As a distraction from all things French, I've decided to return to full time study next year to become qualified as a Registered Nurse.
This follows a lot of time spent thinking about what would be best for me and our household. I've decided on nursing because I do have a background as a paramedic and I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy the work once I'm qualified and out in the workforce.
I also chose nursing because its flexible in hours and location. Its also flexible in direction - so whether its specialising as an acute care nurse or working in the community visiting people at home, nursing offers a lot - it ticked a lot of boxes for me.
So now I'm putting in my application and planning how we'll manage the next three years of study and then the one year post grad that I'll need to consolidate all that theory.
And in the meantime, I can be distracted by visiting my favourite blogs, looking at beautiful photos, redecorating here at home and honing my French cooking skills.
31 Oct 2011
29 Oct 2011
I think I might be a Francophile...
I have a confession to make - I think I may be a Francophile.
I've never been to France, but I want to go there. Of all the places in the world I'd like to visit, France it is.
I missed out on learning French at school, so all these blogs I see of people who can get by on 'school girl' French leave me a little sad.
You see I did study French at high school, but in my second year, my French teacher had her jaws wired - remember that fab way to lose flab? Wire the jaws shut so you can't eat - simple.
Doesn't work when you wire the jaws of a language teacher shut though!
So here I am dreaming of France and thinking about classes to learn the language. The only French I remember is said through gritted teeth, which may come across as a little aggressive?
I'm also thinking of a cd to play in the car so I can learn French on the go.
Anyhow, if I want to go to France I do need to learn a little of the language at least.
Time to start studying and time to start saving.
I've never been to France, but I want to go there. Of all the places in the world I'd like to visit, France it is.
I missed out on learning French at school, so all these blogs I see of people who can get by on 'school girl' French leave me a little sad.
You see I did study French at high school, but in my second year, my French teacher had her jaws wired - remember that fab way to lose flab? Wire the jaws shut so you can't eat - simple.
Doesn't work when you wire the jaws of a language teacher shut though!
So here I am dreaming of France and thinking about classes to learn the language. The only French I remember is said through gritted teeth, which may come across as a little aggressive?
I'm also thinking of a cd to play in the car so I can learn French on the go.
Anyhow, if I want to go to France I do need to learn a little of the language at least.
Time to start studying and time to start saving.
23 Oct 2011
It'll be all-white
I'm in a white phase here at the moment - our little cottage is built of western red cedar and the inside is timber too. We have a lot of timber furniture after 20+ years of being together, so there are a lot of dark colours. Everything's melding into another and looking lost and dark.
So I headed off to the paint store the other week (after finding just the right shade of white in a magazine - and what a range of whites there are too!) and we've been painting up a storm ever since.
From photo frames to walls, nothing is safe.
And its made such a difference to the whole look and feel of the place. Its brighter, cleaner and lighter to live in. And being a small space, the white has made it feel bigger too.
Inspired by French country style the place is taking on a whole new life. Its wonderful and the comments from visitors has been great.
Colour directly influences our moods and lightening up the house has had a great influence on our day to day living here.
Here's to great whites and the power of paint!
So I headed off to the paint store the other week (after finding just the right shade of white in a magazine - and what a range of whites there are too!) and we've been painting up a storm ever since.
From photo frames to walls, nothing is safe.
And its made such a difference to the whole look and feel of the place. Its brighter, cleaner and lighter to live in. And being a small space, the white has made it feel bigger too.
Inspired by French country style the place is taking on a whole new life. Its wonderful and the comments from visitors has been great.
Colour directly influences our moods and lightening up the house has had a great influence on our day to day living here.
Here's to great whites and the power of paint!
21 Oct 2011
Focus
We're focusing on a couple of things here at the cottage - firstly to get this place running as efficiently as possible.
This means focusing on electricity use, water use, waste in and out of the house... all those things that lead to a comfortable financial situation.
Our electricity bill is kept very low thanks to the solar panels on the roof and this being a small home.
Our water bill is non-existent. We are self-sufficient in water with two large tanks capturing the subtropical downpours that happen here every year.
The other thing we focus on is recycling, repurposing and re-vitalising what we have rather than buying new.
Making our own furniture, repainting old furniture... those types of things.
At the moment we're undergoing a pretty major renovation here - walls are being painted, furniture moved around, furniture made from recycled timbers... and its all coming together really well.
While Cedar Cottage is only a small space, there is so much you can do with it. For example we have a choice of five different eating areas both inside and outside the house and through clever design we've been able to do this without making the house feel crowded.
We're also going through a big 'lighten up' stage at the moment too - lots of light and bright things going on here to lift the decor and freshen up the feel of the house.
This means focusing on electricity use, water use, waste in and out of the house... all those things that lead to a comfortable financial situation.
Our electricity bill is kept very low thanks to the solar panels on the roof and this being a small home.
Our water bill is non-existent. We are self-sufficient in water with two large tanks capturing the subtropical downpours that happen here every year.
The other thing we focus on is recycling, repurposing and re-vitalising what we have rather than buying new.
Making our own furniture, repainting old furniture... those types of things.
At the moment we're undergoing a pretty major renovation here - walls are being painted, furniture moved around, furniture made from recycled timbers... and its all coming together really well.
