Food Stuffs and a Broken Drain.

Our kitchen drain s currently broken!
Michael and I had noticed it had been leaking into the cupboards again, ever since we turned the gray water tap upside down because IT was leaking. Since the girl's room took top priority over all, we had simple cleared out the cupboard and put a bucket in there to catch the drips, as it wasn't a lot as yet.
Yesterday Phebe was playing tents out the back door, and she had hooked the bird's doona over the drain, and it snapped off! Poor little girl was beside herself! She didn't get into big trouble beyond a stern speaking to for using it as a prop for her tent in the first place, but naturally this has bumped the sink drain up a bit in the priority line!
Michael popped out to Bunnings after the children's swim lessons last night, but they were already closed, so we have been coping till now. He wanted to get some fresh paint on the girl's wall to dry before to went onto the drain, and has only just gone out to get it. Here is what it looks like right now,

And we have been washing up in my little laundry,

As you can see, its a bit of a squeeze, but we are managing ;)
We have been snatching time outside in between showers, but they are few and far between at the moment! Here is a shot I grabbed of the boys during one such lull,

And I managed to grab a basket full of spinach and silverbeet at the time too!

Since it has been raining I have been going a little stir crazy, as its too wet to go outside. Every time it rains the heavens open and the rain seems to come down as one solid block of water! So I decided to try making some sour dough culture, just to see if I could do it!
I used two cups of Homebrand Plain Flour and a cup of straight tap water, whisked it together into my wooden bowl (as I don't use it much, and so won't miss it) covered it with a tea towel and popped it beside the fridge, as that is a consistently warm corner. Guess what? Its working!

 Up above is the corner I shoved it into, and below is a shot of how much it has risen,

And above is a shot of all the little bubbles! I am so excited! I can't wait to try it! But I won't be doing that till Monday. That'll be seven days.
I have also made some Tangerine Jam from the old Tangerine's that the children weren't eating,

 I also made some ginger jelly, made from boiling the blazers out of a kilo of wooden ginger that I couldn't cut up )had to get Michael to do it!) and then using the ginger water, with some sugar and jelling agent to set it.
And the children helped me to make mint sauce

Here are the five bottles all their hard work yielded,

Yum Yum!