Righto! I am speed-blogging at the moment as my super-amazing-high-speed-NBN-internet connection keeps going doo-lally on me. I may or may not get this done.
Something I was talking about with Ruby the other week got my attention. When I was talking to her about things you could buy when she was young & the amenities they had, I asked what toilet paper was like (because you have to know don’t you??)
The answer?
“What toilet paper?” (There was a Ruby-Grin attached to the answer I might add)
It got me thinking a little about newspaper and its uses.
The old newspapers were cut up into roughly the size shown above and placed on a shelf in the dunny (loo – toilet – bathroom). I think I am inadvertently cringing on behalf of my bottom thinking about this. I did ask if it wasn’t a bit rough – however “That’s all you knew” so I guess they had tougher nether regions in the olden days!
The toilet was outside. Apparently there were two side by side toilets… one for adults and one for little kids. The theory was it was easier to do whatever business you had to do if your feet could be firmly planted on the ground.
There was a pan at the back that was removed and contents taken and buried. Not too far away – the less distance travelled with the contents the happier everyone felt (No-one wants to trip with a full pan do they?)
Anyway… to digress a little… I was getting right in depth on the whole newspaper thing when one of our MP’s turned up at the door to say hello. Local fellow, Brett Whitely. Doing the door knock meet & greet. (An election coming up here for those of you non-Australian readers, although I promise you, the lead up to us choosing our new Prime Minister is not half as entertaining as the lead up to the USA Presidential Race!)
Nice fellow and we enjoyed a chat plus he was good enough to stay a bit longer and answer one or two questions I had regarding some policies, so that was good!
Mr Whitely had noticed the paperwork coming through for Ruby’s upcoming 100th birthday. You get all sorts of grand birthday wishes when you turn 100! Like from the Queen for instance!!
Anyway, back to newspaper.
I am starting to use it for more things around the house. Jeff sometimes gets a nice big bag full from a workmate whose son has a paper round – the extra’s accumulate and we especially use the newspaper over winter starting the fire.
Using just the fire ash and water with a wad of newspaper, you can easily clean up the glass door of the heater.
(There was an overnight hiatus between the photos above and now. Internet came on briefly then crashed, hence Ruby Tuesday now being Ruby Wednesday)
Newspaper was the material of choice when it came to cleaning.
Cut lunches were wrapped in newspaper to take to work or school
Wrapping & packaging – it was newspaper all the way.
A visit to the butchers in earlier days would mean your meat wrapped in many many layers of newspaper to absorb the blood/juice. No plastic or ice bricks to transport it home either. (and if you had a 10 mile journey via horse and cart its possibly you didn’t get much more than sausages, just to be on the safe side. Especially in summer!)
Draw liners were a must with newspaper
Shelf liners too were a ‘thing’. Not only were the shelves lined, but some of the newspaper would overhang the edge, and the housewives would scallop the edges or create other fancy patterns.
My efforts really look a bit dodgy, and with a curvy mantle, I don’t think I have mastered the proper effect!! 😀
Of course, school would be no fun at the end of the year if you weren’t making miles of paper chains from newspapers to decorate for Christmas!
If you missed the earlier post you can read here how to make these nifty origami bins – once full you can compost the lot if it has food scraps.
I also once wrapped all my Christmas presents in newspaper with the addition of a fancy ribbon.
I have changed the toilet roll, just for fun. So far I haven’t had a reaction from Jeff…
Hope your day is great!
Let me know if you make specific use of your newspapers & how.
Cheers
PS – I plan to go help Ruby make some lemon butter. It’s not only ticked in her recipe book but has the additional “Good” penned in, so I am expecting grand things!
Love hearing Ruby’s stories.
Re-use, re-purpose, recycle is touted as a new concept but something our parents, grandparents and great grandparents did everyday.
We use our newspapers in the garden (when they are not being used a fire lighters or glass cleaners).
They are excellent weed mats when starting a no-dig bed or to help hold moisture in when mulching.
Thanks Lisa for sharing your days.
Hi Dom! Glad you are enjoying the snippets of Ruby stories. I love hearing how she lived way back!
Ahhh! Yes! I forgot I did that with newspapers too in the garden! Such a cheap easy way to help in the garden!
xx
Hi,
I’ve been lurking for a little while having found your blog via One Hundred Dollars a day. I’ve been really enjoying it and Tasmania looks beautiful!
I use newspapers a lot- fire lighting and glass cleaning like you, in the garden as mulch and I make newspaper pots a bit like yours to start seeds in when I’ve run out of little plastic ones. I also make liners for my kitchen compost bin if I’ve run out of paper bags.
We also make our own cat litter most summers- basically papier mache with some soda bic added that you crumble into bits and dry in the sun. The children like helping with the adding water bit!
If you have a bokashi bin you can ferment squares of newspaper with yoghurt whey and molasses to replace that expensive bran.
And finally (!) I’m making papier mache seed bombs at my Rainbow Guide unit on Friday 🙂
Hello Hazel! It was great reading all you do with newspapers! I did try the seedling pots once, but I think they fell apart before I got them in the ground!!
I am VERY interested in making cat litter! I very much don’t like spending money on something for the cat to wee in 😀
I wasn’t familiar with bokashi bin and just had a quick read… Interesting and will read further!
I love doing paper mache – altho without kids of our own I rarely do it. I love the mess it makes! lol
Keep lurking – so glad you are enjoying seeing a bit of our state!!
This is pretty much how we make our cat litter- it’s fun and a good excuse to play with water and make papier mache 🙂
http://thegreenists.com/pets/tip-of-the-day-make-your-own-kitty-litter/1044
Hi Hazel! Thank-you so much for sending this! I just read it and it sounds like the most fun one can ever have with kitty litter!! I am very much going to try this! When I get around to it, I will be sure to let you know how it turns out and if Pip likes it! 😀
Hey Lisa, I’m loving your blog! Thought it was about time I said ‘hello’ and just wanted to share my grandmother’s newspaper story. She recalled drying her babies’ woollens between sheets of the Sydney Morning Herald in the 1920s. They changed the kind of ink they used sometime in the ’70s and it used to leave black stains all over their readers’ fingers, and Grandma would comment that the Herald couldn’t be used for drying babies’ woollies any more
Best wishes from Adelaide!
Hi Judy! I loved your story! I did wonder about the ink and if it changed from when people were using it for so many more things. Fancy using it to dry babies woollens! The first thing I would have worried about was ink! How’s the weather in Adelaide?? Getting chilly?
Glad you are enjoying my blog, thanks so much for writing!
🙂
Loved it as always! I didn’t know about the woodheater glass cleaning! Great idea!
That’s a good trick to learn right at the beginning of winter!! 🙂
I don’t even buy newspapers any longer. But I used to wrap presents in them! what kind of ink do your papers use? I’m not sure I’d like that on my bum….
lol – We don’t buy them… just scrounge them! No idea about the modern ink we use.. and I agree – I prefer my soft fluffy loo paper!!! 😀