Lunch, with a side order of Norwegian Blue*

Pepper's comment, on yesterday's post, that 'The Karma Bank may have something miniature for you this week...' had me hop, skip and jumping across the road to the post office at lunchtime today.

And indeed she was correct:

Oddly, enough, the minute I opened the package, I completely lost interest in my lunch, which sat there growing cold.

Because the real noms were laid out on the table above my boring old lunch from the freezer...

complete with my very own Norwegian Blue! Thank you thank you thank you!

(*Just in case)

#Frugal15: Fabulous friends

This week's grocery budget was higher for three reasons: I decided to buy Mr Nibbs some steak worth $3,50 (I figure the occasional addition of this to his diet saves me on vet visits to clean his teeth). I'd run out of dishwashing liquid and sponges (one of the unfortunate side effects of cooking at home a lot more is there are also a lot more dishes that need doing). And I discovered crumpets (not on the shopping list, but a freezer staple which I stock up on when they're cheap) on half-price special.

The week's menu included mushroom soup (served to a dinner guest with garlic bread made from rolls out of the freezer); a spinach, red capsicum, feta and spinach frittata; penne, pesto and tomato salad; mexican chili corn pie (a favourite: which produced three extra servings that went into the freezer) and tuna, corn, red capsicum and feta pizza.

There were no muffins this week, mainly because the freezer still has a good supply of a couple of flavours.

What there was this week, was the Karma Bank paying out in the form of a lot of unexpected spoiling by friends. I was shouted coffee (twice). Brunch (once). Lunch (twice). Dinner (to celebrate M's birthday and my success at the ANCA sPIN exhibition opening). And three friends who came to my place for meals brought goodies to share.

I never expect my friends to pay for me, but I'm always very appreciative when they do.

Speaking of The Karma Bank paying out, I received a phone call from out of the blue last night with the offer of a few days' work this week. By my reckoning that should pay the rent for another couple of weeks...

Frugal and free: and then there were two...

The Belconnen Arts Centre's mid-winter market was on today, and I'd promised a friend I'd pop in to visit her and her stall.

And what did I find right next door to her stall, but Hillgrove Pottery: the people that I bought my tiny house from last year.

Having decided that I could completely justify a $2 spend for another, I was delighted when the owners decided that they would give it to me instead!

 So now there are two...

Finish it off Friday: a (w)hole lot of fun

This week I pulled the 'pidgeon' hole unit kit out of my box of unmade kits to work on.

  Because I needed to do a 'quick and dirty' build so I could have it finished to take photos before I lost the light, I decided to do a little experiment. I figured since the kit only cost $4 in the first place, I could afford to potentially mess it up completely...

Could I cover it with printed paper using my Xyron sticker machine? There was only one way to find out.

 But first, my lovely assistant and I had to decide which way round I was going to make it.

 (That's massively tall, so horizontal it is.)

 I decided on a paper that would work with the burned edges of the wood bits

 and began cutting and stickering. (So far, so good.)

 And we have success!*

 This is a technique I definitely want to use again in the future...

(*Actually, it's only blog finished. I couldn't be bothered faffing around gluing it together then waiting for the glue to dry so the end and top bits are just balanced there...)

Popped in, sold out!

I arrived at tonight's opening of ANCA's sPIN exhibition two minutes after it officially started.

And one of the first people I saw was the Gallery Manager, who was clutching a roll of red dots. 'You've almost sold out!' she said as she saw me.

 Blimey!

I'd worn my lucky red spot brooch, bought from an earlier version of the show, which obviously worked.

 Because, within another two minutes this lovely woman bought the last brooch.

 Yep, completely sold out in six minutes,

With disappointed friends who had hoped to buy one of them.

(It almost made up for the fact that my name was misspelled on the catalogue...)

Blue with cold

The scene started with a fridge magnet I bought on a trip to Jindabyne a couple of years ago, which has been moldering in stash ever since. And a sofa I bought for $5 from this year's Sydney Show.

The blue paper seemed the ideal choice, and then I remembered the yellow-dipped vase that I hadn't used in a scene yet. And suddenly, the story fell into place.

It's a holiday house available for rent up near the ski fields.

(Although the current occupant seems more interested in other diversions...)

