Op shopping our way into summer

You might remember that I recently cleared out my oversized or under appreciated clothes to unclutter my drawers and make way for the "new" style of things that would reflect (the new and improved, lol) me.

The weather is warming up in Perth and I had just one pair of shorts to wear. They were a pretty plain beige pair I picked up at the op shops last year for casual use around the house. They just weren't going to take me far into summer alone.

I decided a trip to the op shops was on the cards to rectify the situation. I was struggling to get there until we miraculously had free time on Saturday morning, after a very quick stop at the air conditioner shop, hunting a split system to install in Turtle's room. We have conceded we need to install one after the stress of shifting her back and forth between our room and hers last summer.

There are three op shops within walking distance from each other near our house. We only had time for one and it came through with the goodies.

The summer 'goodies'

Apart from shorts, I also need casual (but not too casual) t shirts. Turtle has a mix of gifted summer clothes for her birthday and secondhand clothes from a friend. She was, coincidentally, also needing new shorts. Her size 1 clothes are just fitting her so we will need to upsize through summer.

I went straight to the women's clothes section (spurred on knowing Turtle would need a nap shortly) and found so many t shirts and shorts that I liked. After my recent shopping experience I have taken a liking to flowing tops. I found a yellow flowing t-shirt with a big studded love heart that I loved but hesitated to buy. The idea of wearing a love heart in public seemed kind of weird to me. But I loved the yellow colour and the faded gold metal of the studs was really simple and not flashy at all. I'm so glad I gave it a go. I really like it. I also found an orange button up sleeveless top that is great for casual wear, albeit a touch baggy on me.

There were a range of shorts that I actually wanted to try on. That was surprising since I struggle to find shorts I like. They are often too short or too baggy and shapeless. It is hard to find a flattering style that is in a good colour to mix and match. I bought two pairs of fitted long shorts (almost like cut of jeans) in black and denim. I also bought a pair of stripy purple and white shorts, inspired by Turtle's favourite colour.

said 'stripy purple shorts' which I am really enjoying wearing - it's nice to have some colour on

While I was busy sorting myself out Turtle was happily playing with the myriad of toys that the op shop had for sale. They had keyboards, the little plastic balls in a bag (think Maggie getting lost in the ball play area in the Simpsons), and activity tables just to name a few. We somehow refrained from buying any toys.

Mr Fix It was on task looking for size 2-3 summer clothes for Turtle. We ended up buying some Country Road stripy cargo shorts for her (I'm not sure if they are boys shorts but I'm sure no one will notice) as well as some casual green shorts. We also bought a gorgeous grey and white stripy top with a sequined pink star on it for her too.

It turns out Mr Fix It has found himself similarly depleted of shorts in the lead up to summer. He also, surprisingly, found a nice green pair of green shorts that fit him well.

I think you will agree that we were doing extremely well at that point. To buy one item of clothing on a shopping trip can be rated as a successful outing. To buy 6 pairs of shorts and 3 tops is pretty impressive. With a price tag of less than $50 for all of it we could not complain.

The final moment of joy from this experience was finding a Thomas the Tank Engine melamine plate for Turtle, which reminds me of visiting grandparents as a child, and a set of striped colourful summer drinking glasses, which we needed.

I paid around $50 for it all and then realised, when I got to the car where Mr Fix It was sorting out a pooey nappy that had presented itself in the changerooms when Turtle decided to "try on" her shorts, that the check out boy had forgotten to charge me for a few items.

I went back in to get him to ring through the difference (he had taken a call while serving me and I had put some things in our bag that he hadn't rung through yet) and another customer commented how honest I am. The sales boy (he was so incredibly young I can't call him a man!) agreed. I pointed out I was already getting bargains and the money was going to charity.. Why would I bother stealing?

I felt so lucky to have found such wonderful things and to be paying so little for them. If I had bought all of that new I would have paid over $200 easily.

Since this expedition we have had a few spells of warm weather and I have happily worn all of my new things. It feels great to have some new favourite clothes to wear.

Have you been shopping your way into summer? Have you been lucky enough to score some new favourites too?

Late summer garden update

Although we are in the peak of summer I am pleased to report that our garden is doing well at the moment.  You may remember that when we returned from our Christmas visit to the relatives the garden had started to produce some goodies.