While Cedar Cottage is only a small space, there is so much you can do with it. For example we have a choice of five different eating areas both inside and outside the house and through clever design we've been able to do this without making the house feel crowded.
We're also going through a big 'lighten up' stage at the moment too - lots of light and bright things going on here to lift the decor and freshen up the feel of the house.
9 Oct 2011
Energy Bill
We received our quarterly electricity bill recently.
We’re down to 4.8kWh per day – at the same time last year our use was 5.8kWh.
To put our 4.8 in perspective I’ve believe the Australian ‘average’ household daily use is anything from 16-25kWh per day.
We have a 1.4kW photovoltaic system on our roof (installed in 2009).
We feed back into the grid (grid-connected) so we don’t have a stand-alone battery system. This means we sell our energy to our electricity company at one price and buy it back from them for another.
We had a 2.8kW inverter installed so we could double the number of panels we have in the future. We currently have six 175watt panels.
A ‘1.4kW’ system means it should be making 1.4kW of energy per optimum sunlight hours per day – here on the Sunshine Coast the optimum sunlight hours per day is six. So we should be making (optimally) 8.4kW per day.
In the last quarter, we made $95.50 worth of energy. (191kWh paid at .50cents per kWh)
We used $88.69 worth of energy. (431kWh billed at .20.69cents per kWh – less than half the price we sell it for) PS that 431kWh was over 90 days, so 431 divided by 90 = 4.78 – our daily usage.
If it was as simple as that we would have got a cheque back for $6.81.
But there are other fees;
On top of the $88.69 worth of energy we bought, we also paid $21.55 to ensure that energy we bought back from the supplier was green – in this case wind power.
By doing this we’re ‘offsetting’ our energy use.
Reduce consumption
Use alternative sources (in our case solar)
Offset the difference (buying wind energy)
The energy we do buy from the grid is not sourced from fossil fuel, instead its sourced from wind energy companies.
This means our home has zero carbon emissions. No fossil fuel energy usage here.
So the other fees added onto our bill are;
Energy use; $88.69
Green offset; $21.55
Service fees; $23.45 (visiting the property, invoice processing)
Community Ambulance Cover; this is a cost Queenslanders have been charged, but aren’t as of July 1, 2011. So we only had a $2.39 fee to cover from June 22 to July 1. We won’t be billed at all from now on.
So
Total charges; $136.08
Less what we made; $95.50
New total; $40.58
Plus; (goods and services tax)
GST; $13.38
Total; $53.96 for the quarter.
We know our summer bills are going to be slightly higher because we use the ceiling fans, but with some clever modification to the design of our home – as part of our eco-retrofit – we’ll fix that problem.
Plus having a solar hot water system makes a HUGE difference.
Now the challenge is out – to get it below 4.8kWh per day for this time next year.
We’re down to 4.8kWh per day – at the same time last year our use was 5.8kWh.
To put our 4.8 in perspective I’ve believe the Australian ‘average’ household daily use is anything from 16-25kWh per day.
We have a 1.4kW photovoltaic system on our roof (installed in 2009).
We feed back into the grid (grid-connected) so we don’t have a stand-alone battery system. This means we sell our energy to our electricity company at one price and buy it back from them for another.
We had a 2.8kW inverter installed so we could double the number of panels we have in the future. We currently have six 175watt panels.
A ‘1.4kW’ system means it should be making 1.4kW of energy per optimum sunlight hours per day – here on the Sunshine Coast the optimum sunlight hours per day is six. So we should be making (optimally) 8.4kW per day.
In the last quarter, we made $95.50 worth of energy. (191kWh paid at .50cents per kWh)
We used $88.69 worth of energy. (431kWh billed at .20.69cents per kWh – less than half the price we sell it for) PS that 431kWh was over 90 days, so 431 divided by 90 = 4.78 – our daily usage.
If it was as simple as that we would have got a cheque back for $6.81.
But there are other fees;
On top of the $88.69 worth of energy we bought, we also paid $21.55 to ensure that energy we bought back from the supplier was green – in this case wind power.
By doing this we’re ‘offsetting’ our energy use.
Reduce consumption
Use alternative sources (in our case solar)
Offset the difference (buying wind energy)
The energy we do buy from the grid is not sourced from fossil fuel, instead its sourced from wind energy companies.
This means our home has zero carbon emissions. No fossil fuel energy usage here.
So the other fees added onto our bill are;
Energy use; $88.69
Green offset; $21.55
Service fees; $23.45 (visiting the property, invoice processing)
Community Ambulance Cover; this is a cost Queenslanders have been charged, but aren’t as of July 1, 2011. So we only had a $2.39 fee to cover from June 22 to July 1. We won’t be billed at all from now on.
So
Total charges; $136.08
Less what we made; $95.50
New total; $40.58
Plus; (goods and services tax)
GST; $13.38
Total; $53.96 for the quarter.
We know our summer bills are going to be slightly higher because we use the ceiling fans, but with some clever modification to the design of our home – as part of our eco-retrofit – we’ll fix that problem.
Plus having a solar hot water system makes a HUGE difference.
Now the challenge is out – to get it below 4.8kWh per day for this time next year.
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