Addiction thy name is Minecraft >_>

About 2 weeks ago my sister introduced me to a game called Minecraft, since the day I started playing I have barely stopped @_@' It's still being developed, but it's so fun & addictive I can't stop playing... I love everything about it .___.


You can try it for free here, but it's only $20 to buy an account at the moment (once the game is complete the price will go up) There's a single player mode, but you can play online too, so you can gather up a bunch of friends & play together :)


When you begin, your first objective is to survive the night, when the sun sets bad guys come out & you will die unless you find somewhere safe to hide ':) You have about 10 minutes to figure out how to do this...
Once you get going the game is very open, gather resources, build, go fishing, go mining, explore, whatever you like ^___^


Minecraft site: minecraft.net - main website
Minecraft forum: minecraftforum.net - best resource for mostly anything minecraft
The skindex: minecraftskins.com - many many skins to download for your character
Minecraft Wiki: minecraftwiki.net - solved just about every question I've ever had regarding mc


Screenshots from my game...

Piggy be watchin me >_>

I'm using this texture pack, so my game looks different from the default ;3


& here are a few videos...
Funny spoof music vid -

Video tutorial, one way to survive your first night -
(***Contains spoilers - Don't watch this is you'd rather try to figure it out for yourself!)

Awesome (but kinda long) video of an amazing landscape someone has created -

Yep, that's the basic idea x___x

Making a compost pile : ) (((Lets see how many different words I can use for poo :p

This is our second compost pile now, the first one turned out ok, but we didn't have any manure at the time, which is pretty important to help the matter get hot enough to break down more quickly. However compost seems to be quite forgiving, even if you have no poop available, vegetable scraps still break down well too, it just takes longer & it seems to be a different process (more research & experimenting imminent...)
This time we did get out hands on some manure :D my ex bosses (who are now friends) welcomed us to gather us much horse & cow poo as we wanted & even bagged up some pigeon poop for us, how lovely ^_____^ We wandered around the paddocks scooping up droppings for a while & by the end we had 3 grain bags worth of cow, 2 of horse & the bosses gave us 3 of pigeon. We could only fill the bags 3/4 of the way (that crap's heavy 'X ) so I would estimate we left with around... 150kg of dung! yay!
We hauled it home in the back of the ute & later got started constructing the compost pile, here are progress shots-

This is the base. We used pea straw, but any kind will

do, we wanted to avoid wheat, barely etc because of

my allergies :s So step one is to lay down a good bed

of straw no less than 1meter x 1meter in size, the pile

will need to be at least 1 cubic meter when complete or

it won't break down quite right.

This is the first addition of manure, spread it evenly over
the base, but not too thick, you want to end up with much
more straw than poop otherwise the matter will break
down too quickly & become too hot & it will lose mass.
The straw also allows airflow, this is an aerobic compost-
ing method, so good airflow is very important ;)

A couple of layers later (around the middle) we added
all the vegetable scraps we had from the kitchen.
Almost anything can be added to a compost pile,
absolutely avoid things that won't break down though,
like metal, plastic, etc, but shredded paper, cardboard
& tissues along with any fruit & vegetable scraps are
ok. Teabags & eggshells are fine too (do check the
teabag for staples tho) At this stage we also added
worm tea, this is just the liquid that runs out from our
worm farm, it's a dark liquid comprised of water,
worm castings, worm pee & I don't know what else :p
This acts as an inoculant & adds important beneficial
microbes to the pile. You can also use human urine,
a old semi-rotted carcass (omg gross) or any
combination of the three.

This is near the top, I lost count of how many layers we
did, but by the end it was pretty tall : ) As mentioned
above we used horse, cow & pigeon manure in our pile,
but pretty much any droppings are ok to use, including
pig & chicken poop ;)

Laaa!~ This is the finished pile, it took us quite a while,
maybe close to an hour, maybe just over (not really sure
:p) but we did it! :D

The final step is to give the pile a good hosing, microbes

like water & it helps everything spread throughout the

straw to mix & mingle :) We hosed away at it for a few

minutes trying our best to get it wet through, but without

completely saturating then it.

We then covered it with a tarpaulin (any waterproof

cover will do) & just leave it to do it's thang.

