Daily Abundance

Happiness

2008-07-12T19:06:00.003+10:00

Well, after my last couple of posts about the changes in my life I figured it was time for a more upbeat post! I was just catching up on Rhonda's blog and she has written about happiness and I thought to myself that while I am still adjusting to the changes I am making in my life currently and feel let down, I am happy. For many years there, I was not. I was 'searching' for happiness but little did I know that I was not going to find it by accumulating more things or getting a better job or by finding more friends. It was actually very accessible and it was within me rather than outside of me. Might not make sense to you but that statement rings true for me! And to be very honest, the more I simplify, the more joy I feel. These days I love to be at home - cooking meals, homekeeping, being with E, crafting and pottering. I love the simple pleasures of talking with friends. I love nature and getting my camera out to take a photo of a beautiful flower or tree. I love spending time with Mum, Dad, Anthony & Leanne. I especially love any time spent with Kate. And, I love my work. I love a lazy Sunday too!

These days, I don't spend much money on "things". Yes, I am on a very tight budget currently but you know what? I don't feel the urge to spend anyway. And that in itself makes me happy. It brings a smile to my face to know that when I do find something that I just have to have, I will have the money there because I have not spent it on rubbish things.

On a side note, I received my electricity bill and it is $84.50 less than my previous bill!!! My daily kWh usage is down to 22.0kWh - only a little down on the last one but nevertheless it is on the way down! Baby steps...

I Wish The Real World Would Just Stop Hassling Me...

2008-07-02T22:30:00.003+10:00

I was driving around on Monday and the Matchbox 20 song "Real World" came on and I really connected with this line - if only I could shut the real world out for a bit so that I can get my head together and work out where to go from here...

Kate told me today that she worries for me and about how stressed I must be. The weird thing is that I don't feel too stressed. I just feel sad. But on a positive note I also feel optimistic! In a way I feel like there are all these opportunities for me to choose from. But, my personality being what it is, I will procrastinate for awhile no doubt. My financial situation will however make me move faster - at least in the short term. I need to get a job. We are in the process of selling our business and are currently only taking home a small wage so I need to supplement that until we sell. Kate has told me just to focus on me and E and if that means a full time job so be it, she will work the business. However I feel an obligation and committment to her so I am searching for a way to work three days a week in a job and three days in the business, just until we sell. And at this point I don't care what job I do. Once we sell, then I can think about the future.

The best thing is that over the last few months I have stopped my spending and reduced my expenses while also stockpiling some food (not much but some!). I think that may be why I don't feel so stressed. I know that we have food and also that I can provide food for us that won't cost so much because I can cook from scratch. I also have a small buffer in the bank.

Mum and Dad have offered for us to go and live with them if need be. I am resisting this because I feel like I finally have to stand on my own two feet. The last time I lived by myself with just E she was one and I had just gone through two armed robberies at work. I just about had a nervous breakdown and struggled at night on my own. My fear of someone breaking in was so great that most nights I just did not sleep. That was how John came to eventually start staying over again. I thank him for being there for me whenever I needed him. But time has passed and I am now able to sleep alone in the house by myself. I still get nervous but I have to do this if I am ever going to have my life back. I have come to realise in the last week that for me to move on I need to be on my own again. It has taken me about seven years to work this out!

Life Changes

2008-06-29T09:13:00.003+10:00

Mmmmm... what a week. I am exhausted mentally, physically and emotionally from it. I found out some things about John (E's dad) this week that I don't like and have asked him to move out. Not sure if I have written much here about our living situation but to cut a long story short, we separated many many years ago but he has been living with us for some time. We get on well enough to live together to raise our daughter and share the load. Not many people get our situation but it has worked for us. I don't tolerate some things though and can not live with him any longer - not even for E's sake (she doesn't need this crap either). As you can imagine, she is devastated and I am worried about her more than me. But the main thing I need to worry about for the short term is earning some money to pay the rent of $370 a week and also to provide our other basic necessities. Although John says he will give us money, I will never again in my life rely on a man to provide for me. It is only in the last year that I have allowed myself to get into this situation of relying on him - never before in the 10+ years I have known him have I done this. I was always very independent and am annoyed at myself that I am not now. Anyway, to say that this week has been emotional is an understatement. Our whole life will change now and while I am trying to look at it as the wonderful opportunity it can be to get my life back, I am also sad that plans and little dreams I had are now no longer achievable. My heart breaks for E too.

2008-06-21T21:55:00.004+10:00

I had a day off today (although I did go to work for a couple of hours this morning to finish off some work). After coming back from work I spent some time cooking a potato bake and a casserole in the slow cooker. We ate the potato bake for lunch and I am freezing the casserole for meals next week. Tomorrow I will probably cook some more meals to freeze. And I may also do some baking. I have to go to work tomorrow for a little while to stocktake :(

We are nice and busy at work - I am quite tired from it all. I have 1 more week until a week off and I really am looking forward to it. E will also be on holidays and I plan on us doing lots of cooking, craft, reading and snuggling in bed :)))

I have been making lots of cards at work for classes. Usually I only do scrapbook classes so I have been enjoying making cards. Here are 2 cards that I taught last week. They are made from white card that I have cuttlebugged, inked and stamped. Not very good photos though...

