Karen "The Tool Woman" Schulz

There were many other names for the title of my post which I auditioned -
"This is how I relax before I go to sleep" (referring to me starting and completing this at 10.30pm in my PJ's).
"I normally start a DIY and then get my Father in law to fix it". A very common title for me to use but could not use that title as I did it all myself!!!
"How to make a fish smoker for $2.50".

So at 10pm (after a hectic day spending the price of a small car on various items for our new house) I had started making a fish smoker. And I finished making it 10 minutes later, which is just as well as all my family-in-law are over for lunch tomorrow as a thank you for helping us move. And I am making smoked salmon.

And yes you read a title correctly. I made this for $2.50. The metal lunch box and the cooling rack coming from the same Thrift Store at this bargain price. Due to all but one latch being broken it would be hard to sell it at all. When I explained to the shop that I needed a metal cake tin or similar for smoking fish I think they thought I was mad.
Anyway referring to the title of the blog - I have to fake my amazing DIY skills as I have NO IDEA what the name of some tools I wanted to use were. But have since found out that it is a wire cutter (grr do you know how many years I cut chicken wire with  - not sure the tool name but they are like pliers but with a cutting edge - only to find out that we had a special tool for this that took seconds to do and not hours!! sigh) and a hacksaw.

Cut the cooling rack down to size, put it in the tin, add some manuka shavings and we will be on fire tomorrow.

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ANZAC 100 years

On ANZAC day at 2pm we attended the most personal ANZAC service I have ever been too. Reading of letters from family members who were in the service. Very moving. One of the best wreaths that I have ever seen - from the local spinners and knitters group. Local native plants, red knitted poppies and flax crosses. Stunning.

My family

Anna Anderson added 4 new photos.

Lest we forget,
WWI
Private John "Jack" Brown, Killed in Action at Havrincourt, France 30 September 1918
Private James Brown, his brother, Killed in Action at Le Cateau, France the day after his 21st Birthday, 23/10/1918
Private George Anderson Bayne, Killed in Action, Chunuk Bair Gallipoli 8/8/1915
Private James Lews Bayne, Rouen, France 10/10/1918
Trooper Kenneth Anderson Bayne, died nr Pitcairn Island trying to save a child who fell off a troopship, already wounded at Gallipoli, 25/11/1916
Lieutenant Ashley Aston Heyworth, died in France 1/2/1918
Private Oliver Pickering, died Doullens, France 26/7/1918

WWII
Private James Peevers, Italy 19/12/1943
Flight Sergeant Thomas Alexander Peevers, Plane crashed St Arnault, France 2/5/1944
Private Ernest John Pickering, Egypt, 17/7/1942
Kenneth Anderson Chittock, Greece 25/5/1941
John Patrick Arthur Giles, died in Air Operations, Svino, Denmark,

While we were in the relative tropics of 1 degree.....

My husband, older son and later (when the weather was better) my parents in law were in -8 degrees C!!! And loving it.   Routeburn Track in the winter. Yes I have done it like this before and it is amazing. Well done to them.

My little trouper!!!

Getting some sewing done in the school holidays

Cutting mat, sewing machine and paraphernalia 

Concentration to avoid crashing

Tucked up in bed 

Very hard to turn corners on these bikes

In the middle of the school holidays Aaron took Jakob off to the Routeburn Track for 6 nights (and they walked in a blizzard, got snowed in, the track was officially closed etc etc.  In the meantime Eli and I had a few nights with Eli's best friend Spencer. We headed off to Hanmer Springs where it also snowed, hailed and was jolly cold. But we managed to squeeze in lots of activities. They boys favourite was these bikes.

We had a stringest safety chat before and we were clearly told that an adult over 16 had to be the driver due to the requirement to follow road rules. So we madly biked to the domain and then I let them have fun on the little bit of quiet sealed track. At night a pottered on with my pajama quilt I am doing at the moment.

Eli got so tired one day that at 7pm he put himself to bed. Spencer was amazed but popped into bed too and they both slept till 7am. Whew.

Apple - Peasgood Nonsuch

Such a funny name. We have two of these trees on our new property. When we first came to view the property with the potential to buy I spotted and immediately identified the tree. (Correctly too which I was pretty thrilled about). Since then I have done a bit of reading as there is no codlin moth, no disease which is amazing. I knew them as cookers but in reading they say they are really good eaters too, so will have to try that.

Trying to show proportions of the huge apple (compared to a jar of jam)

They are the biggest cooking apple grown and a lovely heritage variety that are very much back in vogue. Self fertile and tip fruiting. It is really important when you have apple trees to identify them as if you pruned this for modern standards you would get no fruit as it fruits on the tip of the branch and modern pruning is to take them back to nodules along a branches full length.

1 apple was enough for an entire pie which feed four people!!!

Anyway. The apple pie was Yummy. I made it with butter puff pastry as everyone says you should. Can't say I was very impressed with the pastry. Does not puff amazingly more like a flakey puff. Wont be spending that money again. Maybe seeing that this is a heritage apple I should make a heritage puff pastry. My granddad used to make the most amazing pastry that used a whole pound of butter!!!!

Home made hot cross buns.

Just like everyone else I wanted to make my own hot cross buns. Normally running up to Easter I make a lot but as we moved 10 days ago my first lot was yesterday. Aaron had picked up a bit of the bug I had later in the week so got his on a tray. The boys and I had ours with tea. Yummy

My recipe is a bit bog standard but if you go to this LINK - A blog I follow there is a fabulous recipe there that is similar.

