slow living in april 2014

Welcome to our month of Slow Living!

If there were themes attached to each month, then this one would be all about food, family and art. There has been an abundance of all three and although it's now May, there doesn't seem to be any let up in the flow of festivities and feasts!

Nourish - This is perhaps my most beloved category! I love to nourish my family and all the extra people that pass through my life and April has been filled with lots of lovely humans to cook for! We have eaten our way through the loads of garden produce and with soup weather being here, there's been many a hearty soup on the table - leek and potato, pumpkin, minestrone and a nice red lentil one.
I've also started on a renewed sourdough adventure! Before we moved to Tasmania I baked delicious sourdough bread each week but had to leave my starter behind. The kitchen in our current cottage is so small that I've never wanted to try again but when I was given another starter recently I thought I'd try an easier less 'kneadier' way and so far its working. I think the look needs perfecting but it sure tastes yummy! 
And with a large number of healthy daikon radish growing, there has been a renewal of kimchi happening in the kitchen. I can hardly wait to eat it!!!

Prepare - More apples!! Sadly there are no more to be scrumped ( I think there are Others who are raiding 'my' wild apple trees) but we have a couple of large orchards in our area and the apples are very cheap albeit sprayed. No matter, we will eat well in the breakfast department over winter!!
I also bottled a batch of roasted tomato bolognese sauce which won't keep us going over winter but will be precious when we do eat it!

Reduce - Nothing comes to mind except the old floorboards that we bought to finish off the flooring in the The Fairy's new cubby. Now that I think of it, most of the cubby is repurposed - windows from the tip, weatherboards from house offcuts, timber from an old barn we pulled down a few years ago and the flooring. Not bad, I think, and it even looks cute!

Green - Once again, this one is a fail. I'm not making washing powder or dish detergent or even my own shampoo and I have no intention of doing so at this time. Every month I wonder what to put in this category and surely there must be something but none of the above will be it! I'm going to pay close attention to what everyone else has achieved and perhaps gain some inspiration!!

Grow - The garden is looking so good right now! Not that there is all that much to pick or even growing but it is just very tidy (thank you Helpxers!) and there is Possibility! We have planted cabbage, broccoli, english spinach, celery and parsley - quite a bit too late for a winter harvest but hopefully in Spring when the hungry gap hits, some of these delights will be ready for our bellies!
We are eating the last of the carrots, fresh young turnips straight from the garden, daikon radish and a beet called mangel wurzel although so far, I've only used the leaves in my smoothies. All the potatoes are safely stored in the shed along with an extra large bunch of coriander gone to seed. We have devoured, with some regret, the last of the zucchini and cucumbers and are waiting for the green tomatoes to ripen sufficiently to enjoy.

Create - Art!!! Oh, I have rediscovered my love of drawing, painting, collaging and everything arty and the whole family have been having so much fun Making Art!! I am squeezing in just a tiny bit each day between all else that I do but somedays there are several of us either at the table painting or in front of the fire with paint and paper! Even the Small Elf has discovered paint and often pretties up a new colourful journal page for me. 

Discover - This one is an extension of the previous Create category…. I've discovered lots of YouTube tutorials and new websites of art techniques. Mostly I am art journaling because I like the mixed media aspect of it…. I've always loved fabric but my second great love is paper - books, pretty wrapping paper, unusual cards, unique tickets, everyday ephemera - all those things which, along with some glue, paint and crayons make colourful pages and delightful memories.  

Enhance - I was recently asked by a friend if I would help with their saffron harvest and although I was paid for my time, I know it helped them during their busy harvest season. I'll post more about the saffron shortly - its very interesting. We also had a young Helpxer here who must have enjoyed his stay because he was so sad to leave us after 3 weeks and we felt sad to see him go!

Enjoy - Stuy and I went out to see a band!!! First time in…. um…. a long time! And it was so good that we went again the next day with the children! If you get a chance, go see The Perch Creek Family Jug Band, they are such great entertainers. We grooved along to their funky music about 10 years ago at the Bangalow Markets in northern New South Wales and loved them then, so when they came to Tasmania last month it was for old times sake that we went.

Remember last month I mentioned that I chose a word for each month? Well, for April I chose Peace….. and an interesting thing happened. It wasn't peaceful here at all, in fact its been so full of so many different personalities and people but somehow in the midst of all the chaos I did manage to find Peace. Purely on an inner level which is not what I had expected or thought to find with all the external busyness, so I'm pleasantly surprised and quite happy to have that inner calm happening!

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