instagram

Friday 1 June 2012

Slow living during May .............





I have tried hard to keep in the back of my mind the slow living concepts as described by Christine and have given the nine headings lots of thought. Its easy to think that we don't do anything to help the environment, reduce waste, preserve, reduce etc but I have been surprised at how many little things I can do which collectively begin to make a difference.

May hasn't been a typical month as we have celebrated Laura's wedding, Noah and Finn have had birthdays and I have been on holiday but when I have had time I've noted things down that fit under the headings

NOURISH: 

I have been busy baking this month and all from scratch I have made birthday cakes for my grandsons and also helped a friend out and baked for a birthday celebration she was arranging.

PREPARE:

I have done a lot of batch cooking, which saves on cooking costs and also saves time - its so great to have meals in the freezer. I have also been buying some foods in bulk - my local supermarket had 3 for 2 offers on baking goods such as sugar and flour - which has saved quite a lot of money. I've been collecting
jars ready to do some jam making.

REDUCE:

I am also collecting tins and jars to use as flower vases as we have another wedding coming up later in
the year ......my daughter Kate wants to have knitted jam jar covers in soft peaches and greens to compliment her natural wedding theme.I have been using old jumpers for felting - which I am still trying to master the art of. I am trying hard to reduce food waste by making lots of soup - when the fridge begins to look bare its amazing what tasty soup you can make from a few sad looking vegetables.

GREEN: 

Where possible I use environmentally friendly detergents and cleaners I never use aerosols and have recently found out about the cleaning merits of bicarbonate of soda.

GROW: 

I've got herbs growing on my kitchen windowsill and my new bay tree is looking healthy in the garden. We have some unexpected blossom on the apple tree that was only recently planted and I have got some strawberry plants which I am going to plant in a hanging basket.

CREATE: 

I have had two knitting commissions this month and have also been part of a pincushion swap --- I have just put mine in the post so really looking forward to receiving my swap.

DISCOVER: 

I have been very lucky this month and had the opportunity to discover how beautiful Croatia is ............ I enjoyed my holiday so much. I didn't do very much research before my trip but since getting home I have started to read about the history of the country - its fascinating.

ENHANCE: 

I am enjoying writing my blog but feel I have lots to learn so I have just signed up for an e-course which is run by Holly Becker who writes the amazing Decor 8 blog. I hope you will see some improvement over the next few months.

ENJOY: 

I feel I have enjoyed and embraced my life fully this month - I have witnessed the marriage of my daughter - seeing Laura so grown up and beautiful on her wedding day was a very special moment. Two of my grandsons have celebrated birthdays and seeing them grow up into such amazing little boys gives me great joy. I have shared a holiday with two wonderful women friends who I have known for many years and
we had such a fun time together.

What a wonderful month I have had - I feel very lucky ............ 
talk soon Sue x





















12 comments:

  1. We need to do more batch cooking... we usually do enough to make two meals at once, but things don't usually go into the freezer. Definitely something I will think about. Thanks. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kathryn I find that soups are great to batch cook and they freeze really well, I also freeze a sort of veggie bolognaise mix that you can take out and make into all sorts of things - like lasagne or just heat up and pour over a big bowl of cooked pasta.

      Delete
  2. Hi Sue, it sounds like you've had a beautiful month with your daughter's wedding, grandsons' birthdays and the trip to Croatia! Wonderful to have you joining in, Christine. :o)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Christine, I have had a wonderful month I am very lucky - thank you for your comment and inspiration :)

      Delete
  3. Hi Sue, sounds like you've had a great time! I'm so glad you've discovered the benefits of bi-carb because I couldn't live without it! Your daughter's wedding sounds like it will be fantastic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Linda
      many thanks for taking time to read my blog and leaving me a comment
      Sue :)

      Delete
  4. HI Sue, you have certainly achieved a lot considering you have been on holidays! And what a holiday it would have been with three friends together!!! No wonder you loved Croatia!
    You left a very nice link on my "red" post but I think you linked this Slow living post instead!? It worked but I'd love to see some red pics too!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Evi
    yes we did have a great time and have started to save already - sorry about the red post will try again tomorrow :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I really enjoyed reading about all the ways you've embraced 'slow living' over the past month. You have given me lots of food for thought - I consider myself fairly environmentally conscious, but can see there are other ways I can improve further still from your examples. I did Holly's blogging course and loved it!! I came away with so much information and inspiration and ideas, many of which I am still yet to implement in my blog. I need more hours in a day!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Amanda thank you for your comments its always great to get feedback. It was good to hear that you enjoyed Holly's course I've just got my first home work assignment but I keep getting distracted by clicking on everyone else's blog - its opening up a new world of inspiration. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a wonderful sounding month, lots of celebrating going on in your house. One of my daughters had her first birthday in May also (my other daughter celebrated her third birthday at the end of April so they're very close together). It really is amazing to see children grow day by day and it's only when you stop and think about how much they've changed in a year that you realise how quickly they're growing into their own unique person.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Children do grow so fast, it seems five minutes since my three daughters were as young as your little ones - I now have 6 grand children ranging from 1 to 9 years - I am so lucky.......
    I popped over to your blog - you seem to be doing an incredible job at the good life :)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking the time to leave me a comment.
I read them all and always try to get back to you x