slow living august 2013

I know, I know three posts in a week!! What has gotten into me? 

Well, I'm not sure really other than I have lots to show and tell. And I do enjoy sharing my news, views and thoughts with you all. 

I have a lot to catch up on, so I've decided to join in with Christine's Slow Living month by month so I can tell about all of our doings in one go!!! 

Oh yes, there is another reason why I've been so prolific this week but I'll tell about that later.....

So here goes, for a much busier, more prolific month than I'd thought!

NOURISH: Oh, nourish! This one has been at the forefront of our month, so it's only right that it's also the very first category! I mentioned a while ago that I'd been reading a couple of books that have had a big impact on my thinking. I Quit Sugar by Sarah Wilson and Trim Healthy Mama by Serene Allison and Pearl Barrett, have quite literally changed the way I/we eat. I wont go into details here as I'm hoping to be a bit more in depth in a later post, but I will say that Sarah's book explained in detail what I hadn't fully realised about fructose, which is the baddie in sugar; and not only sugar but agave nectar, honey and most other alternative sweeteners. 

Then Trim Healthy Mama gave me a lot more fascinating info and a whole arsenal of recipes and we have been trying out new sugar free delights ever since! I now have a whole new way of eating and am slowly working my way through the family, converting them one by one!!! (two down, quite a few to go!!)

Below are three grain free, sugar free treats - cheese biscuits, rhubarb scones and gingerbread scones, all made with almond flour and stevia. 

This one is a flax-meal cinnamon muffin-in-a-mug with stevia sweetened yogurt.... breakfast!! 

PREPARE: We are behind in the garden. I had hoped to have it all dug over and covered with mushroom compost before September but we have had so much rain that gardening was not an option. We did manage to dig up the last three rows of potatoes and spread two loads of mushroom compost over the empty beds but the rest is still waiting. There was a day where we had a few 'garden gnomes' helping to spread a load of sawdust on the paths but overall the garden remained a no go zone!   

GREEN: I really can't think of anything green for this month, other than the green smoothies enjoyed by all of us and especially by the Elf!! 

On second thoughts, there are some 'green' happenings further down list.    

GROW: The last of the potatoes were harvested - another 90 kilos!! Thats over 180 kilos this year and quite a good haul! We have kale, spinach and parsley in abundance, the garlic is growing well and the first tiny tips of asparagus are popping up. Not sure we will get any to eat, as this is their first year but its exciting none the less. Other than that, there's not much in the garden - winter here is just too cold for much growth although I noticed today that the weeds are starting their spring surge...sigh!

REDUCE: A couple of years ago our Elli was gifted with two baby magpies. We advertised on the wanted board at our Post Office for an aviary to keep them in and were given this one below. The magpies grew up and were freed a long time ago and the aviary just sat there, empty. Until we had the brilliant idea of re-purposing it for a chook house. So using all the man and woman power that we had on hand, we carried it to its new position. It needs a new roof and some modifying but at least it's being put to good use again. 

CREATE: I've finished knitting the 'in three's' vest for the Small Elf and will share pics of her in it when next she visits. I've also repurposed an old jumper and some too small trousers, turning them into some cute winter pants for the Small one too. It's so very satisfying to reuse old clothes and I get a kick out of it every time I succeed in keeping something from going to the op shop! 

The other major creation in our lives is that the bearers and joists have gone down for the extension!! I am so pleased and can hardly wait for the framing to go up. See those loose boards on there? I've been using them to imagine where the lounge will go and how much room I'll have left for a BIG bookshelf!  

   

ENHANCE: Hmm, not sure about this one..... perhaps I enhanced my friends' trip overseas by giving her a lesson on sim cards and ipads? Hopefully I enhanced the lives of the three young people (all friends of my children) that have come to stay with us over the last month or so. I certainly enhanced their tummies!!!  

DISCOVER: This category goes right back to the first one - my reading and healthier eating discoveries. I refer to the Trim Healthy Mama book at least three times each day and often more.... it is just so interesting and I am learning much about food that I knew but never really understood. 

ENJOY: I have enjoyed the extra company that we've had with all the comings and goings of various children and friends. I've enjoyed a lovely night away in a Hobbit Cottage with my man (courtesy of our sweet children). I've enjoyed stretching my mind. I've really enjoyed the occasional sunny day. I've enjoyed discussing the new plans and new directions that have been put before us. I've enjoyed feeling healthier, and correspondingly, happier! 

Okay, so now you've read all the way to the end, I'll tell you why I'm posting more often (other than because I have a backlog of photo's haha!) Next week, I'm flying to NSW to visit family and friends for. a. whole. month!!! I am SO excited. I really miss my mum and closest friends and it's not so easy to visit when there is a big stretch of water between. So while the two girls and Stuy hold the fort, 13yo Dj and I are trundling around with suitcase and backpack. I hope to post while we are 'on the road' because we have some interesting places lined up to visit.

Will let you know more soon. 

Thanks again for reading about my little world. 

