Slow Living 2012 - November

Joining in again this month with Christine, who had the brilliant idea of doing a monthly round up of things that we are trying to slow down in! I really enjoy it when I actually sit down and think back to what has been achieved over the previous month but it does strike me that most of what I write about is just that - stuff that we have done, and there's never much slowing down amongst it!! December is gearing up to be busier than ever but I am hoping, really wishing, that January will be my Slow Month!! 

 

Nourish - I am still eating a grain free diet and have been finding and trying out new recipes. I can't say that all of them are delicious but it's not a problem as there are so many grain free web sites out there that I just try another version! We are guzzling kombucha as it doesn't take long to ferment in the warmer weather - we love it so much I'd like to start another two litre jar! I have also been gifted some milk kefir granules and I've made a few batches..... not sure though, if it's working properly as the grains were old but something happens in that little jar and we've been using it in smoothies anyway!!  

Prepare - The sauerkraut....... well, it's still sitting there in it's not quite so bright green glory and I think it's still alright. There were a few days early on that I thought I had let it get too warm and that it was quietly rotting away in its jar but I hope it's just doing it's thing! There has also been some Christmas preparation happening around here, by all of us...... but I cant tell about that yet! 

Grow - Oh my!! There has been such a flurry of growing activity going on around here that its a miracle anything else has been done! The weather has just warmed up enough to really start planting out and we have zucchini (oh zuc's how I love thee!) self seeded perpetual spinach, a lovely batch of spreckled lettuce, bok choy that went to seed so fast that we've already eaten it, radishes and the very beginnings of strawberries. I've also finally planted out asparagus seedlings, some angelica from a friend and another thyme plant. 

Reduce - This one is easy and yet it's not! I reduce our planetary impact just in general, I feel, so it's a bit hard to remember anything in particular. We purchase a lot of our clothes, books, fabrics, crockery etc at the op shop just par for the course and repurpose bits all the time! One thing recently would be the old bricks from a demolition site that we were using for a patio but as it hasn't happened yet, I turned them into shelving for our large book collection in the shed loft. Oh and does using baling twine for stringing up tomatoes in the poly tunnel count? I mean everybody reuses baling twine for something, don't they?  

Green - The only thing I can think of here is the repurposed wrapping paper cardboard we used to make advent stars (which could also go into Reduce). And maybe that we are diligently turning off the washing machine, ipad chargers and lamps at the power-points! 

Create - The biggest and most time consuming creation this month was The Poly Tunnel!! Yay, it's almost done and Stuy and I run out there at least 10 times a day just to stand in there and Admire! I've also done a good amount on the repurposed sheets crochet rug, finally finished that green beanie, and started on my Secret Person Gift for Christmas (this is amazing as I'm usually doing that on the day before The Day!)  

Discover - Hmm, another tricky one - there's not much reading been going on here! I have searched up and perused lots of recipes online and I have been reading up on polytunnel growing so this month has not been completely devoid of discoveries. No outings to discover new places either - perhaps another month! 

Enhance - My friend stopped by on her bicycle last week and I offered her a glass of sparkling fresh kombucha to drink; she loved it so much that I shared a scoby with her and judging from her excitement over the first batch she's made, I'd say I've definitely enhanced her day!! 

Enjoy - This month we celebrated a 15th birthday - our beautiful Elli is a delightful young lady, full of smiles and fun and I love love love her company. She recently achieved her black stripe karate belt and that was certainly an enjoyable event to watch ~ one that only a proud mama can truly enjoy!! 

So, another month gone by and pretty soon it will be time for a round up of the last one for the year, December! This year has flown by so fast, although that could be because I had a lovely long holiday in the middle of it!! 

Have a look on Slow Living Essentials for some other busy folks months! 

Slow Living 2012 - October

Joining in again with Christine and her Slow Living Month. In fact it's been quite some time since I've joined in here and I must be a bit rusty because I've had to think very hard about whats been happening last month. In November I will keep a list of all activities...I will, I will.....! 

Nourish - I have just started on a grain free way of living (which I will post about soon) and along with that I've been making my first batches of fermented veggies. The kombucha that was hibernating while I was overseas, has sprung to life again and is producing a fresh and fizzy beverage that we all enjoy.