The garden mid January before the cull

There were, however, some areas that were not doing so well.  In what I feel was not in my normal 'stand back and see how things unravel' approach to life we pulled out the poor performers and planted some that we hoped would do better.  All with an aim to maximise productivity.  

The heirloom tomatoes were, heart wrenchingly, pulled from the front bed, along with a basil plant for harvesting.  This created a good space to plant something new.  

I also pulled the spent snow peas from the back bed, which wound up production just before we went away, and harvested some raddichio that was going to seed.   The garlic was harvested by Mr Fix It.  I am sad to report that it had rotted from over watering during its final stages of development.

Back garden bed and Paradise Patch with late summer crop

We added compost and soil improver to the cleared planting areas and in went a late summer crop of corn, leeks, lettuces, zucchinis, cherry tomatoes and some purple flowering plants to help attract pollinators.

The promising corn crop

It's been four weeks since the new crop went in and the corn has grown like crazy, which is pretty exciting.  We planted it thinking that it might not do very well.  Clearly the test will be whether the corn forms but we are feeling positive from the way it is looking.

The baby eggplant is still providing a lot of fruit and we harvested our first red capsicum this week, with a few more not far away.  We are also getting some strawberries too, which we are enjoying immensely after our recent battle.

What it is all about - from garden to mouth

The zucchinis are also doing well.  We've always been hesitant to plant zucchini since it needs a bit of space, which we are always constrained by.  Since the corn is such a tall thin plant we put one zucchini in the middle of four corns in the back bed.  We also planted three zucchini around the half wine barrel in Paradise Patch.  A couple of baby zucchini are growing so we should have some to eat reasonably soon.  I am also planning to harvest zucchini flowers for salads.

So far the cherry tomatoes are not looking so good.  We may have to accept that this year has not been a good one for us growing tomatoes.

It's great to see the garden changing and to have the courage to try out some new crops.  It is always a challenge to get out there enough but I guess that is the true test of a garden.  To see what flourishes despite, or possibly because of, the limited time that we have to spend out there.

Have you abandoned your garden during these hotter months or are you battling on and trying to get out there? Are you happy with how it is growing?

Post-holiday summer gardening with benefits

After a rather busy and bustling visit to the relatives over Christmas and the New Year we have returned to the garden and our pets with a mixture of relief, exhaustion, excitement and apprehension.  Another year begins.  

I have taken eight months off from the part-time work I returned to last June.  Therefore I have time to languish Turtle with attention and at the same time develop my own personal pursuits, such as Lizzing Lightly, my yoga practice and experimenting in the garden, kitchen and beyond.  One of the main projects I want to focus on is the vegetable garden and making it as productive as we can.  I also want to try and use all of the produce we grow in delicious meals. 

We returned to the garden looking quite lush since our house sitter made a big effort to water a lot during the heat wave that hit Perth while we were away.  The kale that I planted a week or two before we left in mid December has flourished.  The celery, which we planted in about September, has also done really well.

Radicchio, kale and celery flourished in the back garden bed while we were away

The baby eggplants are also going really well.  We planted it, along with a capsicum, in the half wine barrel in Paradise Patch at the same time the celery went in and they are a good use of the space. 

Baby eggplant and capsicum plants in the half wine barrel

Unfortunately the capsicums have been struggling a bit so I've been picking them while they are still green.  I think they either have a disease or the sun is baking them so that one side goes all thin and loses it’s structure.  While I’m home I can keep a better eye on them and pick them if they start to turn.  We eat all of the unaffected fruit.

A couple of the eggplants had sat on the plant for too long so the bottom of them was a bit brown (see pictures) but we returned to a pretty impressive crop of 10!

Our harvest of ten baby eggplants

Our heirloom tomatoes have been a disappointment unfortunately.  We have harvested only a few fruit from three of the plants in pots.  Overall I’m extremely pleased that the garden has survived our absence and that we are getting some food upon our return (we were worried that we would miss out!).

The first big summer harvest - a good reward for our efforts

It’s nice to be home again to tend to our plant babies, although the heat is definitely a challenge to work around.

How is your garden faring? Are you also in post holiday recovery mode?

Wishing you a happy start to 2015. 

Lizzing Lightly