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Soap Workshop Weekend

October 26, 2014 @ 23:25 By Gavin Webber 5 Comments

On weekends, normally I am found pottering around in the garden.  This weekend has been a little different, as Kim and I felt the need to get busy to distract us from the sad events of the previous two months.

We focused on building our business, and preparing and delivering the last beginners soap making workshop for this calendar year.

Beginners soap making course - student workstation

Beginners soap making course – student workstation

We made the demo block of soap very early Saturday morning.  We use this block for a demonstration near the end of the course to show the students what to expect when they take the soap out of the mould 24 hours later, and how to cut and cure the soap over the next four weeks.

Kim and I then spend the rest of the day topping up the ingredients for the soap making workshop, making products for sale, and packing up the kit ready for transport to the community centre in Melton South the next day.

Today was another early start.  We arrived at 9am to set up for a 10am start.  The class was fully booked and we made eight ladies very happy by teaching them how to make their own soap at home using simple ingredients.  We managed to finish the class on time at 12.30pm and left at 1.30pm after leaving the community centre cleaner than we found it.

If you would like to read how the class typically unfolds during the 2½ hours, and what to expect when attending, please click-through to the Little Green Workshops site and blog.  Kim hopes to have our online shop ready to open by mid November so that students (or anyone else for that matter) can buy supplies as they need without having to travel to our place to top up.

We had a great weekend focusing on something we both really enjoy doing.  And that is my friends, teaching others simple living skills.

Next weekend (I have four days off due to Melbourne Cup), I will be working hard in the veggie patch, harvesting the last of the winter crops and putting in the summer crops.  More tomatoes and the first of the cucumbers, pumpkin, potatoes, and sweet corn.

I would also like to thank everyone for their support during the last two months.  Although it has been difficult at times during Pam’s illness and subsequent passing, we couldn’t have gotten through it without the support of family and friends, many of which we have met via this blog.

Thank you so very much.

 

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Filed Under: Friends, skills, Soap Making, Sustainable Living

Party Time!

May 26, 2014 @ 21:33 By Gavin Webber 12 Comments

What a weekend!  I have never had so much fun.  Best. Party. Ever!

Home made beer, home-made pizza, and lots of local fare.  Everyone had a brilliant time.

Here are a few pictures from the evening.

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This is my birthday cake that we served up on my actual birthday.  Kim and Sina made it from 28 cup cakes that they made and decorated.  It was delicious!  One cup cake filled me up.

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Here is the antipasto spread that Kim put together on the night of the party.  Local olives, local and imported cheese, and my favourite, infused olive oils (basil, garlic, chilli, sun-dried tomato) with sourdough bread to dip.  Delicious.

Then there were the pizza!

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The oven was ready to cook after three hours of heating.  There was a production line setup.  Dad put the individual pizza onto trays after Kim and my sister Teena made and brought them out from the kitchen.

Then with my trusty peel and lineman gloves, I cooked them.

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Then Adam, my eldest son, cut the pizza and served it to the hungry guests.

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What?  Thirteen more to go?  Blooming heck!

Actually we made 16 pizzas, thinking that there may not enough.  There was a selection of garlic and cheese, pepperoni, Hawaiian, and vegetarian.  All ingredients were as local as we could get them.

By the time I got to pulling out the fourteenth pizza, everyone had had their fill.  We popped the remaining two into the freezer for a rainy day.

We received nothing but praise for the end result.  There is just something about wood fired pizza that makes all the difference to the taste.  It must be something to do with the speed that they cook.  It only takes 3 to 4 minutes per pizza!

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My beautiful wife, Kim

It was so well organised.  There was even a tribute song after dinner which I will add to a podcast episode in the near future.  Kim (guitar), Dave (guitar), and Pam (flute), played a rewritten version of  “All About You” by Thomas Fletcher to me and all the party guests.  It was the biggest surprise of the evening.

Absolutely brilliant, and as they played, all my children and their partners sung in the background.  I cried tears of joy, in front of the entire party.  Yes, I am a sensitive guy.

So a big shout out goes to all who attended, and whose privacy I have chosen to protect by not posting their photos.  Believe you me, there were many guests.

Had a ball, and enjoyed the entire evening.  Cooking, talking, drinking (in moderation), and mingling.  The second half of the evening was spent sitting around a brazier telling stories and dad jokes.

Brilliant, but a little weird, because the entire weekend felt surreal being and celebrating fifty years of life on this big blue-green marble.  I don’t feel a day over 21!

Must be all this good, green living.

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Filed Under: Beer, Cob Oven, Family, food, Friends, Gavin, Sustainable Living

TGoG Podcast 045 – Solar Power in East Timor with Michael O’Connell

December 10, 2013 @ 19:02 By Gavin Webber 3 Comments

Today I caught up with my friend Michael O’Connell who is currently in East Timor teaching locals how to build and maintain solar power systems.

 

[spp-player]
Mick with some of the locals!
This is a fascinating interview about the current state of play of off-grid solar in one of our closest neighbours.
Mick’s students learning their trade.

 

Adding the solar controller to the main board of an installation
Please take the time to listen if you are interested in renewable energy, and to reflect a little on how we take electricity for granted here in Australia.Don’t forget that you are able to donate money to help progress this great work over on the Alternative Technology Association website [www.ata.org.au] where $250 can buy lights and charging facilities for a single home. Donations over $2 are tax deductible in Australia.Think of it as a Christmas present for a friend that you haven’t met yet!

 

If you enjoyed the podcast, please pop over to iTunes and rate it and leave a review. You can also do the same within Stitcher Radio if you use that service.  It would help me out so much, and elevate the ratings so that others can find out about the podcast and learn about sustainable living in the ‘burbs.

You can subscribe to the show via RSS or iTunes or Stitcher for your portable device.  Just use the subscription buttons below.

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iTunes

Stitcher Radio
Listen to Stitcher
 

Until next time, stay green and keep keen!

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Filed Under: ATA, Friends, Podcast, Solar Power, TGOG Podcast

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About Gavin Webber

About Gavin Webber

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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