Saturday, September 30, 2017

Home Made Limoncello

I haven't been on here for a while, but that's because I've been busily working away on a few other projects which have to do with the upcoming markets at Murarrie State School.

And it's been really hot lately, and so, I've also been making the most of the hot weather too... airing out the house, doing all the laundry and doing as much as I can outside in the garden. 

It's been nice - except the day I went to Thorneside and was attacked by midges all over! OMG! It was horrible. I've still got huge bites all over my legs and some on my arms which drive me nuts at night. I am finding it hard to sleep though; even though the ones on my kneecaps aren't so bad since I've gotten the poison out of those last night.

Otherwise, I've been making Limoncello... for those who know what this delicious stuff is, you'll be wanting to know how to make it. Well, I have a recipe I've dug up on the internet and I'm hoping it works out - as I've yet to bottle it and chill it for 2 weeks.

Ingredients:

13 lemons
1 large bottle big enough for over 2 litres of liquid
1 bottle Vodka 40 proof (not 80 or it'll crystalise and the bottle will rupture in the freezer; and you'll be scraping Limoncello off your freezer walls for months).
1 litre water
2 cups of sugar (raw sugar is fine, but it'll turn the syrup brown).
Sanitising solution - can be purchased at home brew stores for around $7.00
Bottles for Limoncello - can be purchased at home brew stores for around $3.50 but only in plastic. I have found they don't have glass bottles for this kind of thing anymore.
Wooden palate knife - keep it separate from the rest of your cookware and label it to save on cross-contamination.

Method:

Take the peel only off the lemons - without the pith. The pith is the white stuff on a lemon and makes the peal taste sour. If you're finding this hard, use a lemon zester, or a grater... but with the grater, you only need to rub the lemon once and you'll have the zest you need off the lemon. 

Put the lemon zest and vodka into the large bottle, and put the lid on - make sure it's an air-tight lid - and leave the jar/bottle in a cool place away from the sun. 

Stir it once a day, for a week.

On the seventh day, get large saucepan and put in the one litre of water and two cups of sugar and heat until the sugar has melted away. If you're using raw sugar, the syrup will turn brown. Don't worry, that's the molasses in the sugar. I've read that it won't affect the outcome of the Limoncello; just the colour.

Turn off the heat and leave the syrup off to one side for an hour to let cool and funnel it into the vodka/lemon peel jar/bottle. Put the lid back on and leave it alone for five more days. 

A day or two before bottling, clean the bottles you're going to use and ready them for the Limoncello. 

Separate the peel from the vodka/syrup. Sieve it through food muslin 3 times before you ladle the limoncello into the bottles then chill for 2 weeks before serving. Keep chilled.

I've yet to bottle and chill mine... so I can't tell you what it tastes like. I've used raw sugar in mine, so it's gone brown from the molasses in the sugar. I'm not worried about this, it'll have a different colour and maybe a different taste to the other type of Limoncello I've seen around the place. I'm hoping it turns out okay... I hope it does.

If not? Well, I've learned something about how to make Limoncello. If it has a great taste, but is brown, and yet my Mum still loves it, I'll mark it down as my own style and keep making it this way... who knows? I may yet still refine this recipe and tweak it more to make it better; as there's so many different ways of making it too.

Sunday, September 17, 2017

Marriage Equality

It's been in the news lately. No, not the problems with North Korea - well, yeah that, but other things closer to home.

In Australia, the Federal Government can't make up its mind about whether to let gay people get married or not.

So, they've dumped the decision onto the rest of us citizens; thinking that this postal voting system is going to work out.

I gotta say: this is the dumbest thing I've ever come across.

Exactly since when does my opinion matter when it comes to the affairs of the love between two people I don't know? And since when does my nation of fellow Australians think it's up to them to say whether gay and lesbians should be 'permitted' to marry? 

Isn't love the same no matter who you love - man or woman?

Making us vote on this kind of thing is a waste of tax-payers time and money; and I don't see the point in making gay and lesbian people feel as though they're on the outer of our society because they don't fit the mold of the ordinary family.

Besides, there's no such thing as an ordinary family anymore; so why should it really matter who marries who? So long you're not related to the person you're marrying - you know, you're not first cousins - that's what matters. 

