Country Comfort Hot Showers

We have had a few people ask us about our shower so here is a quick look.

This is a Country Comfort gas hot water system.

These are Australian made and come from Australian Direct and at $299.00 they are not cheap but i can tell you it was well worth the price.

We have one of those fold up shower tents they are great until you have to fold them up that is. 

They are a nightmare, you end up folding/ bending it as much as possible and then shoving it into the bag as quick as possible before it unfolds it self. I suggest you get someone to help you so your not the only one swearing at it.

Other than that they are pretty good as a shower tent, the water drains easy and it has 2 mesh pockets for your soap and shampoo.

I do suggest that you get a couple of those rubber/ foam mats for under it, it will make it a lot softer on your feet especially when you don't notice the rocks and sticks when putting it up.

These tents also double as a loo tent. At $59.00 they aren't cheep but if you need it for more than a few days it is well worth it.

We have used it on a couple of short camp trips and the 42 nights we spent camping at Quidong before we moved to Early Bird Farm, where it is up again and we will use it till we build our wash house.

The Gas shower comes with a shower head that fits through the back window of the shower tent and can hang from the roof with velcro tabs or the hook.

This is a collapsible 100L water tank, we picked these up at anaconda for $40 each 

The top zipps on with a vent at the top.
If we shower together we use about 30L and if we shower separate about 20L each.
Save water and shower with a friend......

The shower also comes with the coil hose and a pump.

We purchased a small battery for $30 to run the water pump.

A 8.5kg gas bottle hooked to the instant hot water system. For the 42 days we camped we used less than a 1/4 of the tank, so its pretty cheap to run.

Now we have a 45kg gas bottle hooked to the hot water system.

With all the frost we have been getting the water freezes in the hose and the knobs on the system freeze up as well, so we cant get our shower until later in the afternoon or at night before it gets too cold.

Today we decided to bring the pump and hoses into the cabin and to cover the water tanks, gas bottle and hot water system, in hopes that we can get a shower in the morning.

But alas a hot shower was not to be.

Cant wait till we build the wash house.

Happy Adventures Nicole, Andrew & Sally Girl

Camp Oven Cooking - Corn Beef Hash

Corn Beef Hash with Poached Egg
or with Cabbage

Left over silverside shredded or chopped depending how you like it.
Small cut potatoes boiled and drained.
Add meat and potatoes to a fry pan season with salt and black pepper.
Heat it through scrapping the bits off the bottom of the pan as you go.
Serve with a poached egg on top.
OR

Cabbage- cut thin and fried in a little butter (NOT Margarine) with salt and pepper.

Do not over cook this, it should still have some crunch to the cabbage. And will only take a couple of minutes.

These are great for either breakfast or lunch.

Happy Adventures Nicole, Andrew & Sally Girl

Linked here
Home Sweet Home #224
Home making mondays #56
Our Simple Life #3

Camp Oven Cooking- Silverside (Corn Beef)

Silverside with Honey and Mustard sauce (Corn Beef)

This is a really easy meat to cook in the camp oven, slow cooker or oven and they are pretty cheap to buy. This one was $7.95 and it will do the two of us for 2 dinners and 1 lunch or breakfast.

This piece weighed in at 967 grams so just under a kilo.

After taking the meat out of the bag coat it in flour, seasoned with salt and pepper.
Sear it on all sides in a hot fry pan to give it a nice crust.

Don't forget to put a rack in the bottom of your camp oven.

Put the meat in a dish and place it in the oven, now pour in as much Ginger Beer as will fit with out it spilling over.

Cook it over the side of the fire with no direct flames, turn once or twice so it cooks even.

Cook for 1 1/2 hours then place 4 to 6 heat beads on top of the lid for another 30 mins.

Check the liquid as you go and top up as needed but only in the first 1 1/2 hours after that leave it to reduce down to a golden sticky syrup and it will coat the meat adding extra flavour.

When you think its done then leave it cook for another 20 to 30 min and it will be falling apart and will melt in your mouth.

Let it sit on the chopping board for 10 mins or so before carving.
In that time you can make the sauce.

Honey Mustard Sauce

2 Tbl Butter
2 Tbl Flour
1 1/2 cups Milk
2 1/2 tsp Hot English Mustard
3 Tbl Honey

Melt butter in a small pot over a low heat, add flour and cook for a couple of minutes stirring.
Add milk and continue stirring to prevent lumps. Add the mustard and honey. Bring just to the boil and remove it from the heat.

With this dinner i also made Potato Bake and Cabbage.
Corn Beef and Cabbage is a traditional meal in a few countries.

Cabbage- cut thin and fried in a little butter (NOT Margarine) with salt and pepper.
Do not over cook this, it should still have some crunch to the cabbage. And will only take a couple of minutes.

Potato Bake  
4 Medium Potatoes sliced
1 Tbl French Onion Soup (dry mix)
300 ml Cream or Evaporated milk
Bacon cooked or Ham
Grated Cheese
Salt and Black Pepper

Par boil the potatoes, drain and add to your camp oven.
Mix the soup, cream, salt and pepper, pour over potatoes add the bacon and cheese on top.

Place camp oven off to the side of the fire don't have direct flames on oven or it will burn.
Turn a few times during cooking.
Cook 25 minutes then add 4 heat beads to top and cook another 20 minutes.
I use long life cream or you can also just use milk if you have run out of cream.

