Autumn leaves Autumn sun
Autumn leaves Autumn sun Read More »
The bird feeders near the house and back door are very popular but the one hanging from the shed is not so popular. May be it is the bushes near the house feeders that make the difference.
The weather is nice enough today to have my mid-morning tea out in the garden – watching a movie on Netflix.
The tomato plant has gone into the compost bin and the top compost from the pot has gone onto the raspberry patch. Total crop from the tomato plant was about a Pyrex bowl of cherry tomatoes. And we thought that it would produce very little – in fact Alyssa thought the plant was dead!
Morning tea in the garden Read More »
This is the 13th Cherry tomato I have collected from the plant by the garden office. And I thought they would not go red.
The weather is so nice today that I worked in the office with the doors open and then had a late breakfast outside. There may not be anymore days like this, this year.
Here is the blog I wrote for Octagon:
Sunny October breakfast Read More »
I have had six the of excess raspberry plants transferred from my Mum’s place to here by the sunny side of the shed.
I was planning to go out for a lunch time walk and brew some camping coffee but the weather had other ideas – too much rain.
On a recent walk the wind shield I used was not effective so I was going to test out a new one I made from a used food tray. I moved the test to the doorway of the summer house office.
The wind break was cut to fit tightly around a Bushcraft Essentials mini twig stove when using an up-cycled Burt’s Bees tin as a gel fuel burner. As the fit was close I punched some air holes low down and on two sides for air flow.
The idea of this stove is for me to have the makings for camping coffee or soup in my lightweight cookset bag. There is a very small gas burner in the cookset but no gas – the gel fuel for the Bushcraft Essentials stove is carried an up-cycled hand sanitiser bottle in the cookset stuff sack.
To test the stove wind break I made coffee.
Making Camping Coffee
There are many gadgets on the market for making coffee when camping – I have a 750ml titanium bush pot/cafetiere for when I am car camping – but when backpacking and walking I like this lightweight solution.
For a while now I have been using a plastic tea strainer as a reusable coffee filter (see my camping coffee page). Since I wrote that page I have cut down the handle and made some cut-outs so the filter sits level.
The process I use is:
1 I fill the strainer mesh with ground coffee until it just covers the the plastic rim.
2 Wet the coffee grounds and then wait a minute or so.
3 I then carefully add water to the brim of the strainer and let it drain through.
4 It takes about 100ml to 150ml of water to make a strong brew. I top up with hot water.
5 I take mine black and no sugar when camping – but I do carry coffee creamer and brown sugar for caffeine and energy boost.
This gadget and method only generates used coffee grounds to dispose of, no paper filters and there is no comparison when it comes to the weight or price of this coffee maker when compared to other backpacking/camping coffee gadgets. And it can be used as a strainer as well!
The 30ml Nalgene bottle shown in the photo when “tap” filled (start to fill the bottle and tap it to settle the coffee grounds and repeat until no more settling happens) can hold two measures of ground coffee.
The Wind Shield
It worked better than its predecessor, keeping the heat on the mug. It will also fold up small enough to store in the stove slip case with the stove and the Burt’s Bees tin.
The next test will be later in the week when I can get out for a walk.
How to make camping coffee? Read More »