Photography field trip with daughters

My daughters and I took our cameras out a couple of days ago and explored the local centennial gardens, below are a few of the shots captured;

Finally a time to relax

Life has been fairly hectic of late with Christmas and all that it entails, hence no posts so far this month.  I am finally on holiday however and have been putting my time to good use :0) Below are a few photos of the rag rug I have been busy making.

 The fabric from an old skirt whose elastic had seen better days!

 A close up of the middle of the rug

The almost finished product

Solar Cooker Evolution

This weekend I decided to try heating water again in the solar cooker but this time with a black container (in this case our trusty wok) instead of a silver bowl. The sun is out but so is a rather cold breeze so I soon found that I needed something to brace the reflector with. Whilst contemplating this need I spied the fish bins which we've to date been using as containers for our container gardens, luckily for me two were unused so I've cleaned them up and used them in my solar cooker design.

I am going to attempt to cook something next weekend although I haven't decided quite what just yet.  

Garden Art - mosiac ball

My first attempt at mosiac with glass half pebbles, completed this a few years ago and it has sat outside in the weather quite happily.

Stormy weather photographs

A little bit of creativity

Solar Cooking Potatoes

Today is another day and the weather is gorgeous, blue skies and plenty of sun!

At 8 this morning I realised that we get no sun in the backyard, not for a few hours ergo I couldn't set up my solar cooker, then inspiration hit as I was opening the lounge curtains at 8.35, there's plenty of sun streaming in the front conservatory so that's where I've set up the solar cooker - well at least for as long as the suns shining in there!

Potatoes all roughly the same size have been scrubbed, a stainless steel bowl the same shape but larger than yesterdays experiment has been utilised and an oven bag has been used to cover the bowl.

Around about 10 am I moved the solar cooker around to the back where the sun was starting to shine, it's around about 1 pm now and the potatoes look as though they might just cook through - will update again once they're done (or not lol).

4.15 and the sun has lost it's warmth. The water was hot but sadly not hot enough this time so I have to conclude that this experiment was a failure, but that's ok, I now know that this way isn't going to work so next time I will try a black dish inside a tin foil lined box perhaps? 

Recycling envelopes & art

Imagine my delight when opening mail at work I finally discovered that the inside of most of the envelopes had interesting patterns (I've been in admin for over 10 years now and had no idea about security patterns - go figure). Me being me my first thought was 'wow, cool, free art resource!' so I diligently cut out as many different patterns as possible over the next few weeks and brought them home where they leant themselves to being made into flower shapes.

Solar Cooker Experimentation

My wonderful husband took our youngest daughter to a school gala where she was responsible for the face painting stall. Whilst there he took a mosey around (as you do) and found a wind shield shade for me for the princely sum of $1.

With a little bit of ingenuity, a few clothes pegs, this site here as inspiration, a box to steady the shade, a stainless steel bowl, a bag with twistie tie and water I had our first experiment (the bag isn't an oven bag but will be next time!).

It was 1.30 pm by the time I was able to get the cooker out into the sun. Condensation was visible fairly quickly on the plastic bag and when I checked the the bowl/water at 2.00 pm the bowl was hot and the water warmer than tepid but definitely not at boiling point.  

Weather wise we've had a slight breeze today and an expected high of 18 °C. Unfortunately at 2.30 pm the sky clouded over so I had to abandon my quest to boil water for a cup of tea. Tomorrow is a new day however and I am going to attempt to boil potatoes for a potato salad.

Notes:

• Before I attempt to cook any form of meat I will be investing in a thermometer!
• I would also like to get a roasting dish with a lid to use as an outside container and then put another container (pyrex?) within the roasting dish on a rack.
• The wind shield shade needs to be braced by cardboard.

Crazy about ....

Anyone whose been following my blog will know that I've recently found a new interest in Yurts, below is a painted pencil sketch and the original pencil sketch I have spent a few hours doing this weekend.

Current project - Solar Cooker

Having an interest in alternative ways to do things can sometimes lead to alot of fun, at the moment I am very interested in experimenting with solar cooking. Anyone from the Hawkes Bay will tell you that during summer it gets hot enough to fry an egg - and that's what I'm banking on :)

Now I have taken look at the cost of buying a solar cooker and the only price I've found them for is $500 NZ - gulp, so necessity being the mother of invention I have decided I am going to (over the next few weeks) get together the ingredients to put my own home made solar cooker together using the following as inspiration

http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Windshield_Shade_Solar_Cooker.

I imagine my first attempt will be very makeshift but I do hope to create a decent cooker in the end so that it can be used when we finally get into our yurt!

Re-Purposing - Fabric & Zip Flowers

On the weekend I found myself having to purchase a new pillow. The one that I eventually brought came in a bag, initially my first thought was to bin the bag but then I started to look sidewards at the bag and wonder what I could do with it instead of sending it to landfill (we do try to recycle, re-purpose where possible). Below are photos of the bag and a fabric flower (inspired by a really great tutorial at Create & Delegate) and a zipper flower which I've managed to make thus far. Still in the planning stage is bunting.

Crystals & Dragon Tears

Re-purposing two metal mobiles by hanging dragons tears and crystals from them with tiger wire provided a few hours of entertainment. 

Living by the sea

Glass Birdbath

A few years ago I stumbled upon glass totems online while googling garden art. I did attempt at one stage to create my own glass totems but sadly without success. Happily though, I have kept my eye out for items I could create for the garden and this birdbath is the result.

  

I have a dream

During the weekend I discovered the exciting world of  'Yurts'. I now have a dream which is slowly resolving itself into a goal. You see I would love to live in a yurt and I think I may well have convinced my husband that it's a good idea as well :) Of course this goal isn't achievable in the next year or two but certainly something I can continue to research, plan and save for!

Image sourced from http://www.hear.org/starr/ 

I envisage a small holding of land with native bush and running water, well off the beaten track. I imagine being off the grid, roughing it to some extent, and am thrilled at the thought!