Prepare - The only preparing I've done is to stock the garden 'larder' with new sowings and plantings! Surely that counts as stocking up? I'm also preparing for Christmas, in my mind at least! 

Grow - ah, now this one I have lots to write about! I've been in the garden every day, weeding, digging, planting and sowing, so there's quite a lot growing in my life! Four long rows of onion seedlings are all doing well; 30 new strawberry plants should give us a glut of berries when added to the 20 already in; raspberry canes which wont give us much this year but there has to be something to look forward to next year, doesn't there? Parsley, lettuce and 16 asparagus seedlings are also on the way and my Golden Girl has been busy growing us loads of tomatoes, cucumbers, melons and zucchini that will go into the poly tunnel when its finished. Soon, hopefully, soon.....!  

Reduce - we spent an afternoon cutting up all the business envelopes that we seem to amass. I've been saving them for a few years now but mostly used them whole, for shopping lists or notes. Now that we run a business we get a lot more 'windows' in our mail and they were mounting up, so with a couple of rough snips all around, they became my new batch of notes!

Green - I seem to fail with this one....... although I'm sure there must be something that could be deemed as green, even if only very light green! 

Create - There's been a bit of work on a crocheted rug, using old sheets torn into strips, as well as another lash at a beanie that has been unravelled twice and should hopefully be right this time..... fingers crossed! The garden has taken over all my creativity, I think! 

Discover - I've been reading a lot of online info about grain free diets and have discovered some interesting information. On a lighter note, when my lovely 19 year old daughter came for a month long visit in October, she begged me to read aloud a book that I had read to my older children years ago..... Gerald Durrell's 'My Family and other Animals'. I did, we loved it all over again and we highly recommend it!

Enhance - Another one I'm not sure of...... but perhaps I've enhanced the lives of the two scruffy horses that have come to keep the grass down in our paddock. 

Enjoy - This one is easy........ I am LOVING Spring.

I've been wondering what the heck I am doing living in Tasmania because I do not love Winter, and Winter is long and dreary here.

Spring means the occasional warmer day;

Spring is all about new growth and new beginnings;

Spring brings purple lavender and snowy white plum blossoms;

Spring heralds the onset of soul refreshing warmth and the shedding of too many layers of clothing.

Spring, I Love You because you are the harbinger of Summer..... and Summer is The Best!!!

Slow Living 2012 - May

June already..... almost half way through the year..... unbelievable, really, how fast this year is passing. May flew by and I can't say I took notice of the weeks as they went. This time of the year seems to me to be a time of just surviving somehow. I feel like a wild animal slowing down, getting ready for hibernation, settling cosily in a cave until Solstice and then slowly awakening as the days gradually lengthen and spring flowers appear. Introspection seems to be an autumn/winter theme for me and this year is no exception..... although I do have some exciting happenings coming up in my life which I will share next week! They are enough to brighten my days considerably! 

So once again joining in with Christine at Slow Living Essentials for a look at whats been happening here in May - 

Nourish - Hmm, not much coming from the garden now except some very nice carrots, spinach and kale. Oh and potatoes and garlic - which are actually coming from the storage shed! I've been buying boxes of cheap bananas for breakfast fruit as well as freezing them to have in smooothies. Yes, I know it's weird having smoothies in winter but there's no accounting for my children's tastes! 

Prepare - I can't say there's been much preparation going on here, at least not food wise. I have been unpacking boxes of 'stuff' in our shed, preparing to make a sewing area in the loft space up there. Also books, lots and lots of books (have I ever mentioned my second hand book fetish?) have been shelved in some very homemade shelves. 

Reduce -  I have started going to the Farmers Market again regularly and aim to avoid any packaging as well as supporting the small number of organic growers. I now purchase local milk in glass bottles, local free range eggs and most of my fruit and veg from local growers.  

Green - Yes, I'm feeling a nice shade of dark green this month...... we have our Tassie Barrel heater going 24/7 now, so it's always available for some extra work! I haven't had a dryer for a number of years so for most of our winter I hang a load of washing above it overnight and occasionally during the day. But we also have a bigger cooktop on the heater this year, so I've been cooking soups on there 2 or 3 times a week! The fire is warming us, drying our clothes and cooking our meal - I get really excited about this and tell my family at least once a day!!   