I don't appreciate being pushed into making decisions by my government about who is allowed to get married and who isn't. Why doesn't the government concentrate on the people who call themselves parents when really they're screwing up their children's lives by being on drugs, being drunks and having mental problems which really stuff up their children? This is what needs to be looked into, not whether two people who love each other dearly, have become engaged for some years now, but can't get married within the country they live in because it's against the law. 

And when they just don't wish to wait any longer? Well, they jump on a plane and fly to a country where they've legalised gay marriage for years - and it's worked out well - and tie the knot there! 

Love is love people... is this such a bad thing? 

I think not! 

Friday, September 8, 2017

15 Years On

It's 15 years to the date that I've moved into this townhouse... and I really can't wait to move out of here.

Okay, that may sound like I hate it here. But really there's a lot of things that have gone on here that I don't want to remember - and yet there's a lot of things I've seen here that have been pretty good.

But for me to say that I'd like to move on to the next part of my life is a good thing. If I had said that I'm comfy right where I am, well, you'd all probably be worried. 

I do want to live in a house - a proper, real house with a driveway, a lock-up garage, a garden out the front and a letterbox too - and I'd love to have the space to have family get-togethers as well. Where I am at the moment, I can't do anything of the likes of this without half my neighbours knowing exactly who's here, what's going on and what we're celebrating.

And that sucks.

I'm a private person, and I want to be able to leave my home without every person nearby knowing I'm leaving or coming home - and that's what is happening right now; and I don't like it.

A lot has happened in this place over the past 12 months, though. I've decluttered like you wouldn't believe. I've given away so much stuff and yet bought exactly what I have needed for my home to become what I want it to be.
I've gotten rid of my lounge and turned my place into something from the 1970's, and loved it!
I've applied for a home loan - and got rejected - but it was a good learning experience. I've also been looking at houses on the net and at real estate agents around Brisbane too.
I'm also fixing small things around the place here... things that my Dad won't have to when the time comes to fixing up the place. Door knobs on the wardrobe doors and in the kitchen may not seem like much - but really it's the devil in the details that makes a place; isn't it?

So, after everything... after the gardens have been looked after, the stove and hot water system have been replace, as well as both toilet systems, a large towel rack and proper medicine cabinet in the bathroom, and a curtain as well in there, then there's the dryer that broke and was removed (and we left the rack there for the next people)... and a new clothes line too as well as all the taps and faucets being replaced and the sewage vent in the backyard. Well... quite a bit has been done to this place to have it at least halfway there.
I got a real estate agent - one I had from when I first moved in here, so he knew the place well - come and have a look at the townhouse. And when he stepped in from outside, he said that my place was the better-looking, best-looked-after place out of the whole place. He said it will be easy to sell it because of how nice it is from the outside and how good it still looks on the inside. 

After 15 years, I'm hoping that seeing I've treated my rental property like it was my own, and there's been things I've had to do to the place - like the gardens were from my own pocket - to add value to the place. I don't want to live here for any longer than I have to. It's time to move on... move into a better place, a better area. I don't want anymore townhouses or my folks to be paying Body Corporate fees. I don't want to be forking out money for a Post Office Box anymore (and at $120 per year, that's just not worth it anymore), I want to be in a nice home, on a nice street with my car safely locked away. 

And after 15 years, isn't that worth the wait? 

Friday, September 1, 2017

Energy Rates on the Rise

I've found through listening to the news on the radio, and online here on Facebook and other news outlets that people are getting hit hard with their power bills. I saw a report on iSelect FB page about a young woman who couldn't save money for her bills; saying she was putting away around $80 per fortnight for the bills, but it just wasn't covering any of them. 

I've been living on my own for 15 years next week; and pay my bills on time every time. I did have a few teething problems when I started out; and it took some time for me to get used to paying bills on my own. However, there's been a good bit of planning included in it. Over this time, I've been looking at how I've used my appliances. 

Set Up A Bill-Paying Account so you can pay all your bills through one account - and one account only. This is a great idea if you have an account where you've got some $400 left there for a while. I had this when I finished work; and changed that account into a Bill-Paying Account with my bank. This helped me greatly when I started putting away money via direct debit (no, I'm not telling you how much is put away, but it's there all the time). You have to put away more than $100 into this account to make it worthwhile... otherwise you'll never be able to pay for your bills.  Also, this account isn't there for you to spend money from when you feel like it - this is to pay all your bills; only your bills.
Also, bundling your bills will help cut costs as well. For example: bundling your internet and landline phone with one company will be cheaper than having those separate. And have your smartphone prepaid, so you're not on your data all the time; and you get into the habit of budgeting what you can use and also turning off your data when you're not using it. 