#Frugal15: Menu Monday

One of the most important things I find I can do to help with keeping the grocery budget down is menu planning. When I was working full time (and coping with the situation that finally caused me to make the decision to leave), this was something that didn't really happen. I'd buy my main meal at lunchtime from the cafeteria across the road and often eat snacks for dinner. And going to buy groceries was less about actuality and more about intent.

Now I have more time (and head space), the first thing I do each week is plan out my meals, starting with what I have in the fridge or cupboard that I need to (or would like to) use up. Then I make a list of items I need to create a range of meals that will keep me engaged and cover the main food groups.

This week's planning started with a quesadilla recipe I'd ripped out of a magazine a couple of months ago. A new recipe always piques the interest, and this one used up broad beans and feta that I had on hand (and, as I planned to also make a refried bean version,  more leftovers lurking in the freezer). The remaining tortillas went into the freezer for another week.

Pumpkins are cheap at this time of the year so I planned two pumpkin-based meals: Oven-baked pumpkin and spinach risotto (using arborio rice from the cupboard and the last of the spinach from last week's grocery shop) and Thai pumpkin soup (I had green curry paste plus half a can of coconut milk in the freezer). Both these dishes ended up being shared with friends who came to dinner. 

The bananas were used in two meals this week: caramelised on top of pikelets from the freezer for brunch, and cut up on top of muesli and yoghurt.

I used up the last of the zucchini from last week (and some of the carrots) for zucchini parmesan fritters, and the half bag of corn chips in the cupboard became the base for Sunday night nachos. Lastly, I added a store cupboard standby: Tuna and pea pasta.

Oh: and the week's muffins were apple, honey and sultana

and they were all eaten on a lunchtime visit to a friend and her co workers...

Moving into week three, I still have a couple of apples and one banana left from this shop. An egg, most of the loaf of bread, yoghurt and sour cream. Half a packet of rice crackers and six tortillas.

And, from items brought by dinner guests: half a packet of crackers and a quarter of a bag of Grainwaves, an almost full box of seashell chocolates, and (most deliciously) half a tub of burnt fig and caramel ice cream...

I had friends over to play last night...

Although that wasn't the intention. I invited friends over for dinner. Which meant, once again, moving Margell to the back of the table to make room.

My friends brought snacks and wine.

 I provided soup and crusty rolls.

 By the time dessert (also provided by them: I'm feeling so spoilt!) arrived, the lure of a dolls' house sitting just there was too much. Talk had turned to how my friends planned to celebrate their 13th anniversary this weekend and I flippantly suggested that they were welcome to stay at Margell again.

And suddenly they had packed their suitcases

 and set up a celebratory picnic...

Guess I have guests this weekend, then!

'I finished it off!' Friday

These were actually finished late yesterday afternoon:

Yes, miracles happened and the brooches for the ANCA sPIN exhibition are done!

Perhaps yesterday's to do list helped?

 I'm not sure if I can show them all to you just yet, but here's a sneaky peek of one of them:

(I figured I should make things that I would want to keep if they didn't sell...)

Thank you for brightening my day!

The lovely Susan from minicrochetmad read my post about the lack of crocheted granny square rugs at the May show and emailed, offering to make me one. She kept the offer open when I explained that I'd just ordered one from overseas for my birthday: we decided you can never have too many afghan rugs.

My rainbow rug arrived yesterday:

and it is truly beautiful!

Thank you so much, Susan :-D

And, in case you're wondering, progress is being made, albeit slowly, on the brooches. I threw the scene above together while waiting for glue to dry:

(There's nothing like a last-minute rush, is there?)

One-word Wednesday

Procrastination :-(

under construction

I need to finish my brooches for the 5PIN exhibition and deliver them tomorrow (hell, I have to start my brooches for the 5PIN exhibition!)

But I realised that the Alex Asch exhibition I'd been meaning to see finishes today. And decided I could justify a visit to it as research. Besides, I was low on brooch backings and if I combined a trip to buy more with a visit (and a coffee and catch up with a friend) it would be completely frugal. Right?

 (Especially if she bought my coffee and cake as a belated birthday treat...)

I'm glad we went. I just wish I had the spare cash to buy one of the pieces as a birthday gift for myself...

Luckily for me, one of my favourite pieces is reproduced in the brochure at a perfect size for miniature use!

But first: brooches...