Projects

The weekend at last!  I longed to snuggle further down under the covers when Hubby left for work this morning.  So warm and cosy in my bed.  But there were projects floating in my head.  They called me loudly and insistently so I begrudgingly staggered out for a cup of coffee to get me moving.

There's a freezing chill in the air this morning but the cloudless sky carries a promise of a beautiful day to come.  I've had a very productive week and today will be no different.  Once the sun is shing and the sky is blue, I will have all the energy I need to get on with today's tasks.

The projects I have on the go are many and varied.  I'm painting, regenerating paddocks, farm planning, planting while the weather's favourable, working with the children.....

Monday saw me checking the hive and robbing some honey.  I didn't measure but there were several kilos of golden sweetness.

Tuesday we went to help some friends pick their small commercial olive crop before they missed their deadline.  Three other friends also came to help.  Sadly we didn't get much done before the rain set in and made it impossible.

I've been determinedly painting our house over the last couple of weeks.  We never did get around to finishing the doors and trims when we moved in.  Once living here, we just got on with daily tasks and became so used to the unpainted surroundings that we didn't even notice anymore.  However, for some unknown reason, suddenly it's all I see!  So every day this week, I've painted a little more.

I've also dropped in to the local tip with a trailer on tow and picked up an old freezer.  Sorting a container for the chook food has been on my to-do list for a looong time but now that we're thinking of getting more chooks it's become a priority.  This freezer is perfect for the job.  I'm making my own grain mix for them and recording the costs as I go.  I'm confident that my mix is nutritious but I have a sneaking suspicion that when I add up the prices, it would be cheaper to buy the commercial mixes.

We've been to the library, picked up (and shoveled out) a load of manure and returned the trailer to the stables.  The children have played independently.  There have been shopping games, mum's and dads, doctors and even dinosaurs.  We've cared for the animals, milked the goats and Belle and I have knitted fingerless mittens to try and ward off the cold.  It's icy out there in the late afternoons!

  I've had a friend visit twice this week and twice she has helped me complete some tasks on my list.  She and her husband helped me plant the garlic last weekend.  I was despairing that I wouldn't get it in on time.  During the week, she and I planted comfrey under the fruit trees while adding compost and manure.  It's lovely to have friends that enjoy working alongside me.

The chooks are doing a lovely job in their new enclosure.  We've put them in a bare paddock on the top of the hill.  This paddock had no soil whatsoever so, a while back, we shoveled a couple of trailer loads of horse manure on it.  Now the chooks are scratching it around and adding their own manure to the mix.  We'll move them soon to a new area and put them to work again.  Our hope is that, over time we'll see the soil build up.

I know it can work.  I've inspected the area where we've been putting piles of horse manure in one spot over the last year.  Yesterday I scratched the soil around the piles.  It was definitely an improvement.  Just three metres away, where there has been no manure, I can't even scratch past the surface because there is no topsoil at all.  I will begin piling the manure there instead next week.

Near the manure pile

Existing 'soil?'

Today I will continue to paint and this afternoon I plan to take a look at a second hive which is down in the bush.  I find it hard to get to this particular hive because it's so far from the house.  I don't want to have the children there with me but I can't leave them home alone.  Hence I wait until Hubby is around, the weather is right, and my mentor is available.  It's getting late in the year for beekeeping and I won't have many opportunties before winter sets in.

I've only had a couple of attempts to beekeep on my own so far and they weren't very successful.   On one attempt the bees were very aggressive and I had two stings inside my boot which I had to ignore.  I was also stung twice on the hand.  I managed to calmly work through but didn't know enough about the bees to understand what was happening.  Normally they are quite settled.  My mentor felt it may have been due to the hive being so full of honey that they had nowhere to lay their brood.  Therefore, once I had removed three frames (all I could manage in my bee-stung state), they were calmer when we inspected them this week.