Happy Adventures Nicole, Andrew & Sally Girl

Linked here

Home Sweet Home #224
Home making Mondays #56
Our Simple Homestead #3

Camp Oven Cooking- Apple Crumble

     Apple Crumble

I used 4 granny smiths but you can use any apple you choose
peel, core and slice the apples. Place in a pot with a little sugar and a small amount of water.
Cook until just tender.
Place the stewed apples into a dish inside your camp oven
(Don't forget the rack under the dish)

Crumble

1/4 cup Flour
1/4 Sugar
1/4 Coconut
Cinnamon
Butter

Mix everything except butter and add to the top of your apples, place small knobs of butter on top.
Cook over a low heat at the side of the camp fire for 20 minutes, then add 4 heat beads to top and cook another 15 minutes.
Serve with cream.

Happy Adventures Nicole, Andrew & Sally Girl

A Drive in the country

Well its all the country down here, we decided to take a detour down the old Bombala Road on our way to Cooma and this is what we saw.

An old railway bridge, to say that the trains stopped running in 1985 the bridge is in top condition.

It remind's me of a western, just waiting for the steam train to come chugging a down the line and the train robbers galloping down the track to stop the train and robe the passengers and the train of the pay roll.

The line went to this huge store house, that has 3 floors, dont know if its still used but it sure is impressive. 

 We also came across the biggest apple tree i have ever seen.

There was not one leaf left on the tree but it still had hundreds of apples on it.
Andrew climbed halfway down the embankment to pick some.

We only managed to pick a couple as they were too far to reach.

The apples were not like your supermarket apple, they were sweet, crisp and juicy.

These pictures do not do the tree justice, it is huge.

Next year we will be taking a ladder when we visit this tree.

Happy Adventures Nicole, Andrew & Sally Girl

Early Bird Farm

Andrew was out most of the day and while he was out i made a our new sign.

Not too bad for a couple of sharpies and an old book case.

This is the new wheels for the farm, had it delivered yesterday.

Andrew said it is so i can learn to drive, but its really his new toy.

I dont know who like's it more Andrew or Sally Girl.

 So today we headed out with a can of red paint to mark our boundary, we don't have any fences.
160 acres is a very big piece of land.

So much teatree its crazy.

Cold nights and mornings.

Very thick frost the last two mornings, all the water frozen, and had to tip kettle water on the zipper on the toilet tent as the zipper was frozen and would not open.

Happy Adventures Nicole, Andrew & Sally Girl

Homeward Bound

160 acres and a Tiny House

 12-5-2015, we drove to Cooma picked up paper work and bank cheques and drove to Canberra, swapped them for the deeds and transfer papers and the property now belongs to us.
By the time we drove back to camp it was well and truly dark so one more night at Phillip and Scots place.
We would like to send them a very big thank you for allowing us to camp on their property.

 13-5-2015 all loaded up and ready to go, the camp site all tidy just leaving tent marks on the ground.

Starting to sleet on the way out.

Our property has a private road that is maintained by all the residents and has no road name.

To get there you have to pass through a Dog/ kangaroo gate that must be closed at all times.

There is also a nature reserve just before the main gate. At the gate way there is a sign that says end of council road enter at own risk.

Heading down our new road and onto the property.

Andrew taking down the for sale sign.

The front paddock with a very large tree that has split down the middle.

If you look closely you can see our tiny house through the trees.

Sally Girl running free, showing dad where to go.

Our Tiny House

Empty the house of stuff, bird nests and poo.

Cleaning up.

Sunken lounge, kitchen with a slow combustion stove.

Oh and 2 small bats, we are still trying to evict them.

Linked Here
Home Sweet Home #220

Happy Adventures Nicole, Andrew & Sally Girl

Wonder wash * Review

This is my camp washing machine, you can fit up to 2 big towels so it holds a decent amount. 

I have also washed Sally Girls sleeping bag in it.

If you wash the cleanest items first you can reuse the wash water for the next load.

This type of washer does not wring out the washing, that will have to be all you and i have learned to use a bit of hot water in the rinse water so its not so freezing cold.

You only need a small amount of washing liquid / powder, i use liquid as it does not need to be dissolved and i find it washes out better than the powder.
If your washing a lot of items fill the washer half full, add your items. You can then add more water if you need too but do not over fill with either water or washing as it will not wash well.

Screw down the lid and make sure it is on properly and then turn the handle and give your arm a work out. It can be used left or right handed. A few turns one way and then the other. 

Depending how dirty your items are it should only take a few mins.

Now this is where a husband comes in handy........ :o)

There is a stopper in the bottom so when you empty it the wash is not sucked into the drain and stop the flow. I have found that when i am washing the stopper drops out and is tumbling around in the wash. This will not cause the machine to loose water.

When your ready to empty your machine attach the spout and it will empty on its own.

This very brown water was after tea-towels, table clothes, hand towels, bath mats and car rags in that order.

After the wash you wring it out as much as you can into the machine, drop the wash into a bucket with clean water and rinse and wring out, this is where i put in some hot water so i don't freeze my fingers off.
I have found the washer to be very good it cleans really well and does not use a lot of water or detergent.
I can highly recommend the wonder washer.

Clean washing flapping in the wind always makes me smile.

Added:
These washers are about $50 depending where you get it from, you can also get replacement parts.
They are light weight and easily pack back into their box and i highly recommend keeping them in the box as it makes them easier to pack into the car, caravan or trailer. 

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Homemaking Mondays
simple saturdays

Happy Adventures Nicole, Andrew & Sally Girl