The pile will need to be turned in 4 days & then every

second day after that for 16 -18 days, then (if all goes

well) it should be ready! The compost is ready when

everything has completely broken down & it will look

& smell like rich, beautiful soil. Really good compost is

perfect for starting seeds, adding around plants in the

garden, spreading over new garden beds, & so on : )

RainboW :p

So that was our adventure for today, we did also plant some seeds, grabbed some more supplies from the hardware store, & Eli got started building a small table for us to use when we plant seeds (squatting/kneeling gets tiresome :p)


As a final note, we learned about this composting method via a DVD called 'Permaculture Soils' by Geoff Lawton. We bought the DVD HERE, but I'm sure many online shops will be selling it :) This DVD is brilliant, it' full of all sorts of useful information about how to create your own permaculture garden (with a focus on soil obviously) I'd highly recommend it for anyone.


DVD trailer:

So if you're interested in the wonders of compost & it's functions & uses it may be worth researching a little to learn about how you can make your own special pile ^___~
Hope you all enjoyed our compost adventure & that maybe this will help/inspire people to start their own :D


Ja ne~

Seed saving

Seed saving is an essential part of becoming self sufficient (which is what we're working toward) & when you have your own garden it's a great practice to get into because buying the same seeds over & over again is going to become very expensive 0_0
Admittedly I don't know a huge amount about seed saving, however it doesn't seem too complicated, basically it's collecting seeds : )


In many cases you can take seeds straight from a fruit or vegetable, ie. capsicum, zucchini, pumpkin, tomato, beans, strawberries, etc. Of course some vegetables don't have seeds in them eg. carrots, beetroot, cabbage, salad greens, onions, etc, this includes herbs too. To acquire seeds for these plants you will either have to buy them (if all goes to plan you should only have to do this once), or you can collect them from plants that have 'gone to seed' : )  If you don't yet have any plants of your own you may be able to collect some from friends, family etc.
Plants that are left in the garden undisturbed, which do not bare fruits or vegetables containing seeds, will inevitably go to seed, so once you have established your garden you can collect seeds from your own plants :D This is a beneficial practice in many ways, one of the best things about harvesting your own seed & replanting is that the plants adjust to your area & become stronger generation to generation, amazing stuff!


I decided to take some seeds from a capsicum that we bought at the market, maybe they won't grow, although I can't imagine why not >_> So I'm going to plant them & keep track of what happens (if anything :p)

Look at all these free seeds!

I hope they grow :p

Seeds are amazing & precious in my mind, many people may be aware that there are certain large seed companies out there that are attempting to genetically modify plants so that they will not go to seed, & as a result people will have no choice but to buy them! This makes me so furious, so so furious, selfishly interfering with nature & depriving people of their right to collect their own seeds, all for the sake of profit! I don't have words for how horrible & wrong this sort of practice is D:< For reasons like this we should all buy certified organic wherever possible, & avoid Genetically Modified foods like the plague, because in my opinion they're worse than one.
Growing a good variety of plants & saving your own seed is a great thing to be doing, many species have already been lost due to ridiculous modern day agricultural techniques & the foolish implication of monocultural practices. Until a few years ago I had no idea that there were so many varieties of tomato, I've only ever seen 3 or 4 varieties in the supermarket, but there are many many more than this. By having your own garden you can greatly increase the variety of foods in your diet, & if you use permaculture techniques/design & grow organically you'll be helping the environment & you're almost sure to improve your health too!


Well that's my seed rant :p


Kinda off topic buuut, super easy curry recipe coming soon...


Ja ne...

Our first seeds have sprouted + Seed planting/gardening resources ;D

Happily some of our seeds have sprung! :D It's mostly salads so far (damn those things grow fast 0_0) but there is a garlic beginning to sprout & a choko too ^_____^

Pics!-

I actually just realised that I've put these in upside down :p
Oh well, you plant you learn ':D I've turned them right-way
up now, & one of them is shooting out roots like crazy,
guess that one didn't mind being wrong way round 'XD
Actually I might have to move them into pots the roots
were so long 0_0 ...Fun times 8D

SALADS!!!

We have a good variety of salads going on now, & I've
recently planted more :p I'm really looking forward to
seeing the Darwin salad sprouts, it's a nice looking
salad : )

& this is our wee choko sprout growing like a champion!
Eli's father Bill gave us the fruit to grow these from,
thanks Bill! ^_____^ These are out in the open, not under
the polly tunnel, I've read they grow very well (almost too
well) in Australia, so I've got high hopes for some good
choko meals in the future :D

I moved the soil a little so you can see the fruit. We
have two of these chokos & both are growing nicely :3

So far I think we're doing ok, the more challenging part may be transplanting them & seeing how well they do outside the polly tunnel in the garden beds, hopefully it'll all work out, but we still have a little while until we can start moving them. So for now I'm just enjoying checking the sprouts every few days : )
Today I planted some Hungarian peppers & I might nick a few seeds from the capsicums in the fridge & see if I can get those going, but we need another bag of starting soil first (can't wait to get some good compost happening so we won't have to buy this stuff anymore ^___^')


& finally here are some resources for seed planting/general gardening:
- Gardenate.com - This is one of my favourites, very informative & there's a phone app too, handy! [:D
- Gardening Australia fact sheets
- Selectorganic.com.au - Organic seeds (this is where we bought our first lot)
- Greenpatchseeds.com.au - More seeds
- Urbanfoodgarden.org - This site has some handy harts to show when to plant which seed
- Permaculture.org.au - Great site, & there's an awesome companion planting chart here
- 
as always I'll add more as I find them ;3


Ja ne~

Polenta, no it's not cheese, so what am I seeing...