I'm very lucky with my mentor.  He has years of experience.  I've known Jim since I was born.  He was a friend of my parents and we used to visit their family when we were children.  I was lucky that I unexpectedly came across Jim and his wife in the supermarket car park soon after we bought this property.  We had lost contact and I had no idea that they lived in this area.  Neither did I know Jim was a beekeeper.  I invited them to lunch, together with my parents, and it was then I discovered that Jim worked with bees.  He's been helping me since.  It's wonderful to watch him at a hive.  He works slowly and calmly.  He doesn't even wear gloves!!!

So onward I go!  Hopefully I can get through my jobs by the end of the day and perhaps tomorrow I'll just relax.

How is your weekend looking?  Are you taking it easy or do you also have a thousand projects on the go?!

A Steiner special school and Organising a break from the farm

Recently, the kids and I attended a camp.  I knew I was going to like it but didn't realise what a huge impact it was going to have on me.

The camp was organised by the Melbourne Waldorf Farm School.  They are a group of Steiner connected people who are in the process of organising a Steiner special school.  It would be the first of its kind in Australia.

The vision is for the school to operate as a working farm and incorporate residential housing for elderly folk as well as people with disabilities.  I love the concept.  They are creating a place that is useful and where everyone would be involved in a very real way regardless of ability.  The way I believe the world should be.

The experience of the camp left me wishing I could be involved when the school is operational.  The days the children and I spent there were incredible.  We were immediately immersed in the most connected and nurturing environment I have ever found myself in.  We were a community of people who cared about each other by the time we left. 

There were opportunities for Buddy to experience new activities as well as felting and music and singing for all of us.  Buddy's sisters had the opportunity to part from him and each other while playing, and to meet many other children with disabilities.  Pumpkin announced on the way home that she would like to work with people with disabilities when she grows up (because they are so nice). 

The parents were nurtured and, through various activities and in-depth discussion, felt very deep connections with each other by the time we went home.  The school will be in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne; too far for us although I toyed with the idea of moving for a while.  I would encourage anyone with an interest, to get involved.  You would be welcomed.  Tell your friends and spread the word.  The families who end up at this school will be very fortunate.  The school is in it's initial stages and those who get involved will be instrumental in helping this concept become a reality.

Hubby was left at home, as usual, to care for the animals.  It's the only way the children and I have been able to go anywhere over the last couple of years.  He gets up early for work to put animals in paddocks and stays up late milking, feeding, watering, and locking up.  I was beginning to feel as though we could never go away as a family again.

A friend, who was aware of our situation, organised a three day beach trip for us and pushed me encouraged me to stop procrastinating and find a way to leave our farm.  I put the word out on Facebook and a few friends offered their services.  I chose this medium because I felt I wasn't putting anyone on the spot.  It seemed such a big ask!  This way, those who wanted to come forward, did.

With two people able to help on the selected dates, we began our organising.  I was determined to make it as easy as possible for our generous volunteer friends. 

We organised self feeders for the chooks (I usually feed mash) so that feed and water only needed to be checked and filled if low.  We made up the daily feeds for the goats in ziplock bags - yes, I know shouldn't use plastic but I was desperate to make it easy!  The goats' feeds are individualised so we labelled each bag and labelled the pens.  We even wrote a brief descriptor above each pen in case the naughty girls took advantage of inexperienced carers and swapped pens.  We labelled food containers and the receptacle (an old dishwasher put to new use) where we keep first aid equipment and minerals.

Our evening helper came over to learn to milk and be shown the ropes.  Goats' hay feeders filled, chooks locked up, goats up from paddock, buckets and washing water organised, goats milked and fed, milk strained and buckets washed ready for the next day.  She was very enthusiastic and made me feel comfortable about asking her to take the task on.

Our morning volunteer was a neighbour who has helped in a couple of emergencies and already knew the ropes.  The chooks to be let out, hay in paddocks, goats out.  Her farm is a similar setup to ours, with many of the same livestock.  She is a kind and generous neighbour who happily helped us out!  This same neighbour has come and helped when one of the goats was sick and has lent me her caged trailer when my girl goats were wanting to travel to a buck because they were looking for love.

We only had one hiccough while we were away.  I wasn't clear enough with the days I needed help and there was a morning when the animals weren't let out.  A lesson to me for next time - specify exact days!