I went out for dinner with Kate tonight and enjoyed salt & pepper calamari & Reef and Beef - yummo! We ordered dessert but it never came and after waiting about 40 minutes we asked for our money back and went home... It is really cold tonight so I think it is now time to go to bed - my fingers don't want to type anymore lol!

Perspective

2008-06-19T19:41:00.001+10:00

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, 'How was the trip?' 'It was great, Dad.' 'Did you see how poor people live?' the father asked. 'Oh yeah,' said the son. 'So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?' asked the father. The son answered: 'I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.' The boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, 'Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.' Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.

Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your family and friends!

'Life is too short so appreciate each day!'

2008-06-19T07:31:00.002+10:00

Life has been really hectic over the last month or so. Business has been slow this year due to the rise in the cost of living for everyone. It is not just our industry (retail craft) but everywhere. Every business owner you talk to says the same thing and I have noticed some have started closing down. This is a very sad part of small business ownership. We went into business 4 years ago this month knowing that it would not be an easy journey but I have to say that it is far harder than either of us imagined! In case you are wondering who the 'we' is, it is myself and my best friend Kate. We had both been in retail management for many years and both managed successful stores. So we figured that we knew it all! We look back and shake our heads at our own arrogance. Probably the toughest part but also the most rewarding aspect has been the growth in our friendship. It is hard work working with your best friend some days, especially when you think in completely different ways. We had been best friends for 12 years when we went into partnership but over the last four years I have gotten to know her pretty much completely - really it is like a marriage! Running the business together has taught me the value of our friendship, the strength of it and that Kate will always be there for me and love me even on my bad days! It has also taught me about discipline & perserverance. I read once that small business ownership is a true test of character. When you run a small business and things don't go to plan you start to question yourself & your abilities. You don't always do this when you work for someone else.

Now, back to why we are so busy! We sat down about a month or so ago and started to plan ways to bring more customers into the shop. We mapped out a full month of events and also started planning the next two months as well. We are also focusing advertising dollars on the customers we already have. All of this is working and so we are really busy with it all. The interesting thing is that even though I am a little physically tired, I am not mentally tired. But, being so busy at work has led me to lean back into old habits of relying on convenience food (bad me!). I ran out of frozen meals which were keeping us going. It shows me how much I need to keep that up. So, I have most of this weekend off and I will be cooking and freezing and back to planning meals which I have not done over the last week.

Breastfeeding & Society

2008-06-16T20:25:00.002+10:00

A friend asked me today how long I thought it was appropriate for women to breastfeed for. I told her that I figure that is a decision best left up to the mother who is breastfeeding. Apparently there was a segment on a morning show about it - the mother plans to do it until the baby teeth fall out I think. The general consensus was that this was way too long and disgusting. My friend commented that she thinks it is a form of abuse... I am not too sure why she thinks that as she did not offer an explanation. Now, everyone is entitled to their own opinion but the whole conversation leads me to ponder more about society in general and how we form opinions and judgements on our fellow human beings. I am really starting to open my eyes to how we are led by advertising, government, society etc in our thinking. On the breastfeeding issue I wonder how long mothers breastfed for hundreds of years ago. What really is the natural progression of that? I said to my friend that yes, most of society views mothers breastfeeding older children as not the norm but that does not mean it is not right. I personally believe that it must be a great bonding experience and also that the child must be receiving lots of great nutrients from the breast milk. Let me just say though that this is not something I have sat and pondered greatly! That is my initial thoughts. Also, my friend does not have children so I wonder too if she did would that change her opinion? I personally had no success with breastfeeding though God knows I tried! And, when I finally gave in at 2am one morning the nurse on duty was a breastfeeding advocate and thought it her duty and right to sit me down with a manual and a lecture about why I should not bottlefeed. She insisted I pump my breastmilk and then SHE bottlefed it to my daughter while I watched. I was all of 23 and suffering from a small amount of baby blues as well as HUGE amounts of guilt for even considering bottle feeding. The next morning I again tried breastfeeding at which point my mother and partner complained about the night nurse. I did continue to try breastfeeding but after 7 days of my daughter losing weight & us not allowed to leave hospital the decision was made to give up. The guilt remained for months though I can tell you. Another great example of society enforcing their views and judgements on us!

The Life I Want

2008-06-09T20:27:00.007+10:00

Very sadly, the long weekend is finished. Although I enjoy my work I really enjoy and look forward to my time off. Thank goodness I am no longer a workaholic. Back in my early twenties I lived around the corner from work where I was the store manager. I shared a house with my assistant manager and both of us were addicted to work and pleasing the boss. It was not unusual for us to be awake at 1am talking about work. I remember one time that we did this and we came up with a brilliant idea so off we went to work and did it - at 1am for goodness sake! My boss loved us of course but I can tell you that in the end we were burnt out and resentful.

