Keeping it simple

This year I have not focussed as much as usual on simple living but keeping it simple still plays an important part in our life here.
We cook as much as possible from scratch, and this works especially well on weekdays and when the routine is in order. When the routine is out of whack, I succumb very quickly to cheap and nasty, but delicious, alternatives! This year I have managed to make lunch at home a lot of the time, so that is another way we're keeping our diet healthy and simple. I'm not so sure that it is always cheaper.
We've been growing vegies in the garden for a while now but this year the patch has not been as fruitful. In fact, we did much better last year planting out of soil that had been compacted and must have been sorely lacking in nutrients. At the moment, Mr S is picking the zucchini while they are small, otherwise they start turning bad the bigger they get. The strawberries grew well but I just didn't put in enough of them. Always learning!!!!
Our grapes were our biggest success and I can't wait until next year. It was really nice being able to share our produce with others. We shared with neighbours, family, friends and workmates. The only way we managed to do it was because Mr S covered the whole pergola in a net and we pulled down the plastic blinds around the sides. I think it also helped keep the insects out.
I consider my flower garden an important part of my simple living regimen. It keeps me grounded and puts me in touch with nature. I try not to use too much water and where possible we use water saved at the sink for the smaller plants. We hope to get a tank one day. We've also been saving the water used when washing the rice. Over summer I didn't get outside too often as it was too hot. As autumn comes I hope to get out there a little more.
The other way Mr S and I keep it simple is by not letting consumerism rule our lives. I menu plan while Mr S is very good at using up every last crumb in the cupboards. Yesterday he made up a couple of apple pies in order to use up the last few apples sitting woefully in the fruit basket. We both try to op shop and we both do fairly well at avoiding the mega-shopping experience. On Thursday we went to get a present for a friend at one such place and Mr S was turned off by the smells. He was right. I'm sure there was an overkill of what seemed to be plastic type smells which I had never noticed before.
So, there you have it. Our simple living journey will go on in 2016 even though my goals for 2016 do not reflect that.  We will continue to plant vegies and cook as much as we can at home. If the opportunity arises during the year, I would like to try my hand at sewing or soap-making. Other than that, I hope we can have a good life by organising our lives more effectively, making conscious choices about what we do and how we do it, and by being open to what naturally evolves day to day.

A Simple Celebration

I haven’t blogged for a while. In the last few weeks we’ve had 5.30am starts, holiday sleep-ins and now we’re looking at a possible 3.30am start each day if all goes well on the job front this week for Mr S.

My duties at school have changed again and I find myself working with a different group of young people. This also means a new timetable. Last term my schedule was “light” on Thursday mornings so I treated myself to a chai latte before work each week. At the moment I’m still trying to see where I can squeeze it into my timetable.

On top of all that I was busy preparing for a milestone birthday.  

Originally I had really wanted to mark the occasion by going away for the weekend. Parties are not my thing so I didn’t see why that would change now. But then a friend commented that parties can provide what are often rare opportunities for people to come together. I thought about this and decided that it would be lovely to have friends and family gathering together here in our home.

I wanted to keep things fairly simple. If you read about the invitations you’ll know that I was also looking forward to the chance to get creative. I had a loose theme of tea party vintage and hoped to bring about a warm, cosy atmosphere.

My list of guests was around 50 and my SA mind imagined unrealistically how grand it all might be – even though I wanted it all to be simple!  As the day grew closer, the guestlist dwindled to 30ish. For a brief moment I was disappointed and I found I had to remind myself why I was doing the party and what I hoped to achieve.

How I kept it simple:

·        I invited my nieces over for lunch and then we set about making some bunting. I had envisaged nicely sewn triangular bunting but then I returned to reality. It was not easy to hang our paper hearts but keeping calm meant I still worked out a way to display it.

·        We made most of the food. We made finger-sized foods such as sandwiches, sausage rolls, scones and pizza slices. We had peanut butter balls and Mum made a sponge cake for the birthday cake.

·        We had material napkins. I used what I already had and borrowed the rest from Mum.

·        The “fancy” tablecloths were from Mum. The cloth on the main table was the one my mum got from her own mum for her engagement. It was really lovely to be able to put out family heirloom pieces.

·        I was so fortunate to have daphne and camellias in bloom. A friend cut the flowers and decorated the rooms. The rooms tend to be dull brown but the pop of colour from the flowers transformed the feel of the whole area.

·        Mr S knew I liked flowers. In the morning when I got up there was a lovely arrangement in the teapot made up of flowers from our garden.