All in all, I think we organised the care of our farm fairly well.  If you are in a similar situation, don't be scared to ask.  There are probably people out there that would be happy to help you.  Make it as easy as you can by taking notice as you go about your chores.  You'll think of ways to simplify your system for inexperienced helpers.  Make sure you prepare anything that you can in advance and make sure that you leave a contact number.

I'm sure, one day, we will be asked to provide reciprocal care and my friends will be comfortable to ask me seeing as they have already cared for our animals.  It's lovely to be able to walk away from the daily grind every now and again and well worth the effort of organising the carers.

 Happy holidays!!!

Monthly nine -- January 2105

Hi there!  January is done and dusted and I'm late with the link-up again!  I have good reason.  Not only is the end of January back to studying time for the kids; it's also the time of year that everything fruity needs to be preserved for the cooler months! 

I'm setting aside some time right now to sit and recap January.  This is a great idea dreamed up by Christine at Slow Living Essentials.  We all get together and list our achievements for the previous month under nine different categories.  Please write your own recount of January and link up or just join in by visiting the other fabulous blogs taking part.

NOURISH: This month has seen us enjoying tomatoes.  I love the daily task of collecting them!  I made my first tomato soup for the season last week.  Delicious!  And oh so easy.

Tomato soup

Melt a generous dob of butter with a dash of olive oil.  Slice an onion or two and saute.  Add heaps of chopped up tomatoes fresh from the garden and simmer until very soft.  Add chicken stock in the right amount to give a nice, soupy but thickly tomatoey consistency together with a teaspoon of sugar, some salt, pepper and a couple of teaspoons of dried basil (or a couple of tablespoons of fresh chopped basil).  Squeeze in a little lemon juice and simmer for five minutes.  This soup is lovely with fresh sour dough bread.

PREPARE: Christmas before last Hubby gave me a preserving kit and I nervously began preserving a few jars. Never did I imagine back then that I would throw myself in preserving in the way I have done this year!  I have made trips to orchards, had preserving days with friends, made jam and taken up a kind offer of plums from a generous local lady.  She purchased a property this year that had HEAPS of different types of plums.  More than she could possibly use.  She put out an offer for people to come pick what they liked.  It was plum heaven!  I have preserved plums, made plum jam and dried some prunes.  In fact, I really should be in there cutting up more right now but there's only so much plum-ing one can do before they need a break.

It's a busy time of year because the fruit won't wait.  I've been juggling the preserving with my determination to start the year teaching my children with some sort of regularity.  Not an easy task but so far I'm feeling on top of things.

REDUCE: I recently had to put a call out for PET bottles for making ginger beer because we don't use purchased soft drink.  I now have heaps put aside for the task.  Sadly I didn't get around to making it in time so I'll need to make up a new plant soon.  Too many damn hats that I'm wearing.

 

I re-used some material to make chair bags for the kids.  I made one of them from a torn sheet and the other from op shopped material.  Only one child had a chair bag last year.  They are invaluable for keeping books close without creating a mess.  Last year we used plastic tubs and they were too bulky for our small home.

GREEN: I tried coconut oil in my hair this month.  I was whinging on a Face Book group about how dry and brittle my hair has become.  I don't wash my hair often and when I do, I use soap that I have made.  I often use cider vinegar as a rinse but it doesn't seem to help much.  Someone recommended trying coconut oil.  I've never used coconut oil before.  It has to travel from Queensland which is an awful long way so I usually find a substitute if a recipe has called for it.  Anyway, I decided to give it a try.  The result wasn't great.  I washed my hair, applied what I thought was a tiny amount and brushed my hair.  It was soooo oily!  I'll persist and see if I can apply even less this time.

GROW: My tomatoes have been great this year.  I prepared the soil really well and have (at great expense) managed to keep the water up to them.  We've been enjoying strawberries but only as a rare treat.  I never have enough at any given time to create desserts or anything else special.  Zucchini was a spectacular fail!  The plants were magnificent.  Best I've ever grown.  That was, sadly, no consolation for me as I eagerly awaited the appearance of zucchinis....  I think we picked about six for the whole month!