Polenta is basically ground corn, it's another easy to prepare & versatile accompaniment. We haven't experimented with it much yet, mostly we cook it, let it set, chop it into chunks, fry it & serve it with pasta sauce & cheese on top : ) (which is what we did tonight)
Polenta has a strange consistency, almost like a very moist, dense bread, kinda... personally I like it a lot, but if you've never had it before you might find it a little... different ^_____^'


This is what it looks like the way we prep it-

yum... 0_0
Polenta is something I'm going to have to play around with a bit more, Eli & I both love the stuff & I imagine there are many ways to have it, time to visit some recipe sites! :D
So if you've never heard of/tasted polenta I give it two thumbs up on tastiness, so maybe give it a try some time ;3


Ja ne~

Porridge; ur doin it right

I've noticed various ways to eat porridge over the years, none of them are wrong, I just think my way is better :p


Evidence-

As you can see my porridge isn't just the grain + milk with a tiny drop of honey on top. When I eat I try to get as much benefit out of it as possible.
So for people out there who might like to try some different toppings I'm just gonna reel off as many as I can think of that I've liked, here goes...


- Sultanas
- Pumpkin seeds (aka - pepitas)
- Sunflower seeds
- Strawberries (my absolute favourite)
- Banana
- Dried cranberries (great in place of strawberries during winter)
- Brown sugar
- Dried figs
- Shredded coconut
- Dried apple
- Nuttelex (adds some extra richness & sweetness)
- Vanilla soy milk (I don't do cows milk)
- Cinnamon


I also like to mix through flax seed oil, it tastes terrible on it's own in my opinion (kinda like old socks [: /) however it's a great source of vital Omega 3 fatty acids which vegetarians (& vegans) in particular can be a bit low on because the more commonly consumed source is oily fish.
The porridge I have is rice porridge (gluten free) I found one that's organic too, so it's win win ;D
Anyways I hope this post gives you some ideas for different toppings for your morning porridge :3


Ja!

2 pics from last week...

I couldn't submit these until now because one was for a birthday card & the other was for a thank you card for my ex boss -

I'm pretty sure this is a blue wren... Inspired by a photo I saw on facebook.

Purple dog FTW! Based on a border collie.

That's all for now.

Quinoa salad, why didn't I think of this sooner...

Quinoa (keen-wa) is a really tasty & healthy grain-like seed that is easy to prepare & goes well with pretty well anything.
I decided to try making a quinoa based salad & it worked out really well : ) Another great thing about quinoa is it's really filling, so this salad is pretty much a complete (super healthy) meal, & of course, being a salad you can mix & match ingredients to your liking.


Ingredients:
- 1 cup of Quinoa
- 3 tbs of Mirin
- 1/2 a small Onion - Finely diced
- 2 tbs of Olive oil
- A handful of roasted Cashews (or Walnuts) - Roughly copped
- A dozen marinated Olives - Sliced
- A dozen Sun-dried Tomatoes - Sliced
- 3 Brussels sprouts - Sliced & sauteed
- 1 tsp of Nuttelex
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Oil from the marinated olives & sun-dried tomatoes to dress


Method:
1. Thoroughly wash, rinse & drain the quinoa. In a small saucepan add the quinoa & enough water to go 1cm above the quinoa. Heat the quinoa on a low heat & allow to simmer gently.
2. While the quinoa simmers prepare the other ingredients. Set the sprouts aside to be cooked once the quinoa is ready.
3. Once the quinoa has expanded & almost all of the water is gone stir thru the mirin & olive oil. Place a lid on the pot & remove from the heat & allow to stand for 10 minutes.
4. Fry up the sprouts in some nuttelex, mirin, salt & pepper, & set them aside.
5. Add the quinoa to a large bowl along with all the other ingredients, season with salt, pepper & some of the oil from the marinated olives & sun-dried tomatoes. Mix well & serve!