·        Even though it was a tea party I had on offer coffee and hot chocolate as well as soft drinks.

·        I did spend a little extra on paper plates that were made from recycled pulp (?). I had the wonderful idea of keeping the plates and using them in the garden to block out weeds or as compost. In any case, I was preoccupied that evening and all plates ended up in the bin.

I had fun preparing the party. The best part was the buzz throughout the night. Our life here is sweet but very quiet. Mr S said he couldn’t believe that our home could be like that. I must say my mind was going in a hundred directions as everyone arrived and I realised that I hadn’t whipped the cream and the sausage rolls were not ready. I also had my mind on a few people who didn’t know anyone and were a bit shy. Some good friends kept reminding me that it was OK and I didn’t have to worry about them…. And gradually I accepted this. It truly was a lovely evening and it delighted my heart to see our home filled with laughter and chatter.

Living Simply Out and About

I've been enjoying the term holidays. It's nice to have a change of pace with enough time to talk to friends, go for leisurely walks and simply take it easy. 
I caught up with old college friends on my friend's farm. Good, homecooked food, wonderful company, hills and mountain ranges.
We stopped off at the Great Western Seppelts Winery. Lots of sun and, though I don't drink wine, the history of the place interested me greatly. 

In the middle of nowhere, you never know what you might see!

I've spent a bit of time at a friend's house close to where Mr S works, so I get to see him every day.

Mr S's brother is over for a visit so we've been doing sightseeing. I've only ever paid short visits to Daylesford and Hepburn Springs but this time I got to spend a few days up there. So much: cottages, historic buildings, bushland, relaxation, the lake. I bought two beautiful "reused" tables for our home, drank mineral water fresh from the spring and I discovered a cafe-though expensive- which combines the heavenly ambience of a homely library and a cosy lounge. Divine. Even if it doesn't sell chai lattes.

There was also time to catch up with family and join in the annual Easter egg hunt.

We've kept living simply with the occasional treat here and there. We brought food from home that was already in the cupboard rather than eating out at restaurants. We lit warm fires at night using firewood from the property and picked pears off the tree.  Going for walks costs nothing. Long, endless talks with friends is priceless. I did lash out and buy a couple of small, beautiful tables which we needed for our lounge area. I saved up money for some home accessories last year that was never spent so I "transferred" the funds from there to finance it.

I think I'm not farm girl material but I love being close to nature: one toe in the bush and one foot in a cottage in a small town sounds like perfection to me. I love the character of country towns. I'm grateful to my friend for opening up her home. I'm already thinking about the next time I can get up there. 
We were going to do some weeding for her but her warning not to poke around woodpiles, lest we waken the snakes, has ensured we stick to the paths when walking in the bush and kept us at a safe distance from her garden!

Two great purchases

March has been a good month.

I am now the proud owner of a new car. I have wheels and I can go places. It's nice to be on the road in a reliable vehicle.

As well as that, I am also the happy, happy owner of a new drink bottle and I have to say I'm very proud of it.

The car was not one of my goals for this year but it had become a necessity. I was not happy initially because I was all geared up to make a decent dent in my mortgage this year. Getting a car meant I had to divert some of that money, as well as incur a new debt.  Eventually, I had to give in and be practical rather than idealistic.

On the plus side, I was able to manage it financially. That does not mean I simply took the spare change out of my purse. It just means that things I've put in place before now, made it easier to organise. I have managed to build up my emergency savings and non-planned savings over the years, chiefly by not going shopping "just for fun", spending sparingly and sticking to a budget.

I didn't tell the car sales people that one of the most important things I was looking for was a cup holder. The other most important thing was a good radio. I am tickled pink to have both!

On the negative side my friend's husband was upset. He works for a local car plant and was not impressed that I had bought a "foreign" car. Aside from the fact that I didn't have a lot of time to do research (it takes me ages to understand technical talk), my instincts knew this was the car for me. It's small and economical and I really love having it. I know buying "local" is a priority but I also know to follow my instincts.

My other great purchase was a water bottle. It looks good. It works. I still have it. 

This is my fourth bottle in about two years. I lost a good one. The next one I bought was too hard to use when I was out and about and the third one leaked. That's why I'm so happy to have one that works. It's made it so much easier to drink more water each day which means I'm looking after my body better. Being healthy is one of my main goals for this year,so I feel like I'm finally ticking some boxes on my goal list.

