slow living ........

Another month has flown by -  life is hectic but fun and fulfilling. Hope you have all had a productive month, using Christine's nine heading's I have given you a flavour of what's been happening in my life.

NOURISH:

lots of cooking and experimenting with recipes, not sure it's always nourishing as quite a few sweet bakes this month.

carrot and lentil soup

stir fry vegetables in a tomato sauce

cupcake batch bake

lemon drizzle loaf cake

tomato pasta

Oreo dipped lolly pops ............

PREPARE:
As usual lots of cooking from scratch, batch cooking and a few new recipes.

REDUCE:
Same as last time really, home fuel bills and petrol costs still showing savings.

GREEN:

Continuing to compost waste and limit use of pesticides and chemicals.
 

GROW:

Herb garden thriving, bay and rosemary look lovely, strawberries in pots and hanging baskets are looking good.

hanging basket strawberry plants

bay and rosemary

CREATE:

Even more crochet, and a few more unusual projects ..............

knitted lamp

little wooden people

DISCOVER:
Still discovering that I do have will power, I have now lost 2 stone - I am so thrilled.

ENHANCE:
Time spent with my wonderful grandchildren - they enhance my life enormously

ENJOY:
 A fabulous time in London sharing in Kate's wedding planning, dress fitting and more

I hope you have all had a good month sorry my post is a little late - I  look forward to catching up with all the "slow living posts" over at  Christine's - I am sure yet again you will have all put me to shame.

talk soon x

Slow Living July - must do better

artyvelarde

Another month has gone  - it's hard to believe it's now August. I feel as though I have maintained this month, which sounds a strange thing to say but I feel that I have continued to do a lot of the same, but don't seem to be moving on and improving my management of the home and improving the environment. So sorry if this post sounds more of the same but it's important for me to capture what I am doing even if it's nothing very new. I will try hard to move forward for September although it might be hard as we are away for a few weeks.

NOURISH:

I have continued to look at ways to support my family and provide a nourishing diet.

PREPARE:
As usual lots of cooking from scratch, batch cooking and a few experiments with new recipes. Still spending time in London so I have been preparing food for home and for Kate.

REDUCE:
Good food planning has continued to show a fall in food waste, lots of soup and stir fry using the last of the vegetables. Even though the weather has turned cold I have avoided turning the heating on so hopefully fuel consumption will remain low.

GREEN:

Lots of garden waste has been compost this month,
 

GROW:

I have supported local growers and the herbs in the garden are doing well, also hoping for an apple pie soon from my new baking apple tree.(very small pie)

CREATE:
Lots more crochet  - made my first stripey blanket and looking forward to more projects. Have been loving Sania Pell books so I have lots of new ideas.

DISCOVER:
I have discovered that I have more energy than I thought, as I have had a very busy month with small ones! Also discovered my will power as I have started a very strict diet.

ENHANCE:
Nothing feels nicer than dropping a dress size - keep your fingers crossed.
 

ENJOY:
As well as dieting I am trying very hard to enjoy exercise, which is pushing it a bit - although I enjoyed a swim with Barbara on Monday.

I hope you have all had a good month - I  look forward to catching up with all the "slow living posts" over at  Christines - I am sure you will have all put me to shame.

talk soon

Sue x

slow living - June

It's time for my slow living post for June - where has the month gone! It has been another untypical month but maybe that's true of my life in general at the moment.
Since taking early retirement I am much more able to help my daughters with childcare and have played a much greater part in the lives of my grandchildren.
I looked after Laura's precious little boys when she was away on honeymoon, Vicky has been taking exams at college so I've been helping out with her three lovelies and Kate has returned to work following her maternity leave which has brought me to stay in London. Looking after adorable little Jake who I don't see as often as my other grandchildren.
I am still in London, Jake is having his morning nap and I am looking at the slow living headings and wondering if I have achieved very much this month - well I must make a start.

NOURISH:
I have been working closely with Kate and we are both trying hard to encourage Jake to try different foods. He is growing and thriving beautifully but he is very hesitant to try new tastes. We have been looking at ways to increase the amount of protein in his diet. He loves wholemeal toast so I tried dipping it in egg and milk and then frying it, hoping he would still think it was toast - but he sussed me out quickly and that was another failure. But we keep on trying, and he is munching more raw vegetables.


PREPARE:
I have continued to do quite a lot of cooking, especially batch cooking for the fridge and freezer. Before I head to London I spend a day cooking meals to leave behind for my other half. He is very capable of fending for himself but probably would not spend a great amount of time preparing his food.(it makes me feel better to know he is eating well - thats my nurturing side taking over)


REDUCE:
Since traveling up and down the country to look after Jake I have found that I have really reduced food waste. I am much more focussed when buying food, ensuring that I only buy what is really needed. I am planning meals much more and using the cooker more cost effectively.