This salad takes a bit more effort than some others, but it's very healthy, filling & super delicious. Quinoa is very versatile & can be used in a huge variety of ways, so I hope you all give it a try.

Catch you next time.

Trinkets from the weekend market...

Today I crumbled & bought a few cute little things from a stall at the market, usually we only get vegetables, eggs & the like, however today I made the mistake of browsing, & browsing almost always leads to buying @_@'
...
2 of the items I bought + flowers I got for free :D
...

Weird little wooden cat.

A super cute puffy duck.

Cat discovering the duck [:o

& some very beautiful Blue bells, which Ron was kind
enough to give me :D I really want to plant some now.

They were all $2 each (except the free flowers : ) but some of the things I bought are for a good friend of mine (so I couldn't post them up here) hopefully she likes them...
...
New recipe on the way...


Ja ne~

Doggie sketches :3

Some quick practice drawings, a couple were requests from friends : )

Hope you all like them : )

Natural swimming pool/pond (One day we will build one for sure!)

I just found this beautiful video on you tube & it's rekindled my deep longing for one of these natural pools. There are many designs around, you can look through Google images, or search on youtube.com. I've seen many versions & the designs are pretty much limitless, you just have to follow a few simple rules :3 There are ways to avoid using concrete as well if you don't fancy it (I'm not a fan) Instead people have used large rocks, etc. It does depend on the design you want though, I've seen everything ranging from very conventional swimming pool designs, to fancy infinity (or horizon) pools, all the way to rugged ponds that look vey natural. Existing pools can also be converted if you already have one but prefer the idea of a natural pool : )


Here's the vid-

Personally I think this is the absolute best way to go if you're going to build a pool. It's friendly to plants & animals & it's friendly to people too, after all who really wants to be swimming around in a bunch of nasty chemicals, not me! 0_0
I can't get over the beauty of these pools, they make me so happy & excited, can't wait to build one ourselves one day ^___________^ Just another thing to look forward to [:D


Ja ne.

We dug vegetable beds today [:D (((+ contemplating 'open worm farm'

We have wanted to start a vegetable garden for years now, but we haven't been in the right situation (renting is very uncertain >_>) & even tho we don't yet have our own place, we do have more security here & it's definitely good practice for the future ^_____^

So today we took the first step & made 2 decent sized raised beds [: ) We're planning on growing as many different vegetables as we can, we're really looking forward to starting some seeds (we ran out of daylight today :p)

Here are some photos of our progress so far...

The 2 raised, double-reach beds. On top of the soil is

some compost, then newspaper & on the very top is pea

straw. The walkways will be filled with wood chips, but

we haven't got any just yet.

Eli standing amongst the beds, they're pretty big [: )
It was getting kinda dark by this stage (& cold too) ["___"]

A small poly tunnel we'll be using to get some seeds
started, I'm so excited!

So this is pretty much the new view, Nice! ':D

It was great to get outside in the dirt, getting muddy is pretty fun :p My Mum even came down & helped, she did an awesome job, I was rightly impressed [:D
All in all it took around 4 hours (I'm not sure what time we started... @_@) Not long at all to set up 2 large beds to grow your own food, I definitely believe that absolutely everyone should learn a bit of basic permaculture design & then set up their own garden!

We're also planning on incorporating an open worm farm into the middle of each of the beds, this way the worms can come & go freely & our food scraps can be processed & turned into wonderful worm castings.

As I understand it it works something like this-

I've read that scraps can be processed much faster this way & the worms are more comfortable as they can escape excess heat, moisture, etc. So I'm very keen to see how this works out : )

I'm off to bed, definitely need a good sleep tonight,

ja ne...

Lime wedge - Oishii

...
*UPDATE*
I recently did a few minor fixes for this pic, adjusting colours, as well as mending some anatomy issues.

Later everyone.

Lentil Burgers - Vegan Gluten-free -

Oh yes, here to share another quick & easy recipe. It's just throwing a bunch of stuff into a bowl & mixing it really.


! Lentil Burgers Recipe !


