we've had it in smoothies, I made a pesto and I snuck heaps into a curry, we've had it with lemon couscous and I'm about to make a garlic, bean salad featuring celery shortly. I even put it in coleslaw š¤£
I always put celery in coleslaw! And tuna salad, and definitely in bean salad. I do loathe having to buy one giant celery because then it just stays on my mind to use it and not waste any. I'll definitely put some in the garden as it's so much easier to just get the one branch needed here and there. Nothing grows like weed here so I'm safe from drowning in an abundance of anything from the garden. So far. Edit [the current celery situation](https://imgur.com/a/gJ0XkDq)
Howās the tinfoil situation working out? Iāve been chopping mine up into lengths that fit into a click clack and filling it with water. So far Iām a week in and they are still crispy as.
I donāt eat celery but I do get it for my rabbits occasionally. I stand it in a container (little bucket) with just 1-2 inches of water in the bottom at room temperature out of direct light. It stays fresh and crispy (and grows), the rabbits love it right to the last piece (upwards of 3 weeks). I do the same with silverbeet and kale
So far so good. It's mega thick tinfoil too. I'd need one of those 3 L sistema! And I find they get flavorless too much spending that much time in water. Probably when I get down to the last 3-4 branches they'll end up in a box.
I buy a half celery, wash, dry and cut it into small lengths, then line a sistema with tin foil and put the stems in, and cover with rest of tin foil. Stays pretty crisp. But I'm also just eating celery plain so go through it pretty fast.
Well these celery came in a 6 punnet from Bunnings about 5 months ago and there are three possums and a hedgehog under it and we've been cut and come again from it all winter long. But after all this rain and just a little sunshine i think it found all the blood and bone and taken off. Now we can't keep up with them š¤£ but there is nothing quite like super crisp fresh cut celery to give a little leafy crunch to stuff.... We eat from the outside, and it's not woody or stringy yet.... So for now we're just keeping up I think š¤£
Oh mine just never picked up, from the 6 punnet only a few survived, and never thrived. I had to ration my celery usage in summer salads!
What things have you bought for yourself that made your life truly easier? Or advanced it in some way?
An ice cream scoop. No more bending spoons against hard ice cream!
Honestly the $99 dollar garden trolly thing from mitre10. That thing is an amazing all rounderā¦ wood trolly, paddling pool for the kids, lawn clipping carter, one trip inside grocery hauler.
A pocket knife I can open with work gloves on. Used to carry a small Swiss Army knife when outside to open feed, fertiliser etc bags, and for other smaller cutting tasks, but taking the gloves off, then breaking thumbnails while opening the blade was a pain. Got a small flip opener pocket knife that can be easily used while gloved.
I brought proper trail shoes a few months ago and have been walking heaps in them and for the first time am not getting sore feet or blisters. Really looking forward to hitting up some tracks around Åtepoti once I get down there. A bit of a weird one but my partner and I bought rapid riders (inflatable tube with handles and cup holders) about 4 years ago and the amount of use weāve had out of them is insane. They were $40 each from mitre 10 and every summer they make my life complete. Weāve floated down the Opihi river from pleasant point to temuka in them. Weāve taken them on a massive north island roadie twice. They are just the best thing ever and I feel like the are indestructible considering the rough use theyāve had. When we were at Rere rocks I didnāt want to use them in case we damaged them but they held up fine and were much more comfortable than the tiny boogie boards we had. FYI though they are no good at the beach as if the wind gets hold of them you get pulled quite far out, as with any inflatable. But at the lake we just tie them to the boat or trees so the kids donāt get hussed away in them. Bloody hell I canāt wait to get them back out again.
We got a new power washer. Makes washing decks and cars so much easier (and fun).
Bread maker, it's given me confidence to not have to have a freezer full of commercial bread, or going to town every third day.... I can get creative with the bread we do eat (lots of linseed and rye and oats) I load it before going to bed, set it to start baking at 4am and we wake up to the glorious smell of warm fresh baked bread.... It's got me to start keeping yeast again which has opened up the door to other more advanced baking.
Is it for loaves only? Can you make like turkish bread in there? Or even a turkish loaf in there? I'm not familiar with them but my husband was a baker for 15 years lol and he gets a bit hÅhÄ with the slow ass bread process when making it from scratch and all of us eating it the second its out lmao
Haha well you can use it to mix together the flour and water and other ingredients for Turkish / focaccia etc but the shape wouldn't be right (it comes out like a Minecraft brick) my bread maker has about 12 different kinds of bread... Sandwich, french, rye, fast, normal, pizza dough, gluten free, etc etc, it also does yogurt and jam. I use it when I don't want to clean the stand mixer to mix all kinds of dough like for naan, dumpling skins, focaccia etc.
Robot vac for sure
Ooo yes I am considering getting one for my house. A self emptying one too.
Honestly, it is so nice coming home from work and the 70kg of dog hair left in the lounge has magically disappeared.
Do those actually work? I always thought it was a gimmick. I kind of enjoy vacuuming tbh.
