Totes Nanna in Winter and House Wear

There's nothing like a bit of cold weather to bring out your Nanna tendencies.

As I type, there is a likelihood that I will have:

• a beanie 
• a rug around my waist
• a daggy 'house' jumper over my other clothes
• slippers
• scarf
• a down jacket on
• leggings or tights under my clothing
• a warm drink (to warm hands!)
• heater on, door closed, 'snake' (or cushions/towel) by the door
• a little jog around the room or a break to do some household task that will warm me up

What are your secrets for keeping warm?  

Recently I bought a super snuggly and warm cardigan that I was looking forward to adding to my winter outerwear arsenal for 2014.  Alas, my husband has dubbed it my Chotto Nanna cardigan and now I find it being relegated to "House Wear". Admittedly, it isn't super flattering.

Do you have a collection of House Wear - clothes just to be worn at home (or maybe for a super quick trip to buy milk, if you are feeling particularly daring)?  I think House Wear is a great nanna technology as it prolongs the life of your clothing- both your good outfits and the older/worn/stained etc. but-still-delightfully-comfy stuff.  

Japanese people often do House Wear well.  As well as taking off their shoes when they return home, they also change into comfortable clothes.  I love the Japanese idea that home is a sanctuary - leaving the dirt and stress of the work day or outside world behind them when the shoes are removed.  I was given a pair of winter pyjamas by a boyfriend while I was in Japan.  Initially, I wondered why a boyfriend would be giving me (ugly) flannel pyjamas with a fleece overcoat... but the idea that he wanted me to be warm was romantic in its own way! (I found many houses in Japan were uninsulated and often cold). 

Often we don't change our clothes when we get home as we feel too busy or we worry that a visitor might arrive unexpectedly.  I guess I am challenging myself (and you, if interested!) to try out House Wear for a week or 2.  For those that work at home, you may find the challenge in dressing up when you leave the house.  For those that work out of the home, it may be to consciously designate "knock off time" when you change into your comfy house clothes.  It will be interesting to see if  a new system can prolong the life of your clothes and maybe cut down on washing.  

Yes, a bit of a taboo to challenge the idea of reducing washing;  what if my clothes are stinkyyyy?!  I just wonder if I am often lazy and wash things if they need it or not- reducing clothing life and using resources unnecessarily. Hanging clothes up to air between wearings and spot cleaning were recommended in Make Do and Mend to help families reduce resource use and prolong clothing life during World War 2.

So my husband is likely to see a bit more of my Chotto Nanna cardigan this Winter.   Rather than challenge my $4 opshop cardigan choice, maybe he should be thankful the blog isn't called Totes Japanese…

source

What are your secrets for keeping warm?  Or looking decent when an unexpected visitor arrives?  

Children's Day Activities for Chotto Kids

Children's Day is celebrated in Japan on May 5.  If you completely missed it, like I did, here are some activities that you may like to do with any Significant Children in your life.  

These activities are suitable for:

- Australian Teachers of Grade 5 and 6 -  Japan is studied as one of our Asian neighbours.  

- Guides and Scouts, youth groups, playgroups, holiday programs or similar.  

- If you are planning a staycation this school holiday, these activities are a great way for children to experience Japan without the crowds and airports (and can work well inside, out of the wet!).  Staycations are a great Nana technology: reduced cost, fuel and time while relaxing and exploring close to your home.  Just don't fall into the trap of feeling like you need to do lots of major cleaning/ home projects.

I have arranged the activities in a rough schedule - of course, pick and choose as you see fit!!  I have conducted some of these activities as a teacher and with youth groups, so I have added some tips below.

1. Make a Japanese headband.  (Click link for instructions)  These are a good way to start the day and get children into the Japanese vibe.  

2. You could learn to bow in greeting and some Japanese words:

Konnichiwa - G'day

Konbanwa - Good evening

Dozo - when offering something (please use these scissors) or please go ahead. 