Grow - I planted garlic! Yes, thats it for the month! Not much enthusiasm for gardening when the wind is cold and the remaining plants are struggling.

Create - Once again, not much to say here..... I'm working on a knitted beanie, gathered a pile of frilly fabric for a fairy gown and stitched up a drum bag from an old army blanket for my mans birthday. 

Discover - It's been a journey into myself this month..... I've discovered some positive things and thrown out some not so useful beliefs and I'm working on blossoming into the confident woman that I am meant to be! 

Enhance/connect - For a couple of years now I have been co-ordinating a buyers group in my area, so every two months I collate the order, send it through and then weigh, pack and price all the goods. I've always looked at it as being a benefit to me (which it is) but I now realise that it's benefitting the environment and the other buyers a whole lot more than I had believed. 

I hope the idea of my colour posts has connected some people in blogland too!  

Enjoy - I have finally started exercise classes!!! It's been on my mental must do list for months but seeing as I'm not a sporty type and a bit busy as well, it was easy to keep putting it off!! Now I'm going and I love it! I have discovered muscles I didn't know I had and have permanently sore legs but I still love it! Three times a week in fact! And as it's only one minute from home!

So here it is...... not as prolific as the first few months, probably more prolific than the next few months and definitely just as it should be. Right. Now. 

Slow Living 2012 - April (and a bit of March)

Well!! I missed last month. I really truly meant to write up something of what we'd achieved in March but March passed by and April began and then I ran out of puff. The title of this post is a bit misleading though - everything in my life seems to have speeded up and I am running along behind trying to keep pace! You'd think that Autumn would be a time for slowing down but not yet, not yet, and I'm barely getting round to all the things that need doing. Mind you, I have been feeling just a tad morose and that really doesn't allow for much in the way of creativity or inspiration. I am hoping that the merry month of May will banish all doom and gloom from my little bubble.... and I shall try very diligently not to dwell on the shortening of the days! But secretly, I'm hanging out for Winter Solstice because after that  it's all an uphill run again! 

So here's the report, with bits of March thrown in just to look like I've been real good (I'm not telling which bits though)

Nourish - I've been a bit slack with the whole nourish thing in recent times. The garden has slowed down on the production side although we've still been eating spinach, the last of the beans, tomatoes - because we covered them, carrots, radish and plenty of potatoes. Ooooh, I am so happy about the potato harvest. It's just the best feeling not buying potatoes but simply going to the shed and pulling out a box to find lovely fresh spuds for dinner. Umm, we've been eating a lot of potato meals...

Prepare - We have quite a few roadside apple trees in our area so I've made lots of apple sauce from scrumped apples. Great word that, isn't it? I've not been gleaning the apples, rather we've been scrumping apples. Gleaning is reserved for going over the wheat field after the harvesters have been through and picking up any fallen heads of wheat or barley. Scrumping is a delightful British word thats really not used much outside of the UK...... I think I might revive it!
Anyway, sorry, back to the food...... I also made River Cottage Chutney courtesy of good old Hugh, using up a large old zucchini and green tomatoes; and my yearly batch of tomato chutney.

Reduce - Mended a couple of fitted sheets that really could have been used as rags, repurposed a nice chenille skirt into a hot water bottle cover and used up a whole lot of baling twine for a compost heap. 

Green - I've started using plain coconut oil for a facial moisturiser again. It works well for a few days but then I like to use a healthy bought one for a day. Since reading Lindas post about energy saving, we have been diligently switching of all appliances at the power points. I'm hoping for a saving when the next bill comes in.
The Best Man is debating the pro's and con's of solar v's wood heated hot water. 

Grow - March and April haven't seen me in the garden much, other than to pick food, though that was remedied last Sunday with a family effort. I have planted cabbage, parsley and kale and there seems to be a lot of self sown kale and lettuce happening round and about.

Create - This month there's been a dearth of creativity but I managed a beanie for my lover and another one for the little Elf. Though I think both those were in March...oh well! 

Discover - I read half of Animal Vegetable Miracle but couldn't really get into it. The latest Earth Garden magazine was really good though ;o) and I have been doing a lot of reading of the Steiner syllabus I bought from Christopherus - not really green but necessary!  