How lucky am I!!

Not only are we moving in a very short time to a new house where I get a room for craft, but we only have days left before all that happens and I have had an afternoon where I have been able to take time out and sew. Moving is not easy - in fact I HATE it. Well actually I hate the work but I love moving and doing different things. So everything is packed in boxes and my sewing desk is ready to be moved so the machine is on the kitchen table.

Aaron has taken the boys out for some shopping (boxes, boxes and more boxes) and then decided to have a swimming afternoon with them. How blessed am I. Yes I have been painting all the little marks on the walls where pictures have come down. And packing up some garage and shed stuff, but until they come home with those boxes I can sew. I just feel really lucky and blessed.

Anyway, while I have been having this quiet time I have come to a decision!! No I have not told my husband, but he reads my blog so he will find out. We are packed to move but I have decided it can stay packed as we are going to move to England. Uh Huh, yes we are! My perfect job came up today - In "The Lady" magazine in England. I have had many a job in my time through that magazine and have worked for some Lords and Ladies, all in preparation it seems for this perfect job, I am going to be the housekeeper for Kate, Will and baby George. Wont they be lucky to have me!!!!!

So on Tuesday if you see me at the distribution centre I currently work at, it will be a figment of your imagination. Once the family get my C.V I know they will bend over backwards to have me. So soon it will be the Royal wave from me..............until then.

I have to pack my stash

Well we move in two weeks. I am meant to be packing the house up. So that means I have to pack my stash. Now my stash is not quite the ordinary crafter's stash. It is piles and piles of clothing from the second hand store.

All the seams cut, just a few to go

The problem with packing it is that I get inspired and as I have packed all my current projects I just had to start another. My thought was that if it was started it would be far less bulky to pack. I decided to sew another "fluffy"quilt. Out came all the old pyjamas and the cutting began. I took off the buttons (very useful for other projects) and took off all tags(as I have yet another idea re what to do about them) and cut all seams off.

The tags and buttons - oooh another project to start!

So with Aaron away the boys and I were to have a quiet weekend. 1.30pm in the afternoon and I was on the sofa (yes for those who know me that means I am still in my nightie), Jakob in his dressing gown and only Eli dressed.

The rolls of material ready to go, with a bit of supervision from Morris.

Then we get a call "I am parked outside your house can I come in and look at it please?" Oh my stars. I had to confess to being in my nightie and asked for five minutes. They pottered off to an open home and we got 20 minutes. My goodness the boys have the routine of getting the house ready and then skedadaling really well. In 20 minutes I had a shower and got dressed, loaded the dishdrawer, sorted the garage, folded washing. The boys vacuumed, made beds, pulled curtains, opened window and then were off on their scooters.

Now I am ready to start cutting and sewing I think I may have seriously run out of time.!!
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I am a pillowcase snob

Now on various other blog posts I have talked about being a snob - or "having a very particular preference to...".
This time I share my pillowcase making as I am so particular about my pillowcases that very few commercially produced ones come up to standard.

A good pillowcase should;

• be % cotton or linen. 
• be ironed!!!
• Feel crunchy when my head hits it
• Stay cool in the summer so if I wake up at night I can turn it over and it will be cold against my skin
• Have a decent tuck in tab so the pillow does not come out of the case!!!.....

Oh I could go on.

For my birthday last year my sister gave me these incredibly old Osman sheets still all in their original wrapper. So last night I made some pillowcases from them. I made four normal pillowcases and then one triangle case. (First time ever) Wow these sheets were so so starched it was hilarious, just another pointer to the date of them.

Eli likes to have some company as he winds down for the night so he popped into our bed to read while I put pedal to the metal on the sewing machine.

trying to make a pattern for the triangle case

So here is my finished pile of four pillowcases all fitting my criteria.

Now I am happy to make the bed!

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Spiced Chai Almond Cookies

In amongst the madness of a 12yr old birthday, confirming the purchase of a house, painting mowing, waterblasting etc.......... All on the one day. I decided to bake. Still don't understand it but wow these are yummy.

We had lunch with my friends Linda and Craig and they had made them.

 The recipe is directly from a website called Canadian Living. You can link to the recipe or it is copied below.

I have also put a couple of our "getting ready to sell shots". We have decided to sell our current house and not rent it out. So it is all looking good.

Chai-Almond Cookies

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

12 mins

Total time

27 mins

 

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 40

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter (softened)
• ¾ cups granulated sugar
• 1½ cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup ground almonds
• 1½ teaspoon loose-leaf chai tea (ground)
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 40 whole blanched almonds

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
2. Cream together butter and sugar for around 1 minute until they are very well combined and light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, mix flour, almonds, chai tea, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Add to butter/sugar mixture in 3 even batches until dough is well combined.
3. My dough was very dry and crumbly (maybe our dry Calgary air?), so I also added a few tablespoons of water until it formed a crumbly, but roll-able dough.
4. Roll into 1 tbsp sized balls and place on baking sheet, 2 inches apart. Gently press a blanched almond into the cookie.
5. Bake for approximately 12 minutes until cookies are slightly golden around the bottom edge. Cool on baking sheet for several minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

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Hiatus - but you probably guessed.

Yes doing stuff has slowed down due to working four days a week. But now all has stopped as we are in the process of buying a house and moving. Trying to do this all in 18 days. Bonkers!!! So see you back here in March