You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'Simple living' category.
So, I’ve finally joined twitter. I am interested to see how it pans out. It seems that I may have missed the boat so to speak with it, as many of my friends have long neglected accounts. Hopefully we can get them going again so I’ve got someone to talk to! I still think it sucks that I’m always on the other side of the world to them for the most part…. I miss them being around when I’m around.
http://twitter.com/CassandrasLens
Ok, what else is going on? The sickies are still lingering. Neither Tyson nor I succumbed, which I credit to echinacea and tissue salts. I started mega-dosing on them and have totally avoided it. *skip* spent a week in bed, the sickest I can remember seeing him. He and Sam have lingering coughs that are making them miserable, and nothing I do can seem to shift them. Sam is going to see the homeopath again tomorrow, and I’m hopeful that she will be able to help him where I can’t. She’s already done marvels with him. He hasn’t vomited all month, which would have to be some kind of record for him.
What else is going on? Well, right now I have washing on in the machine, because even at 9 at night I have a glorious fire going in the lounge room and I’m determined to get as much washing dry as I can. Adelaide is in the middle of a real wet (and freezing cold) spell and there’s no chance of getting it dry outside! I am *supposed* to be doing some scrapping, but although I have photo and kit, the journalling has run away from me and I’m not going to chase it. It will come back. I hope.
I am working through 5 days straight off of work! I love public holidays! It’s been great as I have been inexplicably tired lately. I’m not sure if it’s the virus, all the coughers or what, but even when I am quiet and warm, I still can’t sleep. And even when I’ve slept the whole night through, I never feel rested. I’m going to have to see the homeopath about that next time I’m due, as it’s very hard to run a house when you’re so tired you can hardly get up. I’m sure some of it is hormonal, and I’ve never been a winter person. We’ll see how we go!
Oh, and I have MORE new kitchen appliances to play with! We got a new toaster (as the old one was playing up a bit, and will go very nicely into the camping trailer), and I also asked *skip*, as it’s the season of soup, if I could have a stick blender. He went and picked out a humdinger of one, with whisk and chopper and everything. I have NO idea where I’m going to store it in my horrible kitchen, but it was a lovely surprise and I can’t wait until we’re all feeling better and using it.
I also made a new batch of laundry goop, and my first batch of yoghurt for a long time. Mainly I make yoghurt so I can make whey out of it… because it makes the BEST buttermilk pancakes in the universe. With everyone so down and out this week, my plan is to cheer them up with some pancakes on the weekend. However, when you drain the whey, you end up with something like cottage or cream cheese, which is called by various names depending what culture you’re in. I first heard of it as quark, and have also heard the term Labna. Whatever you call it, mix it up with a generous amount of sweet chili sauce, and then use it for dip. Yummo!
Ok, I guess that will do for tonight. Well, since you asked so nicely, I think I can manage a layout…
Don’t forget to tweet me!!
In the famous words of Inigo Montoya, “Let me explain…… No, there is too much. Let me sum up.”
So let’s do some summing up. When we left our heroine, she was embarking on a brief holiday with the love of her life, and her 2 precious children 
. What we didn’t know was that she had also QUIT her job (*gasp* from the crowd).
So, in the last 3 weeks, I have finished up with one job, the first one I had in 9 years. I worked there for 2 and nearly a half years, learnt so much about both the photographic industry, and myself. Now considering the things that have happened to us in the last 12 or so months, the changes we have made to our life, and the changes that have been forced upon us, but we have embraced, I am not the same person that they employed, nor was I working in the same workplace. It was more than time for a change.
Another opportunity has presented itself, which is to work, again in the photo industry, in a shop that is “new” but old. It closed down last year, but one of my work-mates has reopened it and I am working with her now. She has been extremely generous, considering she has family to consider as well in the equation. She has given me 3 full days a week, no more little annoying shifts that never let me get anything started or finished at home. No more getting home at 4pm to have lunch, only to turn around and cook dinner 1/2 an hour later. What a relief that will be, to my digestion most of all! She has also offered me a permanent part-time position. This means that I will get PAID holiday and sick leave. AND paid Public Holidays (we have one of those coming up this week!).
Not only that, but it is a more relaxed and comfortable workplace. No swearing, no prima donnas, no State Manager breathing down your neck and expecting you to mislead customers. Just plain and simple good customer service, with a big smile. I used to get sick to my stomach driving to work, have panic attacks and stomach upsets every morning. Now I roll out of bed, don my new uniform, and breeze off to work with a smile on my face. Because, despite all the teething problems we have had getting the store set up, I feel VALUED, I feel COMFORTABLE and most of all, I am happy. And that is the most important part.
