It's A Tropical Theme

Kia Ora!

Look what we've got growing!
I try to not buy fruit and veg that come from overseas, but bananas are one item that get requested here.
Finally we have a bunch (don't laugh Australians, I know they are tiny). These are ladyfinger bananas, which are easier to grow than the regular ones. It's a start ok.

How's that sky for the middle of Winter!

And sugarcane. It has taken three attempts to get this growing. I've researched how to use it - at this point let's say it will only be in an emergency.

sugarcane

Plus we are just planting out the frangipani and coffee bush into the garden from their pots. I'm not great with pot plants and I figure with global warming, they'll stand more chance out there. 

The One Million Pieces Project. (Coconut)

A couple of months back I saw this project advertised and was so impressed that a company would do this!  The Raglan Coconut Yoghurt Company is trying to get to a million pieces of plastic picked up, asking groups/ individuals to send in a count and photographic evidence of the plastic rubbish collected which they reward by sending out some of their wonderful yoghurt (that comes in glass jars).
In our instance, because we live out of town, they put money into our account to go and buy some!! How cool is that?

Speaking of coffee - we're going to need those beans. Look what we just bought off a couple who are headed for a retirement village and are downsizing. 

Sunbeam espresso machine

When I saw this advertised on Facebook, within two minutes of it's being posted I had it secured for $30. I have to say that we now make flat whites at home that are better than those we've had from many cafes. A little treat every day.
Note the mug of little wipes for the milk frother, made especially for that purpose.
That had to be the bargain of the week. I'd love to hear of your latest second hand wins - that's got to be the way to go, right?

A Deodorant Save and DIY Bailey's

Deodorant dilemmas
Last summer my home-made coconut oil/ baking soda deodorant failed. It just stopped working. I suspect this has something to do with the coconut oil remaining melted at room temperature.

I needed another plastic free idea and I stumbled onto the ideal solution, which I have been using ever since. Halved lemon/lime! It works unbelievably well and we grow a supply pretty much all year round. I just keep the halves in the fridge, taking a new slice off the top occasionally.
Squeeze a little juice onto the surface and rub it on. A gap between shaving armpits and citrus application is recommended.
The trouble is - I'm going travelling soon and will need yet another solution - I'm thinking witch hazel.

we have an abundance of limes right now - hooray!

DIY Bailey's Irish Cream

We don't drink a lot of alcohol - a glass of wine here and there and sometimes a liqueur in our coffee in the evening. My choice of liqueur is Bailey's Irish Cream, which we recently ran out of. I decided it was high time to use up some of those bottles of whiskey that we seem to have been given a lot of - so I've made my own Bailey's.

The recipe I used was one that I found here at Smitten Kitchen

It uses 
1 tsp of cocoa powder
1/2 tsp of vanilla essence
1 tin of condensed milk
1 cup of cream 
1 cup of whisky

It takes 5 minutes to mix and is seriously nice. The blogger I got it from states that it is supposed to last from 2 weeks to 2 months - and it needs to be kept in the fridge. It would normally take us longer than 2 months to drink this much - we might need to get help.