Thank you - arrigato

hai -yes

Bye bye- see ya

Sayonara- good bye (when you won't see someone for a long while)

If you like, add kun (boys) or chan (girls) to end of names and call the teacher or group leaders sensei.

3. Karaoke or Group Dance.  Kids can practice a dance or song to be performed after lunch/snack.  If you walk through Tokyo's Yoyogi Park you will often find large groups performing a dance.  Karaoke is popular too- either inside karaoke booths or in the park at cherry blossom time.

4. Craft activity 1 (See below)

photo source

5. Make sushi and/or onigiri.  Onigiri works well - less fiddly and messy.  Children don't have to actually touch the rice ball- they can make it in clingwrap.

photo source

6. Picnic time.  Whether you are inside or out, put a blue camping tarp down as a picnic rug.  At cherry blossom time, parks are packed with people celebrating the blossoms - and presumably the end of Winter.  Children can take their shoes off and place them neatly around the edge of the tarp, just as they would be expected to do in Japan.

7. Perform karaoke song or group dance.  

8. Craft activity 2 (See below)

9. Active games.  Baseball and soccer are popular, if you think either will work with your group.  I'd also suggest tail tag using the Japanese headbands tucked in to the back of pants/skirt. Students could also follow this morning exercise video that is very common in Japan (Just over 3 minutes), perhaps try it at the beginning and end of your Japan day.  

Craft activity suggestions:

- a cherry blossom-inspired activity (older children) : worked well with grade 6.  We sat on the blue tarp, with Japanese pop playing, while making fingerprint (or cotton bud print) cherry blossom paintings.

-a carp activity (good for younger  children): Preps loved this.  I pre cut lots of circles from origami paper, but kinder squares, old gift paper/magazines would work well too.

- origami, If you choose origami, please note that it can be frustrating to teach in larger groups.  If possible, teach a smaller group, let them practice and then they can be roving mentors to help others.  

- manga drawing If you choose manga drawing, be aware that there are many characters online that are either suggestive at a minimum, X-rated at the other end of the scale.  I'd suggest printing out images or tutorials for students to copy and follow.  I am not very good at sketching, but was able to have some success with the manga tutorials online and in books (try your local library).

- or try these other ideas.  

Hope you enjoy your Japanese Children's Day! 

Please add other suggestions in the comments below.

Sunday Night Comfort Food & Kids Chair Update

When I think Sunday night tea, I think of Grandma's tin tomato soup and toast cut up into soldiers or one of my mum's omelettes. Lovely, light and quick meals that is enhanced by eating in your pyjamas.

Lately, when I am after some comfort food I enjoy Japanese favourites.  There are 2 stand-outs: oyakodon and okonomiyaki.  Oyakodon is egg and chicken cooked with onion and a soy sauce - based mixture, with rice.  It is a hearty and healthy meal.

Okonomiyaki is often described as Japanese pancake, however in many ways it is closer to an omelette.  It is easy and quick, but you do need a few pantry items on hand.  From the Nanna perspective, it is a great way to use cabbage and eggs from the backyard.

I am no great cook, but I thought I'd share my simple version of okonomiyaki. I've found it to be a fairly forgiving recipe, so I encourage you to try it and adapt as you see fit.

Makes enough for 2 for dinner, with leftovers. (Microwave leftovers, then add mayo and sauce. YUM! You are at work and it is Monday, but you still have a bit of Sunday night to enjoy.)

Pre - preparation

You need to have on hand:

Dashi stock and Okonomi sauce: available from Daiso or Japanese/ Asian supermarkets.  You can omit the dashi, but the sauce is essential!!  If you are unable to source the sauce, make your own.  Try here, or google (there's heaps).
Tempura flakes: Woolworths
Japanese mayonnaise: Woolworths.  I prefer my regular mayo, but some feel it makes it more authentic.

