Random things

Dear readers - thank you to all who have passed by my blog this week, I have really enjoyed all your comments and now I know that I am not alone with the difficulties of getting up in the mornings.  I will be thinking of you all on Monday morning when I have to get up. I have been blessed with a lovely week, things at work have gone smoothly and on the home front no dramas.  What more can I ask for.

A few weeks ago my mum send me a little red book she had used to record our family budget in the years 1967 to 1969.  It made for very interesting reading, here is a sample:
  • lollies for Jo (that's me): 25 cents
  • candles (in case of black outs): 10 cents
  • bedspread: $15.95 (very expensive)
  • wedding gift: $6.58
  • electric shaver: $3.00
  • 2 pairs of shoes: $7.24 (for mum and brother)
  • several Christmas gifts: $6.77
  • 2 dress patterns: 95 cents
  • baby shoes for me: $1.98
  • groceries: 67 cents (I wonder what she bought)
  • haircut for 3 boys: $1.50
  • hot chips (for 6): 20 cents
I noticed my mum bought quite a bit of Tupperware (which was much cheaper back in the 1960's) and as a sewer bought lots of material to make clothes for herself and me.

My house smells like split pea and ham soup which I have had cooking in the slow cooker all day.  My eldest son was so excited this morning when he saw me make it as I haven't cooked it for a while and he just loves this soup.  I have made enough to last a few meals. Near the end I add a tin of mushy peas which my husband just loves. If you like minted mushy peas these give a slight mint taste and is delicious.

The end of autumn - these are from the only shrub in my garden that haven't yet lost its leaves. Isn't the colour just wonderful.  I noticed on my walk around the garden that the bulbs are all starting to come up (leaves at this stage), so I should have an array of colour in a few months.
Ruby relaxing on her favourite chair. The chair is near the sliding doors and she sleeps on it all day.  A life of a cat. As you can see she is yawning and as I took the photo she brought her paw up to her mouth.  Look at how long she is when she is stretched out.  She loves lying on her back, quite common for the Ragdoll cat.
And I will leave you with this photo - does anyone know what it is?  It is a hive of some kind, high up in our gum tree (we can't reach it) and when I looked through my telescopic lens I couldn't see any life. So whoever built it has moved on.  It is the size of a large mushroom (which is what I thought it was until I looked closer).  My husband tried to blast it with water and it didn't move so much be quite hard.


Happy Weekend . . . .

Comments

  1. Just Beautiful. I love your pictures, and your descriptions of everything.

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  2. Jo - how wonderful is that soup! You nee to share that recipe! It is so nice to see photos of your life at home. Love the kitty - so funny. That journal is a precious momento. Not a clue about the hive thing - maybe I will ask the gardener~~~

    Vicki

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  3. Your kitty photos are always wonderful. I miss having a cat! But I was blessed with one for 19 years. And the little budget book... fascinating. The little things DO matter, don't they?

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  4. Wow, that budget book is priceless! How on earth could things have gotten SO expensive in only a matter of 40 years?
    LOVE the autumn colours!
    I think I have seen one of those hive things before (or something very similar) and they are very hard. When we cracked it open, it looked a little like miniature honeycomb inside... Never seen anything alive around one though.

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  5. You couldn't start out with a picture of Pooh and not have me hooked. LOL!

    How cool about getting your Mom's budget sheet. It's amazing how things have changed.
    And I think your cat has it pretty hard, I tell ya. LOL!
    Have a fabulous weekend my friend.
    Kim

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  6. Your kitty is gorgeous!

    My mum use to reminisce about how she could buy the groceries for a fortnight, a few treats for my brother and I, and still sometimes manage to save a bit, for $17 !! (Early 70s) Then my Grandma who reminisce about how, when she was a teenager, her Dad would give her tuppence which would pay for her to buy a bus ticket, a movie ticket, a packet of crisps and a coffee afterwards.

    I wonder if I will be telling my grandchildren about how I could buy groceries for a family of 8 for "only" $400 per fortnight?

    (My word verification is "evil". What did I do?)

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  7. I also made pea soup this week & it also my son's favourite. For the fussy vegetarian one I made a sweet potato & red lentil soup for the first time which she loved.
    I would like to pay yester years prices but not to get yester years wage!

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  8. I like the photo and the calculator -- is that your budget you're working on?!

    LL
    Nick

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  9. 25c would have gotten you a fair amount of lollies back then I am sure lol.

    Ruby is a rag doll? They are my husbands favourite cat. She is such a character, your Ruby. She has the life lol.

    Pea and ham soup is a favourite in this house also... must make it this week now it is getting a wee bit colder up here ;)

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  10. Amanda - ruby is a Ragdoll cross but has many of the characteristics of the breed. I also love the breed and when someone offered her to me I was thrilled. She is a gorgeous cat with so much character - very good (she is an indoor cat) but full of life!

    I was only thinking about the amount of lollies I would have got for 25c, considering I was only a toddler at the time. Maybe I was meant to share them with my older brothers!!

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  11. Hmmm, don't remember having lollie's shared!!
    We fed 150 people yesterday (maybe 140)(well, we did 150 turkey or ham rolls, with salad - tomato, lettuce, cucumber, coleslaw and cheese, and they all disappeared and some probably had 2 each) plus three 26 cm square cakes - Carrot, Mississippi Mud and Hummingbird (102 slices), 60 M&M's chocolate biscuits, 24 sticky cornflake crackles in patty pans, and 40 fruit and nut squares also disappeared. We did all this for around $300 or $2.00 per person. Not sure where shops get their prices from somedays.
    We also did last year, a full three course dinner for over 100 for less than $15 a head, including roast chicken and lamb, roast vegies, and cheese cakes for desserts.

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  12. Jo: Suspect your *hive* is a paper wasp nest ~ & I wouldn't bet on it being abandoned. Nasty things ~ & their nests can get quite large. Of course what we call them may not be their scientific name...☺

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