Turn The Appliances Off At the Wall when you're not using them. I've been doing this for years. That little stand-by light sucks up a lot of juice over time. So, you don't need it on all the time. Making sure your television, dvd player, stereo system and computer monitor, speakers (on the computer), kettle, and washing machine are turned off all the time until you need them, is a good idea. Per quarter, I barely pay $100 on my power bill... and I live on my own on a pension. 

Turn Off Useless Lighting. This doesn't mean have just one light bulb and change it from room to room.. this means if you're not using that room, and the light is on, turn it off. If you're in the living room, and the hall light and kitchen light are on - but nobody is in them, go and turn off those other lights and just have the living room light on. Get into the habit of turning off lights as you leave the room, and you'll turn it into a good habit. Also, if you use beside lamps instead of the large overhead light, it also uses less energy. So, at night, use use your bedside lamp instead of your main bedroom light; and you'll be saving yourself getting out of bed to turn out the light, and energy in the long run too. 

Don't Eat Out Unless It's A Special Occasion. Learn to make your food from scratch. It takes more time, sure, but it'll save you a lot of money in the long run. I have learned to make pizza (pizza dough has 4 ingredients and isn't that hard to make - you just need 1 1/2 hours to yourself and a bit of patience, and you'll get it). Plus learning to cook for yourself means you'll always have food in your fridge. And this leads to my next item...

Learn To Make Your Own Fancy Coffee. I don't mean the packet ones, I mean learn to get the plunger coffee and make it at home instead of going out and buying coffee. When you think of going out and buying coffee at a whopping $4 - $5 a cup, you could be saving that by making it at home! I know that means you're not socialising, but really, what's better? Keeping money in your bank account or spending it on expensive coffee? And if you can't live without your coffee, make it a once a fortnight or once a month thing... at a great place you enjoy being at.

Op-Shop Everything In Your House. This sounds like I'm saying: spend your money. But really I'm not. In a good way, it's a wise way of spending. You go to a charity store thinking that it's going to smell like Grandma's old wardrobe. But no. Charity stores have had a huge change in the last few years. They look like and feel like proper retail stores. And if you're looking for something for your home, you'll most probably find it. If you want to get rid of something from your place, they are the places to send your unwanted things to. I use them, I swear by them, I love them... and I haven't bought anything brand new in ages. From clothes to vinyls to books to kitchenwares and wall-hangings, I've bought more and more from charity stores at a quarter of the cost of larger retail stores. This year, I kitted out my living room with two living room chairs and a side table and the costs didn't reach $100 over a few months. 

Live Frugally. I know that sounds like I'm talking about being a hobbit. But what I'm talking about is: 
Buy only what you'll need at the shop - not what you think you'll need. 
Make a shopping list and stick to it! Have a budget per fortnight - and only shop per fortnight. 
Have a few savings accounts where money gets put away through direct debit. This will mean you'll have to go without - no clubbing, no restaurants, no movies, no brand new clothes - but in the long run, you'll have an account or two where you'll have the money for things when you need it. 

Living Within A Budget - a strict one - will make your life a little harder, but also a little easier. It does mean that when you go out to those larger shopping centres, you can only window shop... but the charity stores are the places you'll end up cherishing because the same things will be there at a quarter of the cost you've seen them elsewhere. 

I'm not saying this will be easy... it's not. It's harder than you think. I live by a strict budget and I'm on a Disability Support Pension. I have to pay for my rent, all my bills, a PO Box (a must-have seeing my mail gets stolen by school kids in my area), my medication, food, petrol and anything to be done on my car, and any other incidentals (other crap that crops up in my life unexpectedly) and art school... all out of that pension - and that's not much. So, when the power and gas bills go up, I find that I kinda shrug and know I'm okay. I don't pay that much because I'm so strict on myself already.  

So, with a bit of planning and knowing how to spend your money - and when - paying those dreaded bills won't be so hard. It's just difficult in the beginning of being on your own that makes it so daunting.