Enhance - We had a stall at the Penguin Sustainable Day in late March and the children sold bundles of envelopes - I hope that perhaps some of the people that bought them were inspired to have a go at making their own! 

Enjoy - Can I just have a brief whine first? Please? I do not enjoy the winding down of the Wheel of the Year. There, now you know. I can't wait for the return of the Sun, which means that I've found the enjoyment a little lacking. But, I have had some delightful times this month with my very close friend who really, really makes a difference in my life. And I did give the new grandchild quite a few hugs and squeezes this month - does that count? even though it's ongoing?

I'm off to see what others have been up to......... if you want a peek too, pop over to visit Christine at Slow Living Essentials - it's worth a look! 

Slow Living 2012 - February

It has been a hectic and stress filled February, for the most part. It has also been exhilarating and exciting. What February hasn't been is very prolific in terms of output on my part. The veggie amounts look great but the handmade items are a tad on the sparse side, me thinks! And as for the discover bit - well, reading has just about ground to a halt - other than a quick read of the newspaper on a Saturday morning, just to keep up on events....... you know?!! 

So here's goes for a February review: 

Nourish - we are eating lettuce, radish, onion, lots of zucchini and potatoes, beetroot and carrots from the garden. In fact most of our evening meals are mainly from the garden with either pasta or beans thrown in to the mix. I also have loads of rhubarb that I'm struggling to use! Oh and tomatoes and cucumbers are finally producing some goodness, too. Some nights I need to remind myself that all this fresh abundance won't last, and to enjoy the repetition of zucchini and zucchini before the winter months are here!! We have also harvested 60kg's of potatoes so far - at least they keep for a while! 

Prepare - this month was making zucchini pickle month - ha, so what's new?! I picked and froze about half a kilo of elderberries too. Why did I freeze them? Not sure, but I saw somewhere that they could be frozen and as I didn't have the inclination to dry them, in the freezer they went. 

And I had a disaster with the calendula blossoms that were steeping in oil - I didn't put a tight fitting lid on the jar and they went mouldy after about a week. I'm sure it was because I also have kombucha brewing nearby and the boys were brewing a ginger beer plant - just too many wild yeasts hanging around - so I'll try again! 

Reduce - I've been using used business envelopes as note paper for a few years now but recently had the happy thought of actually cutting them up and getting more out of them. Now I have a large note from the back and a small note from the front of the envelope where the window has been cut off.  

I used an old t-shirt to make one baby hat (note to self - they were quick and easy so make some more!) and Miss 19 made a few bibs out of an old nappy and torn flannelette pyjama's. 

Create - one nightie for the new little one, one cutlery roll for a birthday gift (not sent yet), one small knitted vest for the new baby and lots of half finished projects lying around my desk! Oh yes and even more un-started projects littering my brain! 

Green - I wish I were a little more diligent about keeping a note of what we do over the month but alas, I didn't.......... so all I can say here is that we have bought a lot of second hand steel to put up a loft in the shed. And after reading Linda's post about her energy saving we were inspired to lower ours as best we can, taking into account that we run our business from home and use lots of electrical equipment. 

Grow - sowed another two rows of carrots - getting carrots to grow is the pinnacle of growing success in my humble opinion....and I've managed it three times recently and never before! I also sowed some other less inspirational veggies such as beetroot, more radish, kale, more lettuce, perpetual spinach though I have yet to transplant them into their garden beds...... along with the poor little parsley seedlings that are still sitting in their punnet waiting...... 

Discover - as I said not much reading happening but I have dipped into a book I borrowed from the newly formed local Steiner group - "Fruits of a Life's Work" by Sylvia Brose, it's not light reading but the bits I understand are interesting. Does the new edition of Earth Garden magazine count? I really did learn something new in there!

Enhance - this one I struggle with. What have I done to enhance things? Not sure, what I should put in this category. What about enhancing the image of the humble zucchini by posting a delicious salad recipe? 

Enjoy - ooohh, yeah this one is easy - the new grand daughters birth was definitely an enjoyment in February and her presence will continue to be an enjoyment for the year, I'd say! 

The other very exciting happening is that the foundation holes for our extension have been dug - now if only the rest of the building was as quick and simple! 