Now, because this new job requires me to travel nearly 50km’s each way in totally the opposite direction from the city and the major town I used to work in, I also have a new set of wheels! For the first time in 12 years, we are a 2 car family. Wow. What a huge step. We would never do it by choice, no matter how “convenient” other people made it out to be, but now it’s a necessity. I (we) but it’s referred to as Mum’s car. I bought a 4 (nearly 5) year old Nissan. 4 cylinders, economical, well maintained and in very good condition body wise (only a few nicks and scratches in the paint). We got it at a fantastic price and now I’m a free and independant woman. It feels really cool hooning home from work, bluetooth headset on and chatting to Andrew about our respective days.
However, I am struggling a little bit with the hours. Averaging 21 hours a week isn’t new for me, but doing it in only 3 days is. It’s going to take a bit of organization to get the house running. I wash almost every night now. Wednesday I cooked a double batch of lasagne, enough for 2 meals this week, and 2 more meals worth in the freezer. *skip* is usually home on Friday afternoons, so Friday is simple night (2 min noodles, boiled eggs etc) if he’s not able to cook for the night. He often helps out on weekends with the cooking which is also a huge help. Thursday is definitely “eat from the freezer” night. As well as the lasagne, there’s a meal of Taco mince in there too.
I am also looking into simple ways of taking my lunch, at least once a week I hope. I was going to freeze some cooked chicken into sandwich size portions so I could just toss them into my lunchbox and by noon, they will be thawed. Add some left-over potato salad or fried rice, and you have a meal.
Sadly, my computer is calling out to me, pleading with me to scrap something, anything! I have zoo photos, holiday photos, anniversary photos, but no energy. By 9pm every night, the dishes are just done, the mountain of washing is reduced to one lot on the line, and the rest are folded. The boys are tucked up in bed, and I am just beat. But this will come. Every day at work is just learn learn learn – new computer system, new kiosks, new printer. New customers, in a new town with just lots of new everywhere. Each night my head is spinning with processing it all. Once we are over this stage, and new becomes routine, I think I will have more energy.
Meanwhile, the school holidays have marched on. The boys are back at school on TUESDAY (eeek where did that come from!). I took Sam shopping on Wednesday and we got a whole lot of new uniform stuff for him. He was wearing a lot of Tyson’s old t-shirts, had been for over a year and they were just getting to faded, with worn spots turning in to holes in them. So 3 new shirts, 2 long pants, 2 pairs of shorts and he’s set for the time being. He is facing a new teacher and a new classroom this year, whereas Tyson is straight back in with the same teacher from last year so we are confident and ready to handle it. Well, everything except the fact that he is in Grade 6 and is now a Senior.!.!.! Where the heck did that come from?
Ok, so maybe I didn’t do too good a job of the whole summing up thing……. Seriously. But there was a lot of ground to cover for the last few weeks!
Thanks for stopping in, I hope to have something more decorative for you to look at real soon!
Just to keep all my thoughts straight. I have had to spend a lot less time on the computer lately due to my massive holiday photos mozy back-up. Sheesh… it’s taken a week. And then when I finally get it finished, I’ll be able to install some vital Mac updates and reboot my poor hard done by Mini. After which, I will start the diagnostic process to work out why it won’t BURN cd’s at the moment, which is a right royal pain in the butt.
Tomorrow is the first day of the school holidays. I am not working (at work) but I am at home. This is what I plan to get done, I’ll check back in tomorrow night and see how I went
More weeding. The family and I got stuck into it today, but it’s just never ending….
Compost making and turning. The by-product of 2 weeks of solid weeding is a pile of weeds that can probably be seen from space. The great wall of weeds in fact. I spent this evening shredding newspaper (oh, what fun for a Sunday night) to add to the mix. Sammy is going to help me with the watering of the compost piles. How about I take some before/after pictures so you’ll see what I mean about the weed mountain!
Planting something. I have half a dozen pumpkin seeds from the worm farm that have decided that they only way to avoid getting eaten is to grow. So be it. I will plant them in the area I weeded today, lovely rich soil. If they grow, they grow. I might put little cut out juice bottles over the top of them to start off with though, more to protect them from the dog, who has fluff for brains and will probably sit on them otherwise.
