RustyRaven
@RustyRaven@aussie.zone
Interested in sewing, gardening and preserving, with a strong focus on sustainability.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🤠 Tuesday 20 January 2026 22 minutes ago:
It’s a bit hot out in the sun, but I’ve got the mowing done. I think the rest of the day can be for inside things.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🦎 Friday 16 January 2026 3 days ago:
I’m back home from a day in Melbourne. Travelling down the freeway in the dark always plays havoc with my perception of speed. Something about hurtling along into pitch blackness ahead can give me a feeling that I’m not moving and it’s everything else coming towards me. I had the added challenge of wind pushing the van around to make for a tiring drive.
When I got home I found the pump in the water tank was cycling on and off constantly. I think I’ve found the cause, a minor leak in the tap timer, but having to go outside in the wind was not fun. I consoled myself with some apricot sorbet, and am now having cuddles with Miss Meow, Mr Woof and his collection of favourite toys on the couch.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🦎 Friday 16 January 2026 3 days ago:
I was watching them earlier out east and they were definitely in a hurry. They were heading with me back to Ballarat and then continued on, I think there might be a cloud convention in Adelaide this weekend they are all heading to.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🦎 Friday 16 January 2026 3 days ago:
I have a pair of jeans like that, it’s really annoying.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🌮 Wednesday 14 January 2026 6 days ago:
I woke up to no power this morning. I had to put my kettle on the gas stove and turn on my phone hotspot. Modern life is so hard.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🧶 Monday 12 January 2026 1 week ago:
In 2006, right?
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🧶 Monday 12 January 2026 1 week ago:
I slept a solid 13 hours and am now groggy and slightly confused about what day it is. It doesn’t help that the area is completely blanketed in smoke and there are not really any cues about what time of day it is.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🍉 Sunday 11 January 2026 1 week ago:
Past me that made single-serve lasagnes to freeze was awesome and I appreciate her efforts very much right now.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🍉 Sunday 11 January 2026 1 week ago:
I was having a lovely snooze in bed and got a cramp in my calf. I remembered seeing someone recently saying you should stand up and put weight on that leg when you get a cramp, so I tried that and the cramp just went away instantly. For 50 years my approach to those cramps has been rolling around in agony as the cramp gets worse and worst and there is a quick easy fix that I didn’t know about. I’m thrilled to know this, but also a bit disgruntled about how much pain I have endured over my life that I didn’t need to.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🏆 Saturday 10 January 2026 1 week ago:
yuck. I had that yesterday afternoon, but fortunately today it has all cleared where I am.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🏆 Saturday 10 January 2026 1 week ago:
You can definitely still buy lard.
Cookies are the sort of thing you can make a bit at a time, you don’t have to do everything in one go. So you could write an ingredients list for when you have the energy to shop next, then when you have the ingredients you can measure out an ingredient or two at a time when you have the energy, then mix the dough and put it in the fridge until you have the energy to shape it etc.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🏆 Saturday 10 January 2026 1 week ago:
I survived the night shift and got some good sleeping in today, ready to go again tonight 🙂
It’s amazing to see the amount of effort put in by volunteers all over the state (and from interstate) in harrowing and dangerous conditions. Thousands of people out there willing to put their lives on hold to undertake some of the most arduous work possible, and to keep going back again. Even with the worst of the weather past us there is going to be a lot of work ongoing to bring the fires under control.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🥵 Friday 9 January 2026 1 week ago:
It is trying to tell me that Ballarat is 37 and feels like 27, also very very wrong. But a bit less wrong than it’s earlier attempt to tell me 40 degrees felt like 23.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🥵 Friday 9 January 2026 1 week ago:
The wind is dreadful out there and the smoke haze is starting to build up as well, giving a horrible ominous feeling to the day. Going to work tonight is the absolute last thing I want to do 😭
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🥵 Friday 9 January 2026 1 week ago:
That’s not good. Hopefully it’s just a load-shedding thing and won’t be out too long.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🥵 Friday 9 January 2026 1 week ago:
I’ve given the garden a deep water and it has lots of mulch, so it’s got the best chance I can give it. The wind out there now is brutal though, combined with the heat it just sucks the moisture out of everything - and there is some damage to some of the plant supports that will need to be repaired too.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🥵 Friday 9 January 2026 1 week ago:
🫂
You did the best thing you could for the poor cat, it’s lucky it had you looking out for it and didn’t continue to suffer.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🥵 Friday 9 January 2026 1 week ago:
When the veg. box listed ‘piece of pumpkin’ I expected a cut piece, maybe half. Apparently it actually meant two whole butternuts. I think my pumpkin needs are well and truly covered.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🥵 Friday 9 January 2026 1 week ago:
New neighbours are moving in today. Terrible day for it, trying to move everything in this heat.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🥵 Friday 9 January 2026 1 week ago:
Fortunately it was delivered safe and sound. The veg and meat even hitched a ride together in the same truck.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🥵 Friday 9 January 2026 1 week ago:
I am going to have to be very vigilant for my deliveries today - both meat and veg coming today, I’m not wanting them left on the doorstep long!
- Comment on Discussion Thread 📚 Thursday 8 January 2026 1 week ago:
I don’t think the ‘leave early’ messaging from the fire services is really getting through. People seem to interpret it more as ‘wait around at home watching until the fire is at your doorstep, then start packing things into your car to leave at the most dangerous possible time’. I don’t understand. Am I reading different material to everyone else? Are you guys seeing the ‘leave early’ messages or ‘wait until you are on fire’ messages?
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🍰 Wednesday 7 January 2026 1 week ago:
Fortunately it was not as hot as I feared. It is also an advantage of having a van with a panel directly behind the front seats, there is not a lot of space that needs to be cooled down so it doesn’t take too long.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🍰 Wednesday 7 January 2026 1 week ago:
I'm eating leftovers for dessert
Image Apricot sorbet, made with eggwhite leftover from custard and the leftover sugar syrup my apricots were cooked in. Worked really well and very creamy.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🍰 Wednesday 7 January 2026 1 week ago:
Home time soon. Pros: going home. Cons: getting into the car which is sitting outside in full sun.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🍰 Wednesday 7 January 2026 1 week ago:
Something cold that goes well with apricots please.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🍓 Monday 5 January 2026 2 weeks ago:
I have completed the second batch of apricot jam, which has surpassed the first. This is beyond mere food. I have become one with the apricot.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🍓 Monday 5 January 2026 2 weeks ago:
Apricot crumble's is a lunch food, right?
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🍓 Monday 5 January 2026 2 weeks ago:
I finally got the dwarf lime tree I was looking for in Spring (Bunnings only had dead ones in stock) at a reasonable price, and from a local nursery. Now I just have to keep it alive through the summer heat so I can concentrate on keeping it alive through the winter frosts.
I also got a sprinkler and tap timer so I can give the garden a good soak before this heat wave, and spend less time holding a hose in the future.
- Comment on Discussion Thread 🍓 Monday 5 January 2026 2 weeks ago:
Have you looked outside to make sure it’s not? I think elephants would be very suited to a bin collection job.