I do try to buy ethically. I noticed  many people buy the steel bottles but I really want to see what's in the bottle. I got plastic but I did try to buy "good" plastic!

I have had to accept that what I planned for in my budget this year had to change. It's been another reminder to embrace what is, as is. Fortunately, what started out to be an annoyance is turning into a challenge I want to conquer! I don't like debt so I am determined to look out for ways to save money and reduce that figure as much as possible. In the meantime, I hope to enjoy these two great purchases.

Simple living Sunday: When I say simple what do I mean?

Finding a hidden treasure when decluttering this week.

I always have holidays at this time of the year so it's a great opportunity to evaluate where things are at in my life. Even though I'm fairly happy with where things are at in terms of my simple living goals I wanted to try to define what simple living means to me. I came up with the following:

making a conscious choice to live  mindfully, 

making choices that are people-friendly and earth-friendly 

and which enable life to be simple and uncomplicated. 

The last part could be an oxymoron as I can be intense at times especially when my inner chatterbox is in "anxiety mode" which is why simple and uncomplicated are important parts of the definition.

Simple and uncomplicated means that my life does not have to be determined by the media and marketing world. I can live my life free of advertising persuasions. It means that  shopping is intentional moreso than a way to pass time. At Christmas time I chose not to buy presents for friends. I know some people put a lot of time and thought into gift-giving but when I see the amount of things in my home I find I choose not to add to the clutter and, ultimately, landfill. I have plenty so I don't feel the need to gather more and I'm not sure that Christmas is meant to be about that sort of gift-giving. That's something which I hope to explore a little more come Christmas 2015!

Simple and uncomplicated - I'm learning- means that life's goals can be achieved just as well using the simplest of methods rather than resorting to expensive or complicated methods. Simple and uncomplicated is also where I find my life balance. Weeding the garden is one of my most enjoyable recreational activities. I find it therapeutic and I find it energises me.

Simple and uncomplicated means that I don't have chickens and sprawling vegie gardens and I don't make everything from scratch. One of my life purposes is to teach and to be present to those students and that requires time and energy. I'm happy to do that work so bringing chickens into the equation would not fit at all. There are weeks where the dishes don't get done so it's important for me to know what I can manage easily (=simple) and what would make life  unnecessarily stressful (= complicated). It means I do what I can when I can.

This week I've gotten into the swing of making sure simple living can happen in my home by decluttering the tubs and cupboards in one of the unused rooms. At one point I was quite dismayed to see the amount of stuff I had stacked away as I really do try to be careful about what I hold on to. Once I got past that stage it felt good knowing that I could focus on making way for a nice, inviting work and relaxation space. It's been very satisfying carting loads of stuff off to the local op shop but just a tad frustrating knowing I haven't yet finished. Stay focussed!!

It's time for these papers to go!

These tubs have been sorted. Just one cupboard to go...

Sunshine after days of rain

So on this windy, overcast Sunday, it's back to the grindstone. I want to make a vegetable lasagne for dinner,  I'll probably relax after that as I've been feeling tired lately and I don't have any pressing deadlines at the moment. The sun's coming out which is heartening as this  house is dark in summer when the light is low.

Have a good week.

Simple Living Sunday: My Weekend

I've had a lovely weekend but with not enough time to do everything.

Last night I joined old school friends for a weekend in country Macedon to celebrate a 50th birthday. I really enjoyed it. I felt very comfortable in myself for which I was truly grateful. I don't stay up late these days so I did struggle to party on after ten o'clock!! It was a fun night and it was lovely to breathe in some fresh mountain air.

I got a lot of gardening done yesterday. I harvested one bunch of celery but it didn't seem right and I'm not sure why. I tidied up some other areas and did some weeding. There's been no rain and this weekend has been quite warm so I watered the newer plants and those undercover.

My neighbours have an amazing show of  these red flowers so I took photos yesterday. The whole bed looks like a sea of brilliant red velvet.

This morning I made it to the Flemington Craft Market. It's on again for the spring/summer season. A few years ago I bought a lovely little table made from recycled wood by a local craftsperson. After saving last year and after pinning my ideas this year I finally got to put in my request for a matching hall bench - only to be told he is  not well enough to do it. Nevertheless, at the same stall I bought a revamped magazine holder. A nice find! I also came across a stall for dollhouse furniture and found some pieces which I think will look lovely in my fairy garden-to-be.

It's now time for a run and then back home to do the washing, cook some dinner and get some schoolwork done.

Have a good week.