Ingredients

2 cups plain flour

1.25 cups dashi stock (or plain water) 

4 eggs

1/4 of a medium cabbage (I have used a few, purple was used in the photo), shaded

3 spring onions, chopped finely

8 tbsp tempura flakes

vegetable oil for frying

Toppings: okonomi sauce and mayonnaise 

Method

1. In a large bowl, mix flour and stock (or just water) in bowl. Cover and leave for an hour in the fridge.

2.  Add the eggs, cabbage, spring onions and tempura flakes to the flour batter and combine.

3. Heat a large frypan (or BBQ hotplate) on medium-high and add a tablespoon of oil. Put 1/4 of the mixture on to the cooking surface, shaping into a thick round pancake. Use a spatula to gently raise the edges and flip when no longer gooey. Cook on the second side until no longer gooey.  Add some okonomi sauce to the top of the pancake (in a stripy pattern) and flip again (this step makes it messy but "cooks in" some yummy sauce!). Eat straight away or repeat with the rest of batter and serve all at once.

4. To serve, "stripe" the okonomi sauce and mayonnaise across the pancake, refer to photo below.  Okonomiyaki goes well with a simple green salad. And beer.

source: okonomiyaki world.  

Chair Update

I recently wrote about being glad I bothered, when I repainted some chairs for my daughter.  Here's how the chairs turned out.  They go well with a little table I had previously used as a bedside table.  Play dough moulding, drawing and tea parties await!

Sticky Moments

My Mum gave me some very useful advice the day before my wedding day.

This pearl of wisdom has helped me out on several occasions since, as I attend to my wifely duties:

Eucalyptus Oil is great at getting gunk off stuff.

So, let me rewind to the day before I got married.  We were preparing the reception room and found that some of the coffee jars I had set aside for candles had glue and label residue.  Mum came to the rescue - after stocking up on eucalyptus oil, we left her with the jars to do her magic.  Mum came through - providing sparkling jars for our tables.

Since then I have used eucalyptus oil to clean the outer surface of preserve jars.  For example, I gave cherry jam as gifts last Christmas.  The jars had all been used before, washed and then sterilised.  However, the labels stayed on.  Over a sink of hot soapy water, I scrubbed the jars and applied the oil with a cloth.  Not only did my nasal cavities feel clear, the jars sparkled.  I now also use eucalyptus oil for washing wood floors and the bathroom.

There is so much we can learn from our elders, and yet sometimes we don't appreciate it because it is coming from OUR elders.

Please share some advice that has gotten you out of a sticky situation.

Totally Sucked In: My Story of Stuff

I have been decluttering recently and came across a plastic tub I have barely touched since my last move.  I cringe when I see it and fear not throw it out.

It is my technology graveyard and cord box.  Do you have one too?

(And this doesn't even include the 3 other cameras and video camera I bought)

In the tub are all the various music players and cameras I have bought, that still work, but that have been superseded in some way.  I also keep all cords from said technology, lest I throw them out and render technology unusable. Yes, I am not totally sure what each cord is for, so I keep them all.

I cringe because I think of all the money I have spent!! I was sucked in to the hype of better.  The items still work but are impractical…or just not as good as subsequent technologies.  Only a couple of times have I bought new just because I want, I want - the iPod shuffle and the Lumix camera are examples (I have had each for 7 and 8 years respectively and still use them).  Often it was just poor timing or I got sucked in to the idea of the product.

For example, the Pentax film SLR camera I bought in 2000.  I had wanted one since high school and when I bought it I asked about digital SLRs and was told they didn't do as good a photo.  Fast forward 3 or 4 years and most people had digital cameras and film processing was becoming inconvenient and more expensive.  Ideally, I'd like to get a new digital body to use with my lenses to lessen my guilt and get some more use out of the camera.

Another bad buy was the mini-disc player.  I bought it in 2003, just as iPods were taking off.  The player was faulty, so I had it fixed twice - an investment of 4 3-hour roundtrips.  Now I see it as a bit of a time capsule - listening to the music of 10 + years ago - and hopefully a novelty I could either rock myself or offload on ebay one day.