Pulling out my sewing machine. Sam massacred a pair of school pants this week, and the only way to save them is going to be turning them into shorts! Yes, it was that bad. While the sewing machine is out, I will be contemplating sewing myself a cute bag or some more napkins for the family. I might even walk the 5 minutes down the hill to the local Op-shop on a fabric hunt. I have been finding some awesome sewing inspiration, and patterns and ideas all over the internet lately. I can’t remember the last time I actually WANTED to sew something.
Go for a walk with the kids. To the post office, op-shop. Collect some leaves on the way back for the stick insects we are caring for over the holidays.
Bake! Banana muffins with the mushy banana I have sitting on the kitchen table. I hate eating bananas that aren’t almost green, so suddenly they go mushy on me.
Get creative with lunch. I have leftover Chapati’s (homemade – more on that one day!), stir fry, and pancakes to eat up. I’m sure the kids will be volunteering to assist me!
Visit the Aquarium shop. Our little pond is looking very sick and full of mosquito wrigglers. Before the frogs lay/tadpoles hatch this year, it needs a clean up. Maybe a couple of plants and definitely a few fishies that will eat the wrigglers but not the tadpoles. With the rotten fly-screens on this house and Sam’s sensitivities, we have to get rid of the mosquitos, pronto.
While I’m in “town” visiting the Aquarium shop, I’ll have to stop in at the normal shop and buy milk etc.
If all else fails, I’ll scrap something too.
Ok, so ready. Set. GO!
That you weren’t alone in the house
And then you looked up
and saw an aphid walking across the top of your glasses?
No, I thought not. I’m just super lucky I guess. Just call me Tarzan or Dr Dolittle or something 
2 hours and 3 builders wheelbarrows of weeds later, and the garden still looks abandoned. Time to draft *skip* who has more energy and bigger hands than me I will actually enjoy sharing the garden with him. Our garden is abundantly alive. We have a huge crop of the biggest earthworms (fat and short, but so VERY fat) that I have ever seen. I have also encountered, apart from numerous bugs, a gorgeous big brown spider, a gecko and multiple skinks. My earth is alive, which makes my little plans to compost it and feed it and grow good things to eat from it all that much more precious.
Why is it, that even with gloves on, every time I spend a decent amount of effort in the garden, I get a splinter in my finger? Actually, I have had to do so much work to start with on this garden, that I’ve worn through my first pair of garden gloves. And I’m actually looking forward to more of the same tomorrow!
I heard on the weekend, that we are always learning. From the minute we are born, we do not stop. I whole-heartedly agree with that idea. We should NEVER stop learning. About our world, and about ourselves. I have been doing more in-ward thinking than out-ward lately. The events, however dramatic, of the last few months, have really been an opportunity for me, and my family to look at ourselves. At how we work, how smoothly we run, and to appreciate it. *skip* has closed ranks around me as it were, and it has been a wonderful chance for me to show how much I really do depend on him. Without his support, things would have gone pear-shaped long before now. I am truly blessed to have him in my life.
I have also been meditating on some of the truths about our environment. Where we live and what we do with what we have. From simplifying our life to live on a reduced income, in a world where prices are starting to spiral upwards dramatically, to making decisions based on their environmental impact. I have been reading so many sites, blogs, articles, forum discussions on Simple Living. On living with a conscience as it were. It all started very quietly on Rhonda-Jean’s blog, previously mentioned. As I have followed her links, then finding links of my own, it has grown.
For a start, try HERE and HERE, and then allow yourself to branch out.
And so this is how we come to today. Today I made a huge step in my simple living, although it may seem absurd to many others. Today, as I was reheating my lunch, I popped an upside down side-plate over the bowl to cover it for the microwave. Although the plastic wrap was sitting on the bench, right in front of me, I didn’t even think to grab it. It’s a small step, but it’s part of the learning process. Learning what we can do without, learning that there are other alternatives that are just as good, and possibly much better. It has started with saving money, and a lawn, by trying to be greener with my washing machine. It is now a minor revolution reaching into the rest of the house.
We have changed how we feed our precious dog. Not only are we doing it cheaper, but she loves her new “home-made” food. All it takes is a little bit of forethought and planning, and we all benefit. I think she’d stage a revolt if we went back to the old ways. *skip* and the kids have gotten on board as well. We buy large packs of chips, of yoghurt etc, and then parcel out servings in re-usable containers. Cheaper to buy, and without the burden of multiple wrappings destined for the bin. My little list of tricks is slowly growing.
There are many things that I may choose not to give up. However, these things are, as I said, a choice. I know what I am doing and why. I will no longer let the media chose for me. They will no longer do my thinking for me. I will chart my own course, and that of my family.
