Jubilee, Power cuts, Roasts, Washing and Pressies

We have been celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in our own little way on the opposite side of the world.  Salem has made so very patriotic bunting and we have bee watching bits and pieces on the TV mainly on the UKTV channel.  Last night we watched a lovely program by Prince Charles and his memories and home movies of his mother, the Queen.  Salem can't wait until Prince Charles and Camilla come to New Zealand in November as part of the Jubilee celebrations.

On Saturday night the weather was attrocious, it was bucketing down with rain and the power went off!!!!
It was off for hours, just as I was getting settled to watch "Bomb Girls" on telly.  I watched it on Thursday night but missed some of it due to doing mum stuff.  Thursday night is usually "Land Girls" night but the third series had finished the week before so now they are showing "Bomb Girls".  Grumpy teenager and I watch it together, he really enjoys "Land Girls" and now he likes "Bomb Girl's".  I think he was quite surprised when one of the girls got 'scalped' when having her hair caught on the hook in the factory.  Boys like gruesome bits!!!  So....Saturday night was spent with me trying to find the lighter in the dark then finding the torch and lighting as many candles as possible.  Then going outside in the pouring rain to talk to the electricity guy to see what is happening as there was only one other house across the road who had lost their power.  Everyone else was fine.  Eventually there was light again but nothing good on telly so off to bed.

So on Sunday afternoon there was another repeat of "Bomb Girls" and Salem and I were getting into the first 15 minutes of the program and guess what?????  ......the power goes off again.  Same problem as Saturday night and it took a couple of hours for the power to go on and I was dying for a cup of tea.

So we listened to my "We'll Meet Again" CD on my laptop while the battery lasted.  Salem's favorite song was 'Run Rabbit' by Flanagan and Allen.  At least it was daytime so we had light so Salem was sorting out his stamp collection and I crocheted myself a pair of fingerless gloves.

Luckily the power came on in time for me to cook dinner and have our winter favorite .... Roast Veges!!!!!
Roast veges are the best thing about winter.  If it's a root vegetable or in the squash family it gets roasted.
As vegetarians we don't have the meat to worry about, just some cooking fat and heaps of potatoes, pumpkin, carrots and parsnips.  I couldn't be bothered cooking anything green to go with it though.  We just had to cope with drowning everything in gravy.  YUM YUM YUM. For my tum!!!!

It was just a quick gravy made with gravy powder with worchestershire sauce, lots of pepper and a bit of soya sauce added as I had run out of vegemite.  We have plenty left over for tonight.

It poured down with rain again last night but today is a lovely sunny but very windy winters day, great for downing a load of washing.  I don't have a dryer so I make the most of every fine day.  I think clothes smell so much nicer when dried naturally.  I also wash our clothes with just plain sunlight soap, washing soda and a little bit of borax, how my nana used to.  I used to stay with my grandparents when they were alive and on wash day we would fire up the copper and I would stir the clothes when I was big enough.  Then we would use the mangle to get most of the water out of the clothes.  Then I would help my nana hang out the clothes with wooden pegs.  Nothing is more satisfying.  I even make my own 'blue' for the whites.

All I have to worry about now is not dropping any clean clothes on the ground into chicken poo.  As my darling girls like to hang around in the sun under the clothes line.

Now on to the pressies, I was a very lucky girl and won one of Land Girl 1980's May giveaways.  So winging it's way from the UK was a package containing a lovely button brooch and matching button earrings.
So a big thank you to Charly at www.landgirl1980.blogspot.com .
And then on Saturday I was walking past "Emma" clothing design workroom and shop in Upper Cuba Street after having a well deserved cuppa at "Arthur's", and spied some Besame lipsticks.  Whoo hoo!!!!!
I just had to go in and have a look and then had to buy one.  An extravagant treat but I'll just say it's an early birthday treat to myself.  It cost me NZ$44 but so worth it.  I choose the 'Red Hot Red', just my colour.
I do like the square cut of the lipstick and find that I don't need to use a lip liner.  I know other people do find the shape difficult but I find it easier to use.  It feels great on my lips and is matt which I prefer.
Check out the other lippy colours at www.besamecosmetics.com .

Whew, it's a long post today.  I need a cuppa and a lie down now.
Take care

Nellie B

Some useful websites

Just a quick post today for those who are wanting information on getting started on their own journey into wartime life.
There are quite a lot of useful websites out there to get information about  rationing and life during WWII.
Also plenty of very cool recipes to try.

Check out:

 www.ukhomefront.co.uk

http://www.southshorenow.ca/timetoremember/recipes/index.php

http://1940sexperiment.wordpress.com/100-wartime-recipes

http://woottonbridgeiow.org.uk/recipes/wartime.php

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/world_war2/daily_life/

http://cookit.e2bn.org/historycookbook/20-97-world-war-2-Food-facts.html

These will get you started.  The sites aimed at children are pretty interesting.

Food Points

Along with your rationed foods, you had 16 points per person per month to buy other foodstuffs and goods.
We have been using these points to buy our tinned goods and other staples.  I've looked at many different websites and there are varying amounts of points allocated for the same items so I am using this following list for our purchases.

Even though Salem and myself don't eat meat, Grumpy Teenager does.  We will eat fish though.

Meat products  16

Tinned stewed steak  20
Tinned fish  16
Tinned veges  4
Tinned peas and beans  3
Tinned fruit  4
Tinned soup  4

Nuts  12
Dried fruit  16
Oatmeal  4
Cereal  8
Dried peas  4
Dried beans  4
Rice  2
Pasta  4

Sago, tapioca and semolina  2
Custard powder  8
Jelly and blancmange  8
Table cream  8
Condensed milk (1 pint)  2
30ml Olive oil  1
30ml Salad oil or cream  1

1 tablet of soap  1

We are very lucky that we have chickens so we don't have to ration our eggs,  we have had to cut down a bit as it is winter over here and the chickens aren't laying as much and they have taken to laying in hidey holes around our back yard.  Naughty girls!!!!!

What I'm reading at the moment

I am reading "Doing Our Bit" edited by Jim Sullivan.
New Zealand Women tell their stories of World War Two.
I'm reading this when I go to bed.  It has women telling of their experiences during WWII, of being in the WRNZNS - Women's Royal New Zealand Navy Service , WAAC - Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, WAAF - Women's Auxiliary Air Force, VAD - Voluntary Aid Detachment , WWSA - Women's War Service Auxiliary, WVS - Women's Voluntary Service, etc.....

It has a lot of great stories and photos.  I'm enjoying this book.  It is a lot like "Spreading their Wings" by Bee Dawson  which is about the New Zealand WAAFs in WWII.  But this book includes the other services and even housewives experiences, not just the WAAFs.

On Friday I scored two more books for $1 each at the library book sale. What a bargain.
 All WWII themed.  They are:
"Ten Days to D-Day"  Countdown to the liberation of Europe, by David Stafford and
"Wolfram" The boy who went to war, by Giles Milton.
Lots of good reading for over winter.