My weirdest buy was in early 2000, while travelling in the USA: Pocket Mail.  It was basically a tiny laptop for composing emails.  To send and receive emails, you would hold the device up to a phone and call the Pocket Mail people. It worked well in the US, but in Europe and Australia it was prohibitively expensive.

I think I am also annoyed when I think of the devices I have that I rarely use now because my iPhone has their capabilities.  Alarm clock, camera, video camera, watch and personal music device…all now in my pocket.  Which reminds me, there have been about 8 mobile phones since my first in 2000.  Laptops: 4.

So what do I do with all this stuff?   The phones have been disposed of thoughtfully and laptops have been recycled appropriately.  Any thoughts would be appreciated, especially on the SLR and mini disc player.  Or do I suck it up and just op shop them all?!


P.S. Check out Story of Stuff

P.P.S  I have started a secret group on Facebook for people who do nanna technology at their place - the idea being you can share what you have done, get inspired by others, share info and stay motivated.  If you are interested, request to join Nanna Technology Brag Book. Be warned - it is just my mum and I at this young stage, but we'd love to have you there!!

When were you glad you bothered?

Recently I have thought: Why bother?

I can think of 2 specific instances:

Last week, when thinking of my sustainability actions as a whole - the issue is too big, I can't see any progress...

And yesterday, when I was doing up some play chairs for my daughter, rather than buying new.

For what it is worth, I am addressing these 2 thoughts here - with snazzy photos of my 'in progress' vintage chairs!!

Green - or Eco - Fatigue

Green -  or Eco- Fatigue are terms coined to address the reaction to the overwhelming number of choices and the knowledge of the consequences of our actions.  As the research and the consequences of climate change continue, you'd think it would be easier for us to stop the bad choices and pick up the good.  But in general, that doesn't seem to be happening.  Rather than SHOUT THE RESEARCH FINDINGS LOOOUUDDDEERR we need to stop and consider human behaviour to get some useful answers.

OR, to think about it with another common behaviour change issue...

I need to lose weight.

I know I just need to eat less and better while exercising more.

But I'll just have seconds / miss a walk etc. etc.

We know, but we don't  always do.

AND there's the choices and conflicting information that need to be weighed up before the decision.  For dieters and environmentalists!

Dieters: Eat fresh fruit and veggies…avoid sugar….try to have an alkaline diet…

Environmentalists: Is it better to shop local or organic?  Does all that water for washing cancel out the good of reusable nappies?  Plastic bag free or reuse supermarket bags as bin liners?

Bottom line: if you care about the environment, be aware you might get eco fatigue.  Give yourself a break, be kind to yourself and seek out things and people you enjoy- hopefully you'll get your groove back soon!

Chair Refurbish

When I was little, my brother and I had a gorgeous child-size table and chair set.  My mum still had the chairs, so I asked if I could do them up for my daughter.  The chairs, particularly one, need some structural work and some paint.

I've sanded and painted furniture in the past and was relying on my husband for the structural knowledge.  Two nights this week, we have rugged up and worked on our project in the shed after dinner.  I have also put in some time during the day.  One day, as I worked alone, I thought, 'Why bother?'.  I could probably get 2 new chairs for $50 and surely my time is more valuable than that.  The following are reasons to bother (not necessarily always, but when it matters to you.  Chotto, chotto!!)

1.  My daughter will sit on the same chair as my mum, uncle, brother and I. Successive adults have maintained the chair - that time commitment demonstrates a love for the child and their own childhood.  It is a warming thought. 

2. The chairs are cute and relatively unique.  I'll enjoy having them in our house.

3. The chairs are still useful.  By caring for them now, they are saved from landfill.  (Or possibly a fire, which could be useful to a really cold and family - this isn't my strongest reason)

4.  As my daughter grows up, she'll see furniture as something that can be timeless, sentimental and last a long time - rather than a flimsy, short term item that is regularly updated.  I know I am careless with items "just from Ikea/ Big W/ the op shop".  The items have similar embodied energy and will take up similar space in landfill, so maybe we should consider treating them in a similar manner, despite their relative cost or perceived quality.

