Saturday 30 June 2018

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?

6 comments:

  1. I'm so impressed with your bananas! My mom in Florida grows the small ones and they are so tasty. We have plenty of banana plants in our yard but the frost always knocks them off and they start over -- so never any bananas. The espresso machine is quite a find and a good bargain to boot. I've never made espresso myself but it's my favorite thing to have at the coffee shop, with milk and a touch of sugar.
    I haven't had a good charity shop find for ages. They just aren't very good where I live now. I did replace a couple white soup bowls that had gotten broken and purchased some pretty Indian clothing to reuse the fabric. I can get a whole dress out of the long skirts.

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    1. We'd never made espresso before, there is a little knack to it, but we've both managed, so it can be done. This appears to be a good model. It's great reusing material, lucky you're so petite :-). You'd love our op shops. We have about 8 in our city and they're generally not too expensive, plus are quite big. I'll take some pics to show you next time I'm doing the rounds.

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  2. How good is that million pieces of plastic campaign, every little action helps hey!
    And what a score on the coffee machine!!
    I don't even grow bananas, and I live in a subtropical climate, so you are doing better than me!

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    1. I'm surprised you're not growing bananas Cheryl - but then maybe you have local ones easily available. Although when I've been to Australia the bananas were stupidly expensive.

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    2. I've avoided growing bananas because to do it properly in Australia, you should buy certified disease free stock to plant, and I'm pretty sure I read that you have to register that you are growing banana plants, even on a backyard scale, and your plants can be inspected at any time for disease, and destroyed if found to be diseased. I think they are trying their best to keep diseases out of commercial crops. Of course plenty of people don't adhere to these guidelines, but I would, so I haven't bothered to grow them, it all seems like too much trouble.

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  3. Great to have your own bananas. We dont grow them as I opted for avo tree instead. More expensive to buy avos here. Love the one million pieces project, a liitle encouragement sometimes goes a long way! Meg ☺

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