A saving disposition is of course essential to any drive toward self-suffiency. One re-uses all these disposable objects. Net-bags for oranges make good prawn nets. My garden has a serious crop of cut off milk bottles milk bottles doing mini-greenhouse duty. B has been using them too, to make and store broth for the dogs, made from scraps. Fish, chicken, muttonbird... We really, really need that milk-cow. Too many milk bottles and the stuff is expensive.
The key here is of course NOT to be of too saving a disposition. For example not putting on the light while boiling the kettle to make coffee in the still-dark wee hours of morning, but instead using the dim light of the full moon is a mistake.
Or maybe one just shouldn't store fish-and-muttonbird broth in a milk bottle in the 'fridge door.
BLECH!!!! Eish. Eisheisheish.
ReplyDeleteHeh if you drank coffee without polluting it with cow juice you'd not have such a problem
ReplyDeleteIt's too hot, Francis. I need it in a big hurry at that time of day.
ReplyDeleteEeeuww!!
ReplyDeleteAnother use for the milk jugs (translucent plastic, right?) is for berry and soft fruit picking. You use scissors to cut off the spout and top on one side in a big rounded triangle, leaving the handle untouched. Makes a sort of lopsided basket that is excellent for picking small soft fruit that would squash if picked into a bag.
Good for holding clothespins conveniently at the clothesline, too, though the sturdier one-gallon bleach bottles are better for that. The bottom of the handle can be cut so you can hook it over the line.
How long do you have the expanded family for?
Dave, why would you do that to a poor, unsuspecting cup of coffee? What had it ever done to you? All it wants is to help jumpstart your system in the morning, to help give those creative synapses a jolt so you can provide us with more Monkey books. ;-)
ReplyDeleteOf course, if you ask Sarah, she'll tell you that I don't understand why anyone would dilute the life-giving caffeine with milk -- Or anything else for that matter except, perhaps, some good Irish or Irish Cream.
Erkh.
ReplyDeleteI bet that sure woke you up in a hurry! :-P
ReplyDeleteHere are some delicious Yolla (Muttonbird) recipes for you Dave.
ReplyDelete* Toss together thinly sliced barbecued Yolla breast fillets, saffron noodles, tender asparagus tips and a splash of sweet chilli sauce.
* Blend together shredded smoked Yolla, cream cheese, cracked pepper, lime juice and lime zest and freshly torn basil leaves for a piquant spread.
* Smear a baked polenta biscuit with fresh goat’s cheese, top with a thick slice of vine-ripened tomato, shredded smoked Yolla and a dollop of pesto. Serve warm.
* Pan-fry bacon wrapped Yolla drumsticks and set aside. Deglaze pan with rosemary jelly. Toss drumsticks in the rosemary syrup. Serve hot.
As for the coffee, make it in the evening, adding the milk before it gets dark. Reheat it in the morning in the microwave to ¾ heat, then have it with a scrumptious Yolla sandwich. Should start the day just right.
Alternatively stay in bed until Barbs gets up and brings you your coffee in bed. Then she can eat the Yolla sandwich as her reward.
P.S. You'll have to get a goat.
As I understand it a nanny goat requires a smaller area. Nubians are what are used in this area because it is HOT during the summer. If you are herding them for drinking milk do not have a buck or the the milk will have an aroma.
ReplyDeleteBased on what I've seen of goats they'd fit in well...they're agile and mischievous.
The Dairy Goat Society of Austrlia lists several breeds, one of which I've heard is a good milker;the Saanen. They're the one's you see Heidi playing with. They like cooler climes and you don't see them where I live. But might be perfect for the "cool Mediterranean" climes of Flinders.
http://www.dairygoats.org.au/
Another use for 2 ltr plastic milk containers is to cut the top and bottom off and then use as a seedling container. A broccoli box holds about 10 of these. To plant out the seedling I scoop up the container, place into a pre-dug hole, slide up the container (for re-use) and press in the dirt around the plant -- no root disturbance then.
ReplyDeleteThe seedling tray Idea is a great one Sue. I'll definitely do that.
ReplyDeleteQuilly I really don't like goat milk. I'm sorry, it has to be a cow. A jersey or guernsey, preferably.
ReplyDeleteTantalus -I get at 5. B at 8.30. That's a long time to wait for coffee.
ReplyDeleteAmanda, I apologised to the coffee ;-)
ReplyDeleteAbigail - I love the berry picking idea and intend to mod a fabric softener bottle for pegs.
ReplyDeleteWe have all of them until the 16th. :-)