CREATE: Apart from the chair bags I have created nothing.  Unless all the things I've been working on in my mind count as the process of creation. ;-)

DISCOVER: I've been enjoying using The River Cottage Preserves Handbook to create new yumminess from all the fruits I've managed to get hold of.  I've made a variation of sloe gin with some damsons I picked.  It will take quite a while before I can report on the results.  It will take about ten week to bottling and the recipe suggests I store it for eighteen months before drinking!

We also learnt about a little bird that came to visit.  We've been calling Belle our butterfly whisperer but I may need to extend it to wild birds as well!  For two days it played around our dairy and Belle was determined to tame it.  We looked it up and Belle tells me it's a juvenile grey fantail. "That's why it's brown."

 

ENHANCE: Together with friends we've bought fruit, shared preserving gear, enjoyed company, initiated WWOOFers into the art of preserving and been the recipients of the generosity of a woman with plums, plums and more plums.  Thank you Jane!!

ENJOY: More than anything I enjoyed friendship in January.  That and the local swimming pool.  The kids and I have just about lived at the pool.  Most Januarys see us take a short break, do some sitting around and I also usually contemplate the coming year.  For some reason it wasn't like that this year and I'm trying to ignore the niggling feeling that I'm beginning the year feeling burnt out before I've begun. It has been all my interactions with friends that has saved me from falling in a heap.  A bit of laughter here, some connecting there, a huge dose of 'yes, I relate to what you're saying', a good measure of working alongside other women and plenty of feeling cared about!  Where would we be without friends?!!

Please join in for our January linking with other friendly bloggers.  Just link below.

Monthly nine - December 2014

Ooops! Ummm...... I'm a bit late this month.  I won't bore you with the whys and wherefores.  I'll just get on it because you may be waiting to post your amazing, busy, jam-packed stories from December.  This link-up is the brain child of Christine over at Slow Living Essentials.  I have inherited it recently.  Each month we recap what we've been up to in nine interesting categories.  We have plenty of regular people who post.  You are welcome to join in!  How was your Christmas month?

Deep breath from me....  Here goes December.  THE busiest month of the year!

NOURISH:

Well.  Let's talk Christmas Day fare.  Mum brought her wonderful potato salad, strongly flavoured with garlic and basil, and some prawns.  One of my friends gave me some homemade dukkah as a gift and we loved snacking on that!  I bought some ham from another friend who raises pigs and cooked a free range chook.  The choices went on and on.

We enjoyed snacks, drinks, a meal, each others company and lots of yummy dessert.  Mum and Dad always bring Christmas Pud and Dad makes a brandy custard.  I made a trifle in an effort to rekindle a family tradition.  Nana always served trifle on the big day.  Mine was altered somewhat and included beautiful blueberries from a local farm.  My eldest daughter, Lou Lou, made her first ever pavlova and it was yumm-my!  You can never, ever have too much dessert!!

PREPARE:

I was given some beetroot in December so had a go at pickled beetroot.  I don't know how it turned out yet because I'm saving it for later in the year.

REDUCE:

Not me, but my my daughter Belle made a bag for her friend's birthday.  Damn!  I forgot to take a photo.  Guess what we bought Belle for Christmas?  A second hand sewing machine of her very own.  No more fighting with an eleven year old over time at the sewing machine.  Perhaps this was actually more a gift for me?  Hee hee!

GREEN:

Yep.  More soap.  I also went back to using bi-carb and salt as toothpaste.  I've been using an Australian-made herbal toothpaste because the children weren't keen on the bi-carb.  However, Buddy really hated the taste of the commercial product so both of us are using the bi-carb mix.  Not sure how I'll go yet.  Last time I tried it the kids kept getting it wet so I'm trying to be there when he uses it.  I'll try and teach him to just wet his toothbrush first and (with clean hands) sprinkle on some powder.

GROW:

My tomatoes are looking great!  I'm just waiting for the first to ripen and it's happening as we speak!  I'm out there daily checking for colour.  I harvested my first zucchinis in December too.  Isn't it funny how yummy they taste at the beginning of each season before we become thoroughly bored of trying to find new ways to eat them by Autumn?

