Glompbot's Profile

In Australia eggs can be found in both the fridge or the baking aisle depending on the supermarket.

Our apartments come both furnished and unfurnished, at the will of the landlord (furnished usually for short stays, but sometimes just because the owner left their stuff there). Furnished usually costs more.

You're not allowed to paint or change any fittings or do any other kind of renovation without the landlords written permission (almost never granted). Even drilling into the wall could mean you lose the rental bond you pay at the beginning of the lease. The real estates here are real sticklers and try to penalise you at every oportunity. Pets are usually completely ruled out, so there is a culture of lying to your landlord and finding friends to mind your pets when you have an inspection (Inspections require 2 weeks written notice from the landlord).

They must be equiped with some working way to cook (some small units there are no bedrooms, one tiny bench in the room for a 'kitchen' with a toaster oven and enough room for a bed and a cupboard only) and laundry will be shared between the units or you have your own. The owner must provide either an outdoor line to hang clothes on, or access to a dryer.

The laws do change between states, I'm in NSW.

Hi, I'm a type two diabetic and I see a dietitian so I've gotten a lot of advice on this subject. My father is also diabetic.

Your main concern, funnily enough, isn't desert. Its the meal from start to finish, including what they drink. Its also carbohydrates and sugars, not just sugars.

With diabetes its the total load of a meal on their system. You know how you get sleepy after eating? Thats *really* bad for diabetics. So if they get that they should probably skip desert completely, and definitely not drink alcohol or sweetened drinks.

If they have no carbohydrates with dinner (rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, bread crumbs, starchy vegetables) then he can enjoy whatever desert you serve in *moderation*.

Fruits despite being 'healthy' are actually something diabetics have to consume in moderation because of the amount of sugar they contain. Grapes are some of the worst.

Otherwise strawberries are one of those lovely diabetic friendly fruits that don't do crazy things to your BGL, so you could always make a trifle with low fat & low sugar yoghurt and strawberries and some museli.

A cheese platter is good, but you have to bear in mind how many crackers the person will eat with their cheese. The crackers = carbohydrates and sugars.

I'm allowed 20g of cheese and 4 vita wheats as a 'serve' of cheese and crackers, to give you an idea. As for things like bread I'm only allowed a piece of rye sourdough measuring 5cm by 6cm by 1cm high.

So serving sizes are a lot smaller than you think.

I'm one of those people who picks up things from the street. We call it the curb-side-shopping-network.

I've picked up a bar (which with the addition of a mirror) I turned into a vanity to make up for the tiny shaving mirror in the bathroom of my place.
A coatrack which is slightly broken but serves me well.
I also found two coffee tables (both of which have gone to friends in need).
And I just recently was trawling ebay, freecycle and gumtree (like craigslist for australia), for armchairs, and what do I find on the street outside of a friends house? an awesome armchair that will need a small amount of TLC

In return for bringing all these new things into my house I've decided to stop procrastinating on getting rid of some of the stuff I've been carting around for years. I think I'll start with the stuff hanging off the back of my bedroom door, I have a few bags, including a rather pricey laptop bag I should get rid of.

I really love the idea of this cure. Also for the advice of the butcher block, I have a large chopping board which definitely needs to be reoiled (and possibly sanded back beforehand) which I've been ignoring for a while.

Also, will give me an excuse to attack my loungeroom with the vacuum.

I definitely organise things in the pantry, fridge, and kitchen cupboards the same way my mum does.

Even to the point where the first drawer is cutlery, second is loose cutlery (spatulas, wooden spoods, big stuff), third is take out menus and plastic bags and brown paper, also the foil, plastic wrap, plastic bags, and baking paper are here.

I've even followed the glass up high, plastic low rule she seems to have in her kitchen, and corner cupboards instantly get turned into tupperwear storage areas.

I've also taken to putting the tea-towel over the handle to the oven door.

I do have some things sorted/stored differently, but generally I've started with what I learnt from her and adapted it to suit myself.

I prefer clean/empty bench tops, but she preferred everything handy on the bench is one area where we differ.

I use my cutlery!

I've got an issue with my right wrist which means I don't have much strength in it, but since I hate handing things over to other people to do, I've found ways around it :)

I originally used knives, but since I've purchased a lovely set I don't want to ruin their tips, now I use the thin handle end of the teaspoon and wedge it into the thread of the jar and it forces it open enough to break the seal, then a quick twist and the lid is off.

On particularly stubborn ones I run the lid under hot water to assist in breaking the seal.

Where I grew up we had an open style solution like this (i hate how small showers seem now in comparison), however to stop water getting all over the floor there was a 10cm raised area around the 'shower' which also made a convenient place to put shampoo and soap on.

I miss showering without feeling boxed in by shower curtains or glass walls.

Oh please tell me where you got that lovely orange and white rug from?!

I've been using apartment therapy as a huge inspiration for making my kitchen something I want to use. I've documented the idea/process so far here:
http://glompbot.tumblr.com/post/423051221/ikea-hacking-obsession-or-thrift

I just wanted to say thanks for the inspiration!