We Like to Make Stuff

Stuff is expensive in NZ.  Well, a lot of stuff.  Relatively speaking.  I didn't know it until I moved here, but growing up in America, I was used to cheap stuff. When that's what you are used to, it's quite the adjustment to move somewhere where stuff is not so cheap.  Take books for example. A standard paperback, a new best seller, is about $30.00.  A Gore-Tex raincoat?  About $700.  A DeWalt Battery Drill? $400.  James says in the states that drill is about $100 at Home Depot.  A can of black beans?  $3.50 here in Aotearoa.

I've started making toasted granola to replace the crunchy granola bars I used to buy  in the states. 

Every American expat I know orders things on line to be sent over, or has a running list as long as his or her arm of stuff to get on the next trip back or to have some unsuspecting visitor bring over with them.

Making our own hummus, recipe from Smitten Kitchen. 

But it's certainly not always practical to order stuff from the states, nor would I want to.  Because here's the good side of things being more expensive: You buy less stuff. You repair things. You live with the old version. You realize you didn't really  need it anyway. You make it yourself.  Or, sometimes, you think about it carefully, buy it and then REALLY appreciate it.  In the end, all of these alternatives are much better than buying too much stuff. 

After taking a little course, I have access to the university's framing workshop.  I made all these in 2008.

I would be so bold as to say that Kiwis aren't necessarily more moral about their shopping and material habits.  Rather, the price tag makes you think twice about whether you really need to upgrade your alarm clock. You know, to the kind with two alarms, so that James and I could get up at different times without resetting it? In my oppinion then, New Zealand is therefore a slightly less instant-gratification, disposable, consumerist society. And I like that.  After a little while away, I can certainly see that American consumerism can be not only excessive but suffocating. 

For me, it's still a mixed bag: Sometimes I get incredibly frustrated and discouraged by the limited choices and high prices when I'd just like a semi-pretty shower curtain; other times, I find it liberating to realize I don't need a new hoody or that my home-made granola tastes so much better.
 

It's taken a looooong time for these to ripen in Dunedin's cool, wet climate.  But we're pretty excited that we now have THREE nearly-ripe tomatoes.  Next year, we'll try cherry tomatoes instead.

And we do make a lot of stuff ourselves. Hummus. Granola. Zucchini. Even tomatoes! A coat rack. Curtains. A table or two. Frames.  

James' world-famous multi-grain bread.

James made this beautiful picnic table in no time a few weeks ago. Benches are yet to come.

This small breakfast table is still a work in progress. I'm anxious for its completion!

You can't see them actually, but I made the roman blinds pulled up to the top of the windows. The bookshelve were made by a friend. And you can see a part of our garden out the window.

So, I've embraced my new-found inner Martha Stewart and Bob Villa.  They throw away less plastic, spend less money and take more time preparing food. They don't bother keeping up with the Jones' cuz the Jones' are about the same.

Do I still miss Costco?  Absolutely. Anyone coming to visit?