CREATE:

 

Oh. My. Goodness!!!!  December is overly full of CREATE!!  I made giant replicas of tea-bags full of goats poo.  These were special teabags for the watering can.  I made soap.  I made beeswax impregnated wraps to cover food.  I crocheted covers for some of the soap.....  Sorry.  No photos.  Christmas gifts keep me soooo busy that I completely forgot.   I can, however, show you a photo of a special gift from Belle.  On Christmas Day she really, really surprised me when she gave me an embroidered lavender bag that I had no inkling about!  I felt very special.



DISCOVER:

I haven't spent much time educating myself lately.  I've been borrowing Paullina Simons' books from the library.  They are HUGE books!  But oh so good.

ENHANCE:

Goodness!  To think I often used to have trouble with this category.  My life has been so full with sharing/swapping food, receiving gardening advice, helping or being helped with transporting trailers to collect manure, sharing recipes...

ENJOY:

I'm feeling gooey about our connectedness lately.  We've had several pre-Christmas get togethers with other friends.  While I bemoaned my busyness and lack of time, I love being so involved with others around us.

We also had a special first birthday celebration in December.  My lovely little granddaughter had a party which meant a trip to celebrate.  She's such a sweet heart!

Monthly Nine - November 2014

November can't be over!  It can't!!  This was to be my year of The Organised Christmas!  Somehow, because I had decided a couple months ago on the presents I wanted to make for people, it was a fait accompli in my mind.  Hmmm.  I'd better move faster.  I certainly know how I'll be spending my December!

I'm looking forward to hearing what you've been up to during November.  If you're new to this link up you'll find the details here.  Please join in with us and share your achievements under the nine slow living categories created by Christine from Slow Living Essentials.

Nourish

I find I go through stages where I choose my meals depending on the food available to buy ethically and then stages where I look to our place first.  Then there are the stages where I'm not organised so I do the best I can from the supermarket aisles.  The old organic pasta sauce is a fall back in this house.

Anyway, November was a reasonable month for providing from our own place.  We've snacked on lots of peas straight from the pod.  We've had spinach to cook with, and lots of home made cheese.  We enjoyed eating quiches.  The peas are a great thing for trips.  We pick them and throw them straight into a bag.  Then we enjoy snacking on their sweetness as we travel.  The kids love being allowed to throw the pods out of the car window in the rural areas.

We've also eaten a lot of cheese and lettuce and egg and lettuce sandwiches.  I have so much yummy lettuce in the garden and also eggs in abundance.  Though I do believe the children may have removed the lettuce from their sandwiches while I wasn't looking!

Prepare 

I was lucky enough to get some elderflowers and made my first ever batch of cordial.  I was surprised at how delicious it is and I'm trying to get a cutting going now so that I can make this yummy drink every year.

Reduce

I'm astounded by the amount of washing we create!  No matter how often I wash clothes, there are always more at the bottom of the basket.  I'm nagging encouraging the kids to wear the same pyjamas for a few nights before selecting a new pair.  I haven't decided yet how many nights I can stretch it out before it's unacceptably gross!  I'm also thinking I should cull some of their clothes so they don't  have as many to collect around the place.  Buddy in particular is a bit of a show pony and will wear more than one outfit in a day if I'm not watching.  He'll decide he wants to change his look from 'farmer' to 'footballer' and hang his farmer shirt on a chair or the end of his bed to wear the next day.  Then he forgets and get a new shirt out instead.  I would really like to reduce the amount of water we use.

My lovely mother helping with Buddy

Green

I enjoyed a day of soap making with a friend.  It was wonderful!  Our children enjoyed each other's company and kept out of our way while we played in the kitchen.  We managed to make five batches which translated to about sixty bars of soap.  We tried adding food colouring for the first time.  I usually just leave my soaps fairly plain.  The colouring worked beautifully and I've decided to stop making the same old, same old and start experimenting a little more.  It's fun!!