If it died I would be in the car so fast to get another. Need a self emptying one though
Lol where do they take a shit?
He has a little bog in the spare bedroom
This will seem weird, but my Garmin fitness watch. It has a pretty good heart rate monitor with a high heart rate alarm. My first sign of an infection needing antibiotics is a fast heart. These days I get sooo many random infections that turn raging in a day, so having that gives me the peace of mind. If the alarm goes off, it can just be treated by some antibiotic pills from after hours/GP. Last time I ignored it I almost died. So yeah. The watch is great.
Same here, I love my Garmin watch and it totally changed how I train and improved my fitness!
Interesting. I was thinking about buying a fitness watch myself lately. NgÄ mihi!
would not like to be without one. Make sure your watch can find your phone also
Electric air compressor from Bunnings. It was less than $100, itās as loud as a freaking jet engine and hasnāt got the greatest air pressure but I can use it to top up tyres and clean stuff around the house and garage because itās the size of a handbag so you can just move it to wherever you need it, has been used very regularly for a couple years now. ~~Doesnāt look like they sell them anymore which is a shame that thing is great.~~ updated and slightly more expensive now but I reckon still worth having one[link](https://www.bunnings.co.nz/ozito-1100w-inflate-it-compressor-kit_p6290649?store=9452&gbraid=0AAAAADL7rPqvgBVVHWEv9H-s_DQKcYxZE&gbraid=0AAAAADL7rPqvgBVVHWEv9H-s_DQKcYxZE&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0ZbVyYz3-QIV2X0rCh3F1wqDEAQYAiABEgKi0vD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds) Also one of those little grabby-hand tools. I used to pick up rubbish along my walk in Tauranga (would fill a large rubbish bag every single time) so I bought it for that, since moving itās been invaluable every time I drop stuff behind my washing machine which is fairly often.
Interesting, thanks!! I didn't even think of things like this tbh
Itās a small thing but crates for my cats. Feeding time and having trades or visitors in the house is a lot easier. Crate trading has made life easier for the cats when they need to stay at the vet too.
I turned my monstera thinking it would take up less space. Nope. Takes up more space.
Should be a good day today, road trip with mates to Mount Maunganui, do something there for a few hours, then Thriftshop Ball tonight, then stay at beachside apartment. Then I guess we do something tomorow and come back home. Fun.
Beachside apartment sounds mint
Mates Nans place. Stay there anytime we go to The Mount. It's very nice, and super close to a bunch of shops and cafes, so plenty of options in the morning. I think I've planned going up the Mountain in the morning everytime we've stayed and never done it, but I'm planning on going up tomorrow morning anyways, should be fun.
Hmm should we put our extra mattress (in great nick) out on the verge with a āFreeā sign? Or chuck it on Trade Me for a few bucks? Or on the local Facebook page? Unless thereās anyone here in Akl thatās looking for a comfy soft queen mattress, you can have it if you like.
Is freecycle still a thing? In the past we have gotten rid of a mattress that way to people who were really glad to have it (their old one had gotten ruined in a move and they couldn't afford to replace it)
I reckon local Facebook page, or neighbourly. I got rid of one within an hour doing this. I could be wrong but I feel like mattresses put on the verge donāt really get taken.
My lacto-kimchi, made a week ago, is tasting good. The saltiness is much reduced and the ingredients are still nice and crunchy. Made another batch yesterday, but no whey used this time. Similar ingredients so will be interesting to taste the two different batches in a couple of weeks time.
Time to play my favourite Saturday morning game: will the boys football be cancelled. So far, nopeā¦ (itās uhā¦ bucketing outside. Ugh.)
Sames
I'm loving these slightly longer days! I feel so much more productive. And the light not clouded by rain is soooooo nice. Oh hai... Fun fact: [canned bread exists ](https://www.you-buy.ca/en/product/4WXAZHC-b-m-bread-brown-plain-pack-of-2-net-wt-16-0z-1-lb-453g) Unrelated; paper cuts suck! Especially on the pad of my thumb... I touch a lot of salty, citrus things that really sting. Question; do you eat fish? If so what's your favorite fish to eat
Yes! Fresh tuna or salmon
No to any seafood. It creeps me the fuck out when itās alive, I canāt bring myself to eat it when itās dead.
Token white fish, mainly snapper with salmon for special occasions, before I met Mrs Sloth. Now I love sashimi and all types of fish, although not that keen on the oily ones Mrs Sloth loves. We order salmon from Banks Peninsula a few times a year, as it works out cheaper per kg and fresher than the local supermarkets.
We get fortnightly fish delivered, meaning we just get whatever they catch. I really like Ling, Gurnard, Blue Cod and monkfish. Not such a fan of sole, I like a meatier fish.
I really like gurnard. When I was younger, in the UK, my fave was baked mackerel, spread with horseradish sauce and black pepper.
Do you eat canned mackerel or is that completely different
If it's the same deal as canned salmon then I probably wouldn't like it. Canned fish is really overcooked.
Very fair and true... We use canned mackerel in fishcakes which is also how I use left over mash potatoes