Grow Your Blog

I came across this link up the other day and thought it was a great way of Re introducing myself and this blog, and provided an easy way for others to be able to visit for perhaps the first time.  So if this is your first time here.....Welcome! 

attempting a selfie while getting ready for work

 I like to be called Sharm by my friends and fellow bloggers, and I'm a 51 yr old wife, mother, and grandmother.  While I love to be at home, I still have to work outside the home, part time, ( I'm a nurse and care coordinator at a hospital ) , in one of the nearby towns.   


with my granddaughter

The 7 pillars Home Blog is devoted to what I believe are the 7 Pillars of  being a wife and caring for your home and family, regardless of if you are a stay at home or working woman.  Knowing that there are times throughout the life of a woman where she has lots of demands placed on her, my goal here on this blog, is to attempt to share some of those ideas,  tools,  and experiences I have used or am experiencing as we travel through life  here at our little country cottage in North East Victoria.  

Our cottage is small, and is set on just 1/4 - 1/3 acre block with other houses surrounding us.  I am always amazed  by how much we can achieve in such a relatively small area.

  In other words, you don't need to have a farm, or a mansion in order to achieve great things.
Simplicity is the key for me, that and keeping in mind our main focus here at The 7 Pillars Home is using what you have, gaining skills to use, or trying to produce low cost ways of creating a pleasant place that you enjoy being in and calling home.     
The blog is relatively new in a manner of speaking , and I initially questioned myself about continuing with it.....but then as a couple of readers suggested that this was indeed useful, and helpful, it seemed that If I could help just one other lady through this blog, then that to me was a useful purpose.    

So if  reducing debts, homestead binder, gardening and skills in order to help produce food for the table,  homemade soap, laundry liquid,  menu planning, organising, turning the house into a home..........


If those things take your fancy, or stir something deep within you, then it's just possible that you might enjoy visiting here from time to time.  The kettle is always on, so feel free to drop by anytime!





Hugs Sharm
PS:  if you are wondering just what those 7 pillars are, then just click on the tab at the top of the page.

Dishcloth Swap and Shiny Sinks

Don't forget about the Dishcloth swap - time is running out to register for this.  You have until 20th January to sign up....  all you need do is make 3 dishcloths and have them ready to post out on 31st Jan.  You also need to include a treat to go with them..... perhaps a sachet of nice coffee, tea or chocolate to enjoy!  Just leave me a comment at the bottom of this post, or email me if you want to take part
sharmshere@yahoo.com
Following my home challenge to simplify my home (missions and challenges can be found by tapping on the tab "simplify My Home Challenge" above)  I've been working my way through my kitchen.  It's amazing the amount of stuff that accumulates in cupboards and drawers!!  I have just one set of crockery plus a set of large bowls (useful for when we have spaghetti or soups and

stews)...... but I am sick of having to bend down to access them......  voila, they are now located in the big drawer for easy access.  It's another way to simplify things, which is the whole point of this exercise!    But I also love to see a nice shiny sink....... it tends to make the kitchen sparkle, even when a cupboard bench might have a pile of shopping on it waiting to be put away,  or  family have done the daily "dump the goods".   I sprinkle bicarb of soda over it all with a good lot over the drain holes,  use a toothbrush to give the taps and edges and drain plugs a scrub, then pour white vinegar over it all, give it a wipe over and pour a bit more vinegar down the plug holes (this helps to clear and clean the drain pipes and neutralises nasty smells).  Then just rinse it all away and dry it down!

Apricot Delight

We have been very blessed this year already with our apricot tree giving us a lovely crop! This is just the 2nd year it has cropped, and last year was just 4 apricots......but this year there were enough  (after the birds got the first bit and we quickly netted the tree),....... we ate fresh, but I also baked apricot muffins, apricot pie, and bottled some in a very simplistic manner that works so very well.


Since this post is also being linked back to     The Homestead Barn Hop         I would love to share the simplicity of bottling fruit with nothing more that old jars and a saucepan for basic equipment!   You need to use old glass jars that had that metal seal cap ( like the pasta sauce ones and such.....you know, they make a pop sort of noise the first time you open them........ you can see them in the pic with the green lids).  Sterilize your jars, and while they are either boiling or sitting in the oven doing that, cut up your fruit, pop it into a saucepan with a very good amount of sugar and water.........more than you would normally put in to stew your fruit.  Bring to the boil, once you have stirred the sugar in to the mixture, and cook to the consistency of your choosing.  Now while the bottles are hot fill them with the fruit mixture, allowing the syrup to go up to the top of the jar. Place the lids on tightly and just leave them be.  At some point over the next 30 mins you will hear the pop as the lid seals itself to

the jar.  Now just label your jar.  I always put the date on mine so I can use the oldest ones first.  I learnt this neat trick last year and tried it very successfully with apples!!!  
I have found these keep quite well for a number of months, just kept in my pie cupboard which I use to hold all my preserves and spare jars and my homemade soaps live down the bottom section of it.......but that's a whole other post!