Grow

The garden is having it's best year yet.  The spring garden always grows nice and green but this year I have finally learnt some basics and everything is growing quickly.  I had not been using enough compost over the years I have been gardening.  Somehow I missed the point.  Possibly that was due to my frugal nature and inclination to stretch everything out.  Anyway, I now heap the compost on and my friend told me about potash.  I guess I've read all this stuff before but didn't realise the importance.  This particular friend has an amazing veggie garden and grows enough to preserve for leaner times of year so I figured listening to her methods would be a very good idea!  My tomatoes are looking so healthy and large.  They are covered in flowers and I'm regularly checking to see if any have set.  Hopefully it won't be long now!

 I've really squashed my veggies in to make the best use of water.  I love the result.  It's a delightful hodge podge of lettuce, dill, peas, carrots (yes, you heard right - I've finally had some carrot success), zucchini, rocket etc.

Create

Everything in this category is a big secret at this time of year!  I've been on the sewing machine, I've had the crochet hook out and we're hoping to get crafty with paper today.

Discover

I found a fifty cent copy of Lord of the Flies at the op shop so I re-read it.  Such a well written but disturbing book!  Possibly because we all know people with these personalities.   I suppose some people really do have a very dark side when you look at historical events during war time.  The up side is, the people in my life are people I really like and admire!

I also discovered some welcome and some not so welcome wildlife visiting in the garden.  I would much rather the snakes hung out in the bush outside our garden.

Enhance

I'm really glad that Christine dreamt up this category!  It's one of the most important, in my mind.  Though some months I find this a hard catergory to fill, it's the process of doing things for each other that gives life meaning.  It connects people and improves our lives.  Loneliness is something I can only imagine at this point in my life thankfully, but I'm sure it must be awful for people who don't have connections.  This month I was able to make soap with a friend as mentioned above, I was linked in to a manure collection through the same friend, I was able to donate goats milk for a cheese making workshop and I cooked a meal for a friend who needed a hand.  I've enjoyed being mentored in my gardening by another friend who really wants to see me succeed.  Aren't I a lucky person!!

Enjoy

I attended a fiftieth birthday where I walked around most of the night with a silly smile on my face.  (Nothing to do with the delicious cocktails, of course)  I felt ridiculously gooey about my friends and even their friends that I was meeting for the first time.  Everyone was so real and open and my children and husband had as much fun as I did.  How wonderful to have down times in our crazily busy life to reflect on the fun and friendship in our world.

I would love to hear about your month!  Please join us for the Monthly Nine.

Are you self-sufficient?

Oh dear, oh dear!  Earlier in the week a delivery van came here.  The driver pulled up in the drive and hopped out.  The first thing he sais was, "Are you self-sufficient?!" 

It wasn't until he left that I realised!  He couldn't see into our yard from where he pulled up.  He couldn't see our veggie garden, compost heaps, orchard or the dairy.  So what made him ask this question?

That gave me a good giggle!  What gave him the clue that we try to do things for ourselves?  Was it the chooks, ducks and geese wandering everywhere?  Was it the children running feral on a school day and coming to investigate the stranger that had arrived?  Maybe it was my attire!  A baggy pair of tracky dacks, boots, beanie, scarf and a filthy jacket!!  Haha!  Perhaps I need to work on the impression we make when people turn up unexpectedly.

The question certainly started me thinking though......  We certainly are not self-sufficient by any stretch of the imagination, nor do I think we are  aiming to be.  To be self-sufficient, we would need to be able to provide our own clothes, grow enough food for ourselves and our animals, extract oil from olives or similar, to be able to make all our fencing and animal shelters from natural materials etc. etc. 

 Maybe not a hope in hell we could do all these things but would we want too?  Every waking minute would be filled with providing the basics for our needs.  This got me thinking about our motivation for living the life style we have chosen.  It's as simple as this.  We are trying to live a comfortable life while being respectful of the environment.  We don't want to add to the climate crisis that is occurring.  (And it truly is a crisis!  We're not doomed yet, but damn close, so you might want to give it some thought if you haven't already.)