Ingredients:
- 2 cans of Brown lentils - Rinsed & drained
- 1/2 a medium Onion - Very finely diced
- 1 small Carrot - Grated (I always wash mine & leave the skins on)

- 2 tsp of Orgran 'no egg' Egg replacer

- 1/4 - 1/2 cup of Almond meal (This is a thickener & the amount can vary)

- 1 clove of Garlic - Minced
- 1.5 tbs of Cumin
- 1 tbs of Tomato sauce
- 1 tsp of Sugar
- A few pinches of Salt & Pepper to taste
- Oil for cooking


Method:
1. Prepare the lentils & set them aside to drain as much as possible whilst preparing all other ingredients.
2. Add all the ingredients into a medium sized bowl & mix thoroughly, mashing most of the lentils as you mix. Allow the mix to sit for 10 minutes or so to develop flavour & allow the almond meal to expand. The mix should be fairly thick & should hold their form, or you may need to add a little more almond meal. You can taste the mix & adjust seasonings before you start cooking.
3. Heat some oil in a skillet over a medium - low heat, then scoop out balls of the lentil mix & flatten & shape them with a spatula. Allow them to fry for a few minutes, then carefully flip them & allow to fry a few more minutes. They're ready when heated through & golden brown on both sides : )


Serve! :D -(oh my gosh how easy!)


This amount makes 10-12 burgers & of course they are great served in place of meat burgers, but we also like to eat ours with some basmati rice & a nice salad :)

Prep, mix, fry, serve, done!

I hope you like them, & I would definitely encourage people to experiment with different flavors for the burger mix & come up with a unique herb/spice blend.

Have fun!

Something that frustrates me to no end ((CRAPPY HOUSES!!! ]: I

Every week I see new houses being built, housing estates especially are spreading like wildfire, & what are housing estates packed to capacity with... houses of course, & virtually all of them are useless! I say that because they don't function as a house should. The people who live in these houses (more often than not) rely heavily on external heating & cooling devices, like air conditioners & heaters to stay comfortable throughout the year, & this of course costs money (don't even get me started on the complete lack of garden space)
Houses today are constructed using manufactured, often toxic materials, why are we doing this?! @_@ It drives me up the wall!!! How can people not realise that the paints they're spreading all over the walls of their home are full of harmful toxins, in fact many materials used today are, yet most people seem to be oblivious that the building they are living in, raising children in is toxic ]: ( Instead of considering how best to build a functional, healthy home we worry about having 5 enormous bedrooms & 3 bathrooms, & en-suites... wha?... We seem to be void of logic when it come to houses, we don't even consider which way the sun shines from & how best to orient our house to take advantage of it, quite honestly it hurts my head x___x'


Thankfully there are more & more people out there realising the illogical & ridiculous manner in which we continue to 'design' & build our homes & they have started applying simple, logical design, natural materials & observation to build houses which are functional & healthy. It's not overly complicated & it doesn't have to be expensive, it just takes a bit of thought & research.


So I've scribbled up a few very rough sketches to throw a few ideas out there, which i have learned through numerous DVD's, websites, books, friends, family, etc.

One of the first & most important things to consider (& yet no one seems to) is 'passive solar design', in other words, how to orient your house to take advantage of the sun! It's relatively simple, the sun rises in the East, sets in the West & shines from the North (from the South in the Northern hemisphere) In the summer the sun moves through a higher arch & during the winter the sun is lower in the sky & has a shorter arch. This means that rays of the sun shine in from different points throughout the day & throughout the year. Having a basic understanding of how this works, relative to where you live will help you decide how best to design & orient your house to prevent excess heat entering your house in the summer & yet allow more sunlight (& heat) in during the cold of winter.

Another idea to consider is thermal mass, & yet most houses seem to be built out of materials that are ineffective at capturing & storing heat... This is the best example I have ever seen to explain the basic workings of thermal mass. There are 3 jars in the image above, imagine the jars are like the walls of your house, one is filled with warm air, one with warm water & one is filled with warm water & wrapped in insulation (like a thermos) which one is going to stay warm for the longest when placed outside? The answer may seem obvious, & yet we continue to build houses in ways which completely ignore this logic.

This last sketch shows a number of basic ideas to consider when purchasing land &/or building a house. If people put a little more thought into how a house could be functional & healthy, rather than trying to make it as big & gaudy as possible we may actually be able to live more comfortable lives.


***Please bear in mind that these are just (very) rough, basic sketches & ideas, & that I am by no means an expert on this subject! If you are interested in learning about natural, functional houses please research thoroughly & educate yourself before making any decisions, but I really hope this gets people thinking about the awesome alternatives to the boring, unhealthy, expensive, mass produced, illogical brick boxes that are churned out day after day.


Here are some links which you may find helpful...
.
Websites:
- earthship.org
- ilovecob.com
- 
Books:
- Comfort in any climate, by Michael Reynolds
- Water from the sky, by Michael Reynolds
- Permaculture: A designers manual, by Bill Mollison
- The hand-sculpted house, by Ianto Evans, Michael G Smith & Linda Smiley
- 
Videos:
- Cob buildings & permaculture design
- Earthships
- 
(as always I will update & add more links as I find/remember more :p)


Thanks for reading!
Ja ne.