Through Different Eyes

I have 3 days leave and our 5 year old grand-daughter is staying with us for a few days.  She is supposedly recuperating from a tonsillectomy 6 days ago but she is actually just about bouncing out of her skin.

After picking her up this morning, I had a couple of things to do and we were home by lunchtime.

Cooking is one of her favourite activities so we made some buckwheat pancakes to have with our pumpkin soup.  It was a cold, rainy day so perfect weather for soup.

It is always amazing to see how much children learn when simple tasks are explained to them.  I enjoy having the time to teach her all manner of things.

Today I showed her how to sort the light and dark washing.

We washed and dried the dishes.  It was a long process but there was much discussion along the way.  She now knows the names and uses of the various utensils – ranging from a potato peeler to tongs and a soup ladle.

She also realised that lighting a fire and stoking it with wood that has been seasoned, cut and stored will make a room warm and cosy.

She is very excited because I have offered to take her to the local library tomorrow to choose some books.  We will also be doing some more cooking.

Sharing Sustainability

2001 marked the inaugural Sustainable House Day.  This is held in September each year and owners of homes or businesses with sustainability features can choose to open their premises to showcase these features.

This event is free and you can go to various locations in your area to gain information and share ideas.

We first became aware of this event through the Alternative Technology Association and have seen several properties in previous years.

This year we have registered to participate by opening our home as part of Sustainable House Day.

It is still a few months away so there is plenty of time to register if you feel you have a suitable property or get involved by attending an open house in your area.

Here is the website.  There will be more information closer to the time.  It is a great opportunity to find more about sustainable living in your area.

Growing Girls and Large Hems

  It is easy to forget how quickly children grow.  I made this dressing gown for Miss O in August 2011.

By July 2012 I was writing about letting the hem down here.

Now it has been handed down to Izz and the hem taken back up.

A few weeks ago I took Miss O to Spotlight and chose the fabric for a new dressing gown.  It is red with black and white dogs on it.  She gave the princess, fairy and other girly fabric a glance but this is the one that caught her eye.  The fact that we have a Border Collie (black and white) may have influenced her choice.

Once again, I have put a large hem on the gown and it is still quite long so I expect this one will easily last a couple of years.

Something as simple as a hem that can be let down is not an option on a ready-made garment but by making clothes you can customise them to suit your needs and generally extend their usefulness.

Some Reflections

Today, the second Sunday in May is Mothers’ Day.

It can be a day of celebration, perhaps with your mother, your children or both.

It is also a day of reflection.  Time to think of those who cannot be with their mother.  This may be due to death, distance or estrangement.  Special thoughts for those who have outlived a child, suffered miscarriages or stillbirths or made the difficult choice to place their child for adoption.  Finally, but by no means least  are those who have been unable to conceive – much love and hugs.

I was so blessed to spend the afternoon with my mother, daughter and two grand-daughters.  Times like this are to be cherished.

Thoughts for some of the special women in my life for whom this is a bittersweet day (in no particular order) – Pat, Tania, Suzanne, Cath, Patty and Susan.  Thinking of you all.

It really is a day for the sisterhood to reach out and care for all women – whatever their role – mothers, daughters, grandmothers, would-be mothers.

 

The Root of All Evil

The saying goes that money, or more specifically, the love of money is the root of all evil.

Several things have prompted me to consider where we are headed as a society and my conclusion was that greed was the source of many if not most of our ‘problems’.  It was then that I remembered the saying and I guess greed and love of money are essentially the same thing.

It seems that we all want something for nothing – best paying job, cheap food, appliances/gadgets, accommodation.  We want to earn the most and pay the least.  We do not seem to value the effort in producing quality – hand -raised meat, organic food, quality garments and so on.

I started writing this post about a month ago.  Since then we have seen a factory collapse in Bangladesh with significant loss of life.  I was searching for information about that incident and found this article which shows that this event is far from being an isolated incident.

The recriminations and blame game go on between government, building owners and the corporations who outsource the manufacture of their garments.  Do you feel even a tiny pang of guilt about buying products that are made under these conditions?  Some say that if we did not buy the items produced in places like China and Bangladesh that these people would not have jobs.  Perhaps it would be better for them to have an economy based on sustainable practices that will enhance their way of life rather than being exploited in sweatshop conditions for the sake of us being able to buy a t-shirt for $5.

How do you reconcile what you buy with where it is manufactured and what the ‘real cost’ of it is?

Christmas Shopping

Yes, you read the title correctly.

I did some Christmas shopping yesterday.  Belle and I had previously discussed the possibility of taking the girls to see ‘The Lion King’ when it comes to Sydney at the end of the year.

I received an email advising of the pre-sale release of tickets for ‘The Lion King’ so I have bought tickets to the show for Miss O and Izz for Christmas.  Belle and I will take them to Sydney to see the matinee session on New Year’s Day.

By being organised I was able to take advantage of the pre-sale offer and have managed to get excellent seats at reasonable prices.

This is a perfect solution as we will not see the children on Christmas Day this year, nor do they need any more ‘stuff’.  Experiences such as attending live theatre and musicals provide so much joy and the benefits are immeasurable.   Miss O is still talking about when she saw ‘Mary Poppins’ 18 months ago.  How many toys have that sort of longevity?

Why I Live Here

I have mentioned in this blog that we live on a small acreage near Maleny in suth-east Queensland.

While I collect my thoughts to write a relevant blog post I thought you might like to see this blog post from another local resident.  I do not know the writer, although the article did appear in one of our local weekly publications (yes, we have 2) last week.  I do not necessarily agree with everything on her blog or even in the particular post that I have linked but she makes a number of very valid points.  It is the overwhelming sense of community which drew us here and makes us want to stay here long-term.

Now I had better go and reply to all the comments you have left over the past few days.  Thank you.