 I make our own soap but find I don't do it regularly enough to keep us supplied.  Ditto with bread.  We are producing goats milk.  We make cheese.  I knit and sew.  We garden.  Hubby builds many things that we need and often uses natural materials when it works.  It's all wonderful stuff but there aren't enough hours in a day to do everything all the time. 

A temporary chook shelter in the garden they're digging over.

I still buy crackers, coffee, bread fairly often, all my staples like sugar, rice,  pasta and a heap of other things.  We try to buy household items and clothing second hand.  Most of my shoes are from the op-shop but I buy my workboots new and usually buy the children new shoes.  I would happily buy them from the op shop but, more often than not, I don't notice they are falling apart until it's too late.  When I notice the children wandering around with flapping soles, there's no time to scour the op shops so I race to the shoe shop feeling like a neglectful mother and buy the best option I can find.  All in all, our impact is fairly low compared to the average family and we keep working our way toward a greener life.

There's another very important element here too.  People.  If we truly spent every minute trying to provide for ourselves, we would be too busy to connect with others around us.   It would be an insular and lonely life.

So when I ponder the question of self-sufficiency I realise, it's not looking after ourselves in isolation that I'm after.  I want to connect with those around us and work together to create a better world.  I want to swap my goats milk for their pickles that I didn't get around to making for myself.  I want to use my friend's lard and repay her with the soap that I create with it.  I want to spend time with friends learning (or teaching) new skills.  I want to come together with other families so that our children can play.  I want to share meals where everyone brings a dish that they have cooked with fresh ingredients from the garden. 

It has been an unexpected benefit for me to discover that in trying to address climate change, in trying to create a good future for my children and others, that our lives have become more fulfilling.  We feel grounded, connected with nature, our food and our community.  We feel a sense of achievement that comes from being creative and learning new skills.  It's not doing it on our own that I'm after.  It's being a part of something bigger.  I want my community to be with me in this way of living.  A non-commercial life of thoughtfulness and creativity and appreciation for the simple things in life that really matter.

So now I need a new term.  It's not self-sufficiency.  Help me coin a new phrase.  Mine don't have a ring to them.  Is it 'community-sufficiency'?  Is it 'friendship-farming'?  Is it 'the-way-life-should-be sufficiency'?

Slow Living Monthly Nine - July 2014

How exciting!  I'm hosting the Slow Living Monthly Nine link-up today.  Christine, at Slow Living Essentials, began this link up early in 2012 and I have regularly been taking part.

It's a lovely way for people to record their months and share their ideas, acheivements and news.  If it's inspiration you're after, you will love reading through these posts!

It has been wonderful to watch a connected online community form throughout the process.  I have got to 'know' many new people and formed some great connections.  I'm often amazed at how thoughtful bloggers can be, even offering assistance and advice to each other via email outside of the link-up.  This little group of people have become friends!

I am honoured (and a little bit amazed) that Christine has gifted me the custodianship of this link-up!  I hope I can do it justice.  While I will really miss popping over to Slow Living Essentials to join in each month, I totally understand the point Christine has arrived at with needing to blog less.  I am glad that her idea will continue on and the community can continue to grow!

 Thank you Christine for choosing to keep this forum alive.  I hope to hear about your happenings often and hope that one day you will decide you are in a position to take your blogging baby back.

The Monthly Nine format is perfect as it is, so you will see little change.  I will probably rename it but am reluctant to do so without some thought.  So for now it remains the Slow Living Monthly Nine.

Please join me and many others as we relate our achievement and joys. I look forward to reading your posts.

If you are new to this link-up, welcome!  You will find all the details here.

Slow Living Monthly Nine - July 2014

Nourish

We've been enjoying continuing on with winter warmers.  There have been plenty of casseroles and soups appearing.  I've been making a conscious effort to choose meals that I can cook in huge amounts so that I can freeze some.  It has paid off BIG time!!  Do you know how good it feels to go to the freezer on a disorganised evening and find a precooked meal waiting.  It's even better if you have a terrible memory like mine.  I am often surprised by what I find in there; it feels as though someone has gifted me a meal!