5. I've loved spending time with my husband - he's part of the chair story now!  He showed me how to prep sandpaper, use a power sander and mend the chairs.  It is a good time for us to chat too - and more active than watching TV.

6. As I alluded to above, I am learning new skills and gaining experience in furniture restoration.

7.  I have enjoyed quiet-ish time spent working and problem solving and am looking forward to seeing the finished result.

So yes, I am glad I have bothered in this instance.  Now here are the pics…

 

The chairs have been sanded and are currently clamped to allow the glue to do its thing.  I have some white and red paint from past projects, so that makes colour choice easier.  More photos when complete.

P.S. In a recent post, I wrote about the cross stitch project with my mother-in-law (MIL). There's been progress and it links in well with the "Glad I bothered" theme.  On Easter Sunday, my MIL, stitched the apron, showing me some tricks and getting me involved.  The family was sitting around chatting as we did it- good memories.  I still have to add a pocket, but much closer to finished.  To compare, I have photographed another apron. The apron was 50 cents at an opshop - brand new, with price tag: $24.50.  Seriously?!  It will be good to have a back up apron, but I know which one will be the keeper.

SO, when were you glad you bothered?

Opportunity Shopping: 5 steps to getting the good stuff

source: viewed on dirtgirl Facebook page

I love op shops.  

As a child I used to go opshopping with my mum and come home with fairly horrid stuff like porcelain figurines and huge stuffed toys.  Then I went if I needed a costume for a high school or a uni event.  When I moved out of home, I would go occasionally but would feel a bit embarrassed by it.  I'd hate to be seen there.

More recently, I have embraced opshopping.  A career counsellor told me it was a good creative outlet. I decided I prefer secondhand as it was better for the environment.  AND I realised that it was true: people make stupid choices and give away really good stuff to opshops.

Coincidently, opshops are a great place to visit to find out what NOT to give as gifts.  Christmas mugs, scented candles and gimmicky kitchen appliances are overstocked at many opshops.  

Here are 5 ways you can really benefit from opshopping.  

1.  MOST IMPORTANT: Go and go regularly.  If you are serious about finding the good stuff it is pretty important to make it a habit.  I go at least fortnightly - usually 2 opshops in the same area at a time.  I think the ladies know me at some!!

2. What do you need? It is overwhelming to look at everything - although a cursory glance over smaller shops may bring its own opportunities. Novels, bags, children's clothing or toys - have a general idea to keep you focussed.  Consider setting a budget.  It is easy to go overboard.  Just because it is cheap, doesn't mean you will use the item.  Still consider if you actually need the item.

3.  Kids toys and clothing are often practically new.  With so much gift giving and fast-growing children, there is much at the opshop for little ones.  When people say they wouldn't put their kids in opshop clothes because, "Who knows what the previous owner did with them??!!", I wonder - What do YOU do with clothes to make you so suspicious?!  With a wash, clothes can be as good as new - either brand new or with much wear still in them.

4. Is it an Exy Oppy? Depending on overheads, some opshops are generally more expensive.  By comparing key items you can get an idea.  For example, an empty Moccona coffee jar will cost you between 20 cents and 2 dollars.  Also consider that some opshops are more expensive but have higher quality merchandise.  For example, one opshop I love has great designer clothing.  I am happy to spend $15 for something there and appreciate that someone has sorted through the clothes and just left in the good stuff.

5. Buy items that you would generally buy new at a shop.  This might sound obvious, but it is really a reminder that opshops have a wider range of items than you might expect.  Magazines, incense and greeting cards can all be found at the opshop.

P.S.  Oh dear, I had been sitting on this post for a bit and then read this one in a blog I enjoy.  Similar tips, so maybe I should feel like my advice is spot on?!

Please tell me your best find at an op shop!!