January Missions

For those of you who have decided they are keen to simplify there homes, and are joining me in this process, I have made a special tab so you can easily find the posts relating to this challenge.  The missions for January have been posted up.  January is all about getting on top of  your kitchen, and menu planning.  If your kitchen bench is often used by the family as a dumping

ground, then you might also want to take a look.   If  you want to take part, then grab the pic on the sidebar and link it back to here so you can keep up with the missions.  Because many of us work outside the home, I have posted all 4 of the January Missions so you can work through them at your own pace.
Don't forget about the dishcloth swap -  closing date for getting your name down is 20th January.  details are HERE

Building our Tiny Retreat

Almost 4yrs ago when we moved here, the house had a little single carport adjacent to the house, but not really lined up well with the drive or gates.  Since then we built the double carport in front of it, and , after much patient (sometimes inpatient) waiting by me, especially when I read of others in the midst of building tiny houses and studios in their backyards, ....... my very wonderful hubbie decided to start work on transforming the single carport into that extra space so we have somewhere for friends and family to stay when they come to visit with us.

You can see the side fence through the framework & the cute window with the mirror.

   I've now named it "the retreat", as I see myself being able to retreat out to it and enjoy some space away from the living area of our home where there will be NO television!!  We are spending minimal money on it, using lots of left over building material we already have here for the framework.  In order to reduce the amount of outside sheeting or plasterboard inside we took a trip to a second hand place back in September to purchase some 2nd hand old windows and door.  We managed to find some old fashioned style large windows for 2 sides which will take up much of the area, an old door, and a smaller window for the far end which is an old bathroom window which has a mirror in the middle on the inside with the old bathroom shaving cabinet behind it!  We got all these windows and door for less than $200.00 

 

As you can see you can walk straight out from our kitchen door on the house across the side verandah and it will lead into the little retreat!  We still have a way to go and completion will slow down as Pete has to return to work on Friday.  He had hoped to get the concrete floor in, but has decided he will get the concrete premixed which means waiting till the concrete company return to work in mid January.  In the meantime however, I get to find, source and locate and plan how the inside will work, what curtains, floor covering, small benchtop counter will go inside.  I'm quite excited that I will have this little project to keep me busy with over the next few months as I make things to go inside to make it cosy and inviting, but simple and minimal.

The view from the washing line towards the front driveway. You an see the double carport there right in the front of the property.  The laundry steps and my herbs are in the foreground of the picture

 



 

Here is the view from the front yard.  I like how its tucked away with bushes between it and the next door fence, even though the next door red roof still stands out for now.

Simplify My Home Challenge and Dishcloth Swap

First of all, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!   However,  2014, is just around the

corner....... after all its Christmas in just a couple of days and the New Year is only a week afterwards........ so I'm already beginning to think of ways to get my home more organised, 

simplified, user friendly and enjoyable, all at the same time.  A house should always be a home.... one that you enjoy being in, and one where you can easily get the mundane jobs done quickly to allow time for the fun activities :)  So  I'm looking to set  myself a challenge to get my home in order in a manner that allows me to also have other areas of my life organised..... does that make sense??  For instance, its useful to me to have all the lunches and snacks sorted into small containers ready for the week........ but not if I have to hunt through all my cupboards to find the right size and the right lid!!!   .  I think it would be even more fun to have others come and join in with me in this challenge (and have a few swaps along the way even??)  It's a challenge that will last the year through in order to arrive right at this point next year!   And since there will be quite a bit of cleaning, sorting and rearranging going on, maybe we should start off with a dishcloth swap.  If you would like to join in, then add your name and blog in the comments under this post,  then take a copy of the little pic and add it to your sidebar with a link back to here, so you can easily keep track of where we are up to with our challenge.  I will be working out how to do the linky thingy so that we can all visit one another to see how things are going.  The dishcloth swap will form part of the challenge, but is not mandatory to taking part in the challenge,  and is open to  everyone around the world.  You will need to have 3 homemade dishcloths ready to post out by the  31st Jan, and maybe a nice coffee, tea or chocolate etc to go with them.
Closing date for the dishcloth swap will be the 20th January, the challenge continues all year (2014 that is lol).  Don't forget if you are taking part in the challenge copy my pic onto your sidebar and help spread the word.
Hugs Sharm

Reducing Debts

Reducing debts is always welcome no matter who you talk to!  For us the past month has been very stressful as after 3 1/2 yrs we finally managed to sell the house in Townsville (far North Australia ) . We sold up don where & moved up there for a lifestyle change that after just 9 months was evident it was NOT working, so we put the house up for auction, came back here, purchased the little cottage we now live in and waited for the house to get sold at auction......which didn't happen as the market crashed, and kept crashing, and even with tenants that didn't cover the full mortgage, or rates, or repairs or repairing damage from tenants........but finally, and yes with a substantial loss, the house up there is sold!!! Settlement has gone through and I feel such a sense of relief!!!  We are back to one mortgage, a couple of credit cards that were used to keep our heads above water over the past couple of years ( thanks to the tenants from hell for that extra few thousand dollars with of expense).  So now we will be able to concentrate on getting this mortgage down, down and down!!!  So now, I can get back to doing things again, my apologies that I have been so quiet, but then perhaps nobody notices when I don't blog anyhow LOL.