Rhubarb Pudding

While our lemon tree has not been at it's best this year, lemons are something that are often shared by others at this time of year, so we've been enjoying lemon slice, pancakes with lemon and sugar, lemon cordial and lemon and vinegar to soothe colds and sore throats.

Prepare

Ah ha!  I've already covered this in the last category.  My frozen meals are serving us well.  We've also been dipping into the preserved fruit that we bottled in summer and autumn.  The kids are loving eating fruit on their puffed rice, puffed sorgum or just in a bowl with yoghurt.

Reduce

I participated in Plastic Free July.  The aim is to reduce and track the amount of single-use plastic that enters our homes.  To be honest, I think we did worse with reducing plastic this month than we normally do.  We always shy away from plastic when we can, but July saw lots of plastic sneaking into the house while we weren't looking!  The best outcome this year has been the kids involvement.  They have been very aware of the challenge and have shrieked, "PLASTIC!" whenever we accidently acquired some.  They treat it as though it is poison entering our home, and so they should!!

Green

The idea was that I would be telling you all about the soap I made in July but I never did get around to it.  Again. 

I've been using a little bit of castor sugar mixed with some lovely, local olive oil as a facial scrub.  A couple of times I have used honey or yoghurt as a mask, much to the children's amusement.

Grow

My garden has been sorely neglected of late, yet I am still enjoying broccoli and plenty of rhubarb.

Buddy and I have begun the task of weeding and making compost in preparation for spring.  We've had a lovely time.  His favourite job is shovelling and it works well for me.  He carts compost and manure wherever I want it!

Create

I actually have stuff to report this month!  Yay!!  I made Rosie a belated gift for her birthday.  The intention was to have it ready on time but I was too preoccupied with organising the party.  So early in July, I finished the book I was making her and popped it in the post.  The photo's from Rosie's phone because I forgot to snap it!

I made some draining board cloths too.  I hate using dish drainers because they harbour so many germs.  Now I drain my dishes on the cloths and at the end of the day I can use the cloth to wipe over my sink before I throw it in the washing basket.

I have a jumper on the go for Buddy and am half way through a sock for me.  Wow!  I hadn't realised I had done so much (for me) in this category!

Enhance

I have a great group of like-minded friends and we work together with trying to source food outside of the major supermarkets.  Sometimes I receive a phone call offering me excess fruit from a glut (yes, I know....  It's only a dream here too!  I've never had excess yet) or someone might contact me to see if I have spare flour to see them through until the next bulk food day.  Together we co-operate and share where we can and it feels lovely!

Discover

I attended a course on beekeeping and how to put together a bee box.  The presenter was a very experienced bee keeper and I learnt so much!  Some people just love to share knowledge.  I have volunteered to work alongside him in spring.  I can't wait!

Photo of a queen bee cell - courtesy Clare Watson

I even received a book to take home.  Storey's Guide to Keeping Honey Bees.  It's fascinating!  The children and I had a bit of a giggle over the mating process.  I had no idea!!  Apparently he pops with "an audible pop" and part of his doodie falls off!

Hmmm.  Who want to be a boy bee??!  It's also amazing how each type of bee has an individual role for the good of the hive and, if the need arises, can reactivate past functions to keep the hive in good health.  I'm looking forward to getting back into beekeeping in spring.

Enjoy

While I didn't lay eyes on my older girl's in July, I enjoyed great chats on the phone and saw some lovely photos on facebook.  Aren't we lucky to be able to communicate in so many ways?  I was also delighted that my parents had the children to stay a couple of times.  It's so nice to spend time with Hubby without feeling like parents.  Nice to remember that we are people in our own right.

A photo of my granddaughter that I was able to enjoy via face book

I really savoured the cool weather.  The contrast between the biting cold outside and the cosiness of sitting near the fire, reading a book to a child, enjoying warm meals and the occasional hot pudding, drinking hot chocolate and even doing a bit of knitting if time allows, is just wonderful.

I particularly enjoyed milking time with the goats.  Belle has taken over this task most nights so I do the manual work of feeding and watering and then sit on the hay and listen to Belle chattering happily away.  All in all, July was a fantastic month for me!

Did you have a lovely July too?