So that's that - it's not too bad an effort considering what a doozy of a month it was but writing this has inspired me get myself a little more organised with the note taking for March, as well as trying a bit harder to work on the Green and Enhance category. I'm not really a "go out into the community and lead the bandwagon" type of person, so will have to be diligently green and enhancing around home!! The children will love it!! 

  

Slow Living 2012 - January (belated)

This week I popped in to visit Christine over at Slow Living Essentials - I have a lot of Lovely People to visit in my Favourite Blogs List and not enough time to visit them all as often as I'd like, so I have to ration myself around you know! Anyway, she has started up an on line journal and challenged the rest of us to join in and record all the little positive changes that are so easily forgotten about as we go about our daily lives.
I have decided to tag along ........ after a bit of deliberation .......
Will I be diligent in posting? We'll see....
Will I have done enough positive things in my month to even have anything to post about? Maybe...
Is anyone interested anyway? Perhaps....

I often feel that I don't accomplish enough of anything that's really worthwhile, so having to wrack my brain (and my photo's) to remember what I did achieve each month and then making a list, can only be a good thing. Right?

So, here is the original idea at Slow Living Essentials and below is my list of achievements for the month of January 2012

Nourish -  we have been eating so much of our own garden produce that I am often quite giddy with delight!! Due to moving interstate and renting for a while, we haven't had a garden for a few years so it's just too exciting to be eating fresh homegrown, organic food again! This month there have been peas and snow peas, spinach and lettuce, bandicooted potatoes, garlic (harvested in Dec, so not sure if that counts) fat Spanish onions, turnips and the first tender zucchini's. On the sweeter side we had red and black currants, plums - both our own and foraged ones, luscious strawberries and juicy rhubarb. And of course lots of fresh eggs from the girls!
I'm thinking now that we have certainly been very well nourished!!

Prepare - you are probably sick of hearing about my peas but I have to mention them again...... I froze 7kg's of peas, so we'll be self sufficient in peas for quite a while! We went blueberry picking and froze about 14kg's........ and I made a lot of plum jam!!

Reduce - now thats a bit harder to remember but I can think of a couple of things. There were the cot rungs that we repurposed for seed markers and to hold the polypipe hoops up for bird netting. (which I've just discovered were first used in Dec but we have made more, so maybe it still counts!) The plum seeds leftover from jam making were put to good use in some little felt bags for play.

Create - I've been crocheting a lot of dishcloths out of cotton yarn that I've picked up at op shops here and there. They crochet up so quickly and make me feel like I've achieved grand things! There was also the driftwood trivet sourced from the beach. In February I will be making a note of the things I've created because I'm sure there have been more....!

Green - I'm not really sure what to put here. I re-use the odd plastic bags we get for rubbish bags, but mostly use those recyclable cloth bags for shopping. I go op shopping a lot - but maybe that should come under the Enjoy heading ;o)

Grow - the garden is growing zucchini, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, beetroot, spinach, carrots, radish, cucumber, basil, kale, rhubarb, onions and some pretty flowers! And looking at this list is oh so very satisfying - I see them in the garden but reading the list is still a surprise!

Discover - I've been reading a Christmas gift, "Gardening South of Australia" by Steve Solomon so that I can understand the Tasmanian gardening year a bit more! "The Complete Root Cellar Book"was one I borrowed from the library but I have to be honest and say that I only flicked through it and handed it to the Best Man, who, I'm happy to say, was quite taken with the idea......... after the extension, the poly tunnel, the cubby, the fencing, the.........!!

Enhance - I bartered a bag of frozen peas in exchange for a bag of fresh beans. Not sure about this one so I'll need to be a bit more aware of how to go about this 'enhancing' business!

Enjoy - I have love, love, loved the January break from lessons!! We have had over 3 months off due to our holiday to the mainland and have just started our morning lessons again last week. January was the most relaxing month though - holiday over, Christmas over, and a whole month just to do as I please....... well, more or less!

So, there you have it. Perhaps not as much as some people, perhaps more than others, but either way I feel quite good about my life in January! And I also think that I'm going to quite like seeing this written account at the end of each month - it will be nice to have all our endeavours collected together in one place to wonder at and feel proud of!!

It's not too late to join in - how about it? If you don't have a blog (so you can brag to world about it!), what about a small 'real life' journal just to record all the little things that are so easy to forget, yet make you feel sooo satisfied when you look back on them.