slow living november 2014

Well hello friends!! Its been a while since my last Slow Living post! In fact it had been a while since my last post although I've rectified that now by posting several times in recent weeks. I have turned a corner in life and I feel fantastic, motivated and inspired!!! Whether that will keep me busily posting here or whether I'll be swept off into new horizons and ideas remains to be seen, but right now Im delighted to be sharing our days once again!
So, whats been happening here on our little bit of land? To borrow a phrase from one of my favourite movies* …."Read on"………!

Nourish -  We ate the last of the broccoli and I've now pulled the remaining plants out due to the beginning of cabbage moth season (my children take offence at finding a fat, green, well cooked grub on their dinner plate!), ditto the cabbage. We had an awesome crop of what I think may have been English spinach, which provided us with many a hearty pie and we have begun to enjoy some of the garlic that is almost ready to pull. There have also been parsley, coriander and a few onions gracing our meals.
I am still following the Trim Healthy Mama plan and am pleased to say it has worked excellently on a minor health issue I'd been battling……. as well as losing a bit of….. ahem, belly, which was a bonus!


Prepare - Hmm, preparing for xmas maybe? No not really because that comes in December. Mostly we have been preparing the poly tunnel and veg garden for planting. We have a large garden and it takes quite a while to get around to forking it all over and pulling all weeds but I think its finally done. There is really not anything much in the garden to prepare - at this time of year all there is gets eaten quite quickly 'au natural'!

Reduce - I know I've mentioned the great little op shop we have here but have I told you that they often have free books? (and other things but I'm mainly interested in the books!). They are usually older books, sometimes with nice covers, sometimes with nice thick pages of interesting graphics and occasionally with something worth reading. I like to repurpose and I like books and papery stuff, so I can never resist bringing home the best ones but really, how many old books does one need? So I thought I'd turn them into journals for painting or writing in and try my luck with an Etsy store. Of course, its not luck and after having a little read about how to boost sales and make interesting listings, I've realised that there is a whole big Etsy world out there and people take this very seriously indeed! Never mind, I love to play around with paper and cutting mats, not to mention making good use of interesting old books, and if I don't sell them I can always gift them!


Green - No, once again I haven't got anything to write about in this category. I still use bought washing powder (although I buy in bulk and it lasts me a looong time) and I've never tried making soap although I'm always a bit envious of those that do manage it. Bicarb soda for personal deodorant is as good as it gets here, I'm afraid! I hope I make up for my lack by doing a lot of repurposing….??

Grow - Oh, but on the growing front is where its all happening: potatoes are shooting up in wild abandon in a new patch of ground; tomato, cucumber, capsicum, and eggplants are reaching for the sun in their tropical paradise inside the poly tunnel; onions, lettuce, parsley and poppies are vying for space and for glory….and the poppies win! I love the garden at this time of year, with so much promise and all the possibilities - shall we plant this here? what about this veg? look whats popped up today? Its always a delight to watch the progress of seedlings planted with a wish and a prayer (and a good soaking)!

Create - If you've been reading here in the past few weeks you will have seen a few things I've created this last month! Here are a few more of the many art journal pages I've been creating. This is a newly re-discovered passion - years ago, before babies, I did quite a lot of drawing and sketching and of course there have also been arty happenings during my years of home educating, with nature journals and lessons in art appreciation. This, however, is now purely for enjoyment - my own - and while to others it may look like a quick sketch and a scribble, it lightens my heart and feeds my creative self.

Discover - And leading on from all this art, is something I'm not really sure of yet but am excited to have discovered it anyway……. a Visual Arts course at TAFE. I found out quite by accident that there was one coming up next year and have been for two interviews which seem likely to result in being accepted. I'm VERY excited but, damn it, the logistics are creeping in and now I'm not so sure if its a good thing for the rest of the family, blah, blah blah…..!!

Enhance - I spent quite a few afternoons working away on this lovely sled and certainly hope I've enhanced our lovely ballet teachers life by doing so. Our Fairy does ballet and the annual concert this year was 'The Snow Queen' so I offered to turn Cinderellas coach (from a previous performance) into a sled fit for a queen. Of course, there was also the job of sewing sequins and sparkly fabric onto a unitard for my sweet girl who played a very menacing imp to perfection (can it be otherwise?).

Enjoy - We have the second last birthday of the year in November - our third youngest turned 17. Seventeen!!!! Oh my golly gosh!
She is a delight, I thoroughly enjoy her company and we all enjoyed her cake! And I can't believe she's already 17!!

Im joining in once again, with Slow Living Month by Month which is now collected by Linda at The Greenhaven Good Life. 

*'Pride and Predjudice' - the BBC one with that delicious Colin Firth.