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Doing The Best I Can

July 21, 2008 @ 00:08 By Gavin Webber 6 Comments

Over the weekend I have not been very active. I have had to stay in bed until lunch time for the last few days because of the pain, because just as I thought it was improving as per medical update 2, it all went to crap again. I have had to retire just after dinner most nights as well. Kim has been getting a bit depressed with my condition, and is worried about what the future holds. I have been telling her that the future is what we make it and that we should be focusing on the things that I can do and not those things that I cannot.
For instance, I manage to put the ingredients in the bread maker most days and can usually finish off the entire process. I was able to make her breakfast in bed as a big thank you on Saturday morning, and I was able to supervise the vege patch fertilizing and watering on Saturday, with Kim and Adam doing all the work!

Kim pulled out the remainder of the Bok Choy because it wasn’t very popular with the masses, and was going to seed due to lack of water. I purposely left the largest plant in the ground so that I could collect the seed, but just as Kim had brought over the last of the plants for composting, Adam yells out “Kim, you missed one” and ran over to the bin with it! All we could do was laugh, replant it and give it a big drink and hope it goes to seed as planned. After I finished with the compost bins, I hobbled over to admire Kim’s good work and the began to wonder where half my Chinese cabbage plants had gone. I mentioned this to her and she showed me the great weeding effort she had begun. Once I told her what they were she said “I wondered why all the weeds were growing in a straight line”. I didn’t mind as they needed thinning anyway! I was amazed how much both of them learnt just by me not being able to physically do anything. It just goes to show that teaching is sometimes more rewarding than actually doing. I was very pleased with their efforts and gave them both a big hug.

During the composting, I noticed that I have mushrooms growing in the compost bin that is ready to use. You see, I had a failed mushroom kit that after three months had not produced any of the normal signs of little white buttons after the first 21 days as the instructions stated. So instead of throwing it in the large Aerobin that would have destroyed the fungi spores, I cleverly spread the contents of the kit lightly over the ready compost in one of the colder bins. The great thing is, that nature took over, and in a few weeks time I will have lots of button mushrooms that I was originally after all. I don’t need the compost until spring so everyone is a winner.

I had to take a nap this afternoon, and during that time Kim whipped up a delicious roast chicken dinner. We has prepared most of the veg before my nap, with me peeling the spuds and picking the sage, thyme, parsley, and oregano from the garden to use in the stuffing for the bird.

After dinner was finished, which everyone complemented her on, Kim picked as much of the meat off of the carcass for the dogs dinners for the next four nights (mixed with the left over veg). I then threw the carcass into the water that Kim has steamed the vegetables with (about 3 liters of veg flavoured water), added another litre of water, a celery stick, a quartered onion, four garlic cloves, a chopped carrot all with skins on, and then covered the pot and simmered it all for an hour. Then I strained the soup, picked all the remaining meat off of the bones and put that back in the liquid. I also put back the carrots, some celery and squished the garlic pulp back into it. Lastly, I added a half teaspoon of salt, two teaspoons of curry powder and pepper to taste. We ended up with a very tasty soup that we will have for dinner tomorrow night. What a great way to utilize the carcass that I would have normally thrown away. Never again will chicken bones go into the bin! Now that is frugal living. It only took about 15 minutes to make and the hardest bit was sorting out the bones from the meat after the one hour cooking time which was pretty easy because it just fell off the bone. I gave Kim a small ramekin full and she gave it a big thumbs up.

Even though I didn’t spend much time out of bed or off the couch, I feel like the time I was able to be active was well spent indeed. A great weekend under the circumstances. Life is what you make it!

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Filed Under: compost, Cooking, Family, Gavin, Kim, No Dig Garden

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About Gavin Webber

Gavin Webber's daily goal is to live a more sustainable lifestyle, in an effort to reduce his family's environmental footprint so we can all make a difference for our children & future generations to come.

Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Comments

  1. Tasha says

    July 21, 2008 at 15:45

    Gavin, I stumbled across your blog through a link in a Sydney Morning Herald article about frugal living. Loving reading about a fellow Aussie trying to do their bit for the planet.
    Wanted to let you know too, that I’ve got herniated discs at L4-5, L5-S1. My injury happened 27/12/06. I’ve had the cortisone injections and have run the whole gamut of emotions and pain.
    All I can say is one-day-at-a-time and one-foot-after-another.
    Will be checking in with you often. Take care of that back.
    Cheers,
    Tasha
    http://foryoudesigns.wordpress.com/

    Reply
  2. Sharon J says

    July 21, 2008 at 16:15

    It’s good to hear you’re getting back to some semblance of normality, Gavin. I was bed ridden yesterday after pushing myself too hard for a few days and just that one day was such a drag.

    Sharon x

    Reply
  3. wombat064 says

    July 21, 2008 at 17:13

    Hi Mate, just checking in.
    Keep your chin up, as I have offered before Im not far away pick up phone and call me 97436127.

    Hi Kim, same goes for you too, chin up ,spit the world in the eye, it will be ok.

    Love to you both
    Phil and Stacey

    Reply
  4. belinda says

    July 21, 2008 at 18:33

    Hi Gavin,

    Good to hear that you are still managing to stay active even if it isn’t as active as either of you want to be.

    Hug Kim for all of us.. and remember sometimes having some emotional support person to talk to can make all the difference so please encourage her to get help if she doesn’t feel she is coping.

    These injuries are as difficult, if not more so at times, on our spouses as they are on us.. everyone hates seeing someone they love in unrelenting pain and being able to do nothing to help.

    Kind Regards
    Belinda

    Reply
  5. Gavin says

    July 21, 2008 at 21:58

    Thanks everyone for cheering me up once again.

    @tasha, how you found the my blog from the SMH was a miracle? Must have been a few links down, thats for sure. Pass the word around about my blog if you like. It is so hard to get exposure in Australia and I love sharing my sustainable journey. Sorry to hear about your injury, I fully understand and one day at a time is the best philosophy. Nice website by the way, I dare not show Kim or she will buy everything!

    @Sharon, sorry to here mate. It must have been great to have your daughter visit though.

    @Phil, thanks for the offer mate. If it gets worse, I might take you up on it.

    @Belinda, yes it is a strain on Kim at times, she wants to help me so much, and feels so helpless. Very similar to how I feel when she has an MS attack. To walk a few miles in anothers shoes is to truely understand.

    Gav

    Reply
  6. john (dad) says

    July 23, 2008 at 16:53

    sorry about your set back gav. if ilived closer i would love to assist you ,as you have helped me in my hour of need in the past.

    Reply

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An Ordinary Australian Man Who Has A Green Epiphany Whilst Watching A Documentary, Gets a Hybrid Car, Plants A Large Organic Vegetable Garden, Goes Totally Solar, Lowers Consumption, Feeds Composts Bins and Worms, Harvests Rainwater, Raises Chickens, Makes Cheese and Soap, and Eats Locally. All In The Effort To Reduce Our Family's Carbon Footprint So We Can Start Making A Difference For Our Children & Future Generations To Come.

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