GREEN:
Although my train travel has increased I have reduced the use of my car and I am doing much more walking. Jake and I go out for a walk everyday and I buy food locally supporting local businesses.


GROW:
I haven't grown anything myself but I have supported local growers and we visit the farmers market on a Sunday Morning. We have tasted some amazing bread.


CREATE:
My passion for crochet has continued but this month I have had a reintroduction to patchwork which has been great fun. In addition I have been busy knitting jam jar covers which are to be used as table decorations at Kate's forthcoming wedding.


DISCOVER:
I have had the opportunity to re discover the joy and exhaustion that comes with looking after a one year old, who can crawl faster than I can walk, finds everything that I inadvertently put down for a minute, doesn't like trying new food but loves eating paper and cotton wool, and emptying book cases - the wonderful list goes on..


ENHANCE:
I am enjoying the e-course which I started this month, written by Holly Becker, but I've not had much time to put things into practice yet.


ENJOY:
I am continuing to enjoy my busy family life and I am lucky to still have some special "me" time when I can catch up with friends. This month I have had a lovely patchwork crafting day with Pam, and a holiday catch up with Barbara.


talk soon x

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

slow Living ....................

I follow a lot of blogs and they are mainly written by women who have similar interests - knitting crafting baking - some are very inspirational and some fill me with envy.

I wish I had a stress free zone

I have recently been following littlewoolie and according to Jules profile she is a mother of 3 boys, a wife, a sister, a daughter, a gardener, a cook, and lots of other things .............. her interests are gardening, local food, sustainability, family, eating, cooking, camping, bike riding, knitting, crochet, sewing ......an exhausting list.

What sparked my interest was Jules reference to Slow Living in her last post she talks about joining in with Christine's Slow Living project diary project where you report on a variety of topics each month.

I clicked on the link and have found it a fascinating read - Christine has come up with nine headings and using her blog like a journal she writes each month about what she has achieved under each heading - click Christine's site for lots more information

The slow living concept was new to me so I looked it up and according toWikipedia

Slow Living - is the choice to live consciously with the goal of enhancing personal, community and environmental well being. Slow Living recognises the role that time plays in shaping the quality of our lives. By slowing down we make time to savor our experiences and to connect more fully with others. The process of slowing down involves simplifying our lives and minimising distractions so that we have more time and more energy to focus on what is meaningful and fulfilling. By consciously choosing to do less, we contribute to reducing some of the negative social and environmental impacts of our actions.

  slow living

The headings that Christine and Jules use are:-

NOURISH: PREPARE: REDUCE: GREEN: GROW:CREATE: DISCOVER:ENHANCE: ENJOY:

I have looked back at April to see what I could include under each heading - my list is very different to the lists of the two Australian women I have referred to - but it has been a very good exercise for me to do and made me think about other ways I could improve the quality of my life and environmental well being.

Nourish - I nearly always cook from scratch and try to reduce waste.

Prepare - I sometimes cook for the freezer and prepare meals in advance

Reduce - I cut down on household waste, I try to conserve water, and turn lights off when I leave rooms - batch cook to reduce electricity costs by filling the oven. Pass clothes on to others, recycle as much as possible.

Green - think I overlapped a bit with reduce - we use the three different coloured bins provided by the council and recycle paper, cardboard glass etc.. Composts all garden waste and reuse in the garden.

Grow - my partner has recently planted some fruit trees, apple and pear in the garden also some raspberry canes - but they look quite sad at the moment.

Create - have knitted lots of things, tried to master crochet and also for the first time tried my hand at felting.

Discover - I have read more - discovered Molly Makes Magazine, reading many more blogs for inspiration and ideas, also learnt quite a lot about setting up my blog page with perseverance have managed to add quite a few gadgets.

Enhance - this one is hard. I hope I enhance peoples life's as I always try to help where I can, I look after my grandchildren, try to be supportive to my parents and daughters - but I feel this is an area I should explore more - ?community activities

Enjoy - I am enjoying helping my daughter with the wedding planning, I am enjoying my blog, I have enjoyed going away for the weekend, and enjoyed celebrating my daughters birthday.

I hope you take time to click onto Christine and Jules blogs as they have really inspired me to think about what I achieve, accomplish each month I don't keep a diary but this seems a really good way to record what we do as sometimes we think we don't achieve anything.

My list this month is very brief as I didn't spend very much time thinking back - but from now on I am going to keep the headings to hand and give each one some thought on a regular basis




Will come back to this topic again - talk soon x











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