And thank you Christine for hosting this great peek into our past months achievements.  

retrospective: january - create

retrospective, looking back in time [L. retro, back, specere, spectum, to look.]

I've been thinking a bit lately, about Christines' Slow Living idea from last year. I really loved thinking back over the previous month to what I had done/achieved/created and kind of felt that it would be good to do something similar again this year. I didn't get to join in all the months as I was away for a few and then December just raced by and took January 2013 with it!! But I kept thinking that some sort of record might be good - cathartic even - to remind me that I have done more than just cook, clean and chauffeur; wash, weed and ahem.... whinge! 

While I loved Christines' style, I often struggled with some of her categories when it came to typing them up, so I had an idea - why not just do individual posts on say, three topics? I've been meaning to do a garden update (grow)..... and I've taken some nice shots of foodie bits lately (eat)....... and I've even managed some creative endeavours this month (create)! 

So out of my random thoughts and haphazard photos, this retrospective idea was born!! 

I would love to have a similar thing happening where you can all link up here but I"m really not sure (a) if I will be as regular as clockwork each month (I'm not renowned for pre-organisation) 

(b) if I can find photos and items for all three categories each month 

and (c) how to add links to a sidebar thingy, like Christine did. 

So having said all that, if you do want to join me in a bit of retrospection and remind yourself of what wonderful things you achieved in a month, please join me - perhaps leave a link in the comments so that we can all have a peek at how clever/busy you've been!!  

   

So here's my little bit of creativity for January -

I crocheted. This month has been busy with extra tasks for me due to Stuy being away, and while I do need to sit and relax more often, I can't sit and do nothing! There have also been a few stressful moments, so what better than something simple and mindless - dishcloths! (I also read books to quieten the thoughts, but theres not much achieved when I do that, as I mostly read trashy novels!) 

I used two strands of thinnish cotton yarn, bought as short ends of skeins from op shops and this pattern from Tanya at Suburban Jubilee. I cast on 40 chains and hooked until it was square, then a single row of double crochet around the edge. Viola! 

They are so thick and fluffy and a friend commented that they were too nice to use for dishcloths and need to be made into a blanket..... but thats a major endeavour and not something I'd like to attempt right now!  

As you see in the pic above, I had a tiny amount of yarn left and finished it by hooking a few tiny hearts to add to gifts. Oh my, it felt good using up that ball of yarn right to the end!!! 

With a completely different end result in mind and with a different medium, I also conjured up this little diary. I've been browsing through a few German and other European blogs and have found some interesting ones which I will share another time....(what? you cant read German? haha, they all have translate buttons!!) 

It's that time of year, you know, and it doesn't matter which country you are in, you start planning and acting on your New Year Resolutions.... and so I stumbled on this post which led me to another page and I discovered the 2013 Incredible Year Workbook and Planner. by Leonie Dawson who happens to live in Australia. 

When I started using a Steiner based lesson plan for my Fairy, we purchased a good quality wire binding machine to bind up the various books I'd bought as ebook's. As I hadn't yet discovered a new daily planner for this year, I thought I'd use a page from the Incredible Planner and make a little personal one for myself. I printed out a lot of double sided pages, cut them in half with my quilting cutter and scrounged through my old Country Style magazines for a pretty cover. Thats the front cover in the above pic. 

I have to write in the date and day on each page but I don't mind at all. I use a pretty pen and colour in the peaceful mama and the wildlife as I'm thinking about what to do for the day! 

This is the back cover - front and back both looked so good with the plums on our table, that I couldn't resist using them as props! The rest of the Incredible Planner is also excellent and a lot more colourful than this page and I'm looking forward to having some spare time finding the time this coming weekend  to really delve deeper in its pages! 

This colourful artwork was not created by me but I thought it needed showing anyway! My 15yo Elli made it using a cheap canvas, even cheaper crayons and a borrowed hairdryer! They must be all the rage right now because if you Google 'melted crayons on canvas' in images, you'll find heaps! It's sitting on our mantle shelf for now but will need moving when the fire is required in Autumn - otherwise the rest of the crayons will run to the bottom!! 

So here it is..... my bit of creativity for January. Not a great deal but enough that I can look back at the photos and say, "yes, I did do something that made my heart sing"!! 

Thank you to all of you that take the time to leave a comment here - some regulars and some just once - all of your thoughts are very much appreciated and although I might not always answer, I do read them all.... twice!!!! 

Im Januar war ich recht beschäftigt aber immer hin hab ich noch etwas zeit gefunden zum ein paar Sachen her basteln! Zuerst drei gehäkelte Spüllappen aus baum wolle. Sie sind so dick und weich und fast zu schade zum verbrauchen! 

Und dann ein kleines selbst gemachtes Tagebuch. Der umschlag ist von alte Magazinen hergestellt. 

Und ganz unten ist ein Kunstwerk von meiner Tochter - einfach Wachsmalstifte mit Hitze verschmolzen und schon hat man ein buntes Bild!!