I have been thinking about where I want my life to go. I mentioned to a friend yesterday that my faith is wavering but I do not make the time to work on this. I also do not make enough time to improve my health. In fact there are may areas of my life that are not in balance. I wouldn't think that I am alone in this. I am not too good at doing a lot of things well. I find that either I am doing well at work but home is suffering or vice versa. I don't envy those career women high up in the corporate world. Family isn't valued too highly in many big businesses - it is all about the bottom line. How do these women combine motherhood with career? Not too well from what I have seen. Something has to give and for many of these women that I know, it is themselves. They are run raggard and many of them are giving their children absolutely everything except enough time and discipline. In my own personal experience I spend my mornings rushing and nagging and sometimes yelling at my daughter to hurry up. I do not look forward to mornings! Afternoons are spent either at work or rushing through homework and chores. I am over it. And what I have come to realise is that I need to create the life I want rather than just accepting the norm as society expects. Society tells us that we need to work to make more money to have the big house, cars, clothes, tv's etc etc. I am happy to forego many of those things and in their place I would rather have calm mornings, sleep ins with my daughter, breakfast together, fun and games, more visits to the park in the afternoons, cooking together during the day, crafting together happily etc etc. I am making plans to create this life. I will share more with you as it progresses.

Yesterday I spent the day cooking. I think I did this to avoid the sewing! We started the day off with pancakes. E helped me with this and we had a great time - and made a great mess! In this photo you can see my really old frypan. It was my best friends mum's frypan. I used to live with Kate and her mum (Mrs Kelly) and when we all went our separate ways Mrs Kelly left me the frypan because I did not have one. I did buy one but I prefer to cook with this one! And now it has more meaning to me. As you can see, my pancakes are a little sad looking but they tasted great!

For lunch I was going to cook pumpkin soup but the tribe wasn't too keen on this idea so in the end I just roasted some vegies. Now, E doesn't like pumpkin and assumed this was sweet potato which she loves. So we went along with this to see if she would eat it. She did and told me how yummy the sweet potato was lol! I had to tell her the truth... She kept eating it anyway.

I also made a banana cake and choc chip cookies yesterday and then silverside for dinner. I was very tired last night! Today I did not cook a thing. I scrapbooked most of the day.

A thank you card.

A layout - the photo is shocking sorry.

A close up of the layout. This is for a class at the shop during the week.

A Day of Simple Living

2008-06-07T19:19:00.007+10:00

I had a lovely day today - slept in a little, visited Kate at work and collected some papers etc to design a class for next week, did a little bit of shopping and then came home to relax and get started on my sewing project. It was rainy today so that was nice too.

I made washing powder for the first time today. Not that there is anything to make as such. I just followed Rhonda's recipe and mixed together Lux flakes and soda crystals.

Following her recipe you mix together 4 cups of the soap flakes with 2 cups of the soda crystals. You can also add in 2 cups of borax but because we use the washing water on the garden she suggests not to include the borax. I have stored the laundry powder in a plastic container. I did 3 loads of washing with it today and am happy to report that it worked perfectly!

Here is a link to more of Rhonda's recipes for laundry detergent.

After lunch I finally made a start on sewing a dress for E. Because I have borrowed a pattern I first had to make a copy. Mum told me to use greaseproof paper for this. I suffer from a bad back and unfortunately it played up during this. I also have to admit that I got very bored while tracing and cutting - especially while in pain. So, I procrastinated and called Mum to distract myself! She gave me a recipe for fried rice for dinner so it was not wasted time really! So, I did not get too far along with the sewing but am now ready to start cutting the material - yes, this project could take me a long time... This is a picture of the dress I am making.

And this is a photo of my fried rice - very yummy! I had an idea last week to make fried rice and freeze for E's school lunches. She was receptive to the idea so I asked her what vegies she would like in it (she doesn't particularly like meat which does not really worry me). She asked for corn, zucchini, mushroom and carrot! So, I used corn from the cupboard which I have had for ages (I used to buy a tin just about every shopping trip because I really had no idea what was in my cupboard and I really like corn!), chopped up mushrooms and grated zucchini. I added chopped onion and skipped the carrot. I used brown rice because that was what we had in the cupboard. I knew that E would ask why it wasn't white so I told her it was due to the colour of the soy sauce - kind of believable don't you think?!! She bought it and liked the dinner. Now I will freeze the rest for her lunches.

I was very excited when I logged onto Rhonda's blog this morning. She is hosting a swap! I have never participated in any kind of swap but have wanted to do something like this for ages. So, after reading some of the tutorials for how to make the items in the swap I convinced myself that I could make them and I joined in! It is for a pin cushion and a needlebook. I figure that if I get stuck there are a few ladies at work who will be able to help me as well as Mum. I have to say that all I wanted to do today was get started but I decided to stick with making the dress as planned. Tonight though I have surfed the net looking at lots of different blogs and came across these that I just loved:

The Solitary Thread

One Crafty Mumma

And, Nolene (one of our Design Team members from work) has loaded some gorgeous mini books onto our blog.

Changes In Me

2008-06-06T21:08:00.002+10:00

It has been about two months I think, since I first typed the words "simple living" into google and came across Rhonda's blog and many other sources of frugal, green & simple living. I have changed so much in those two months. Tonight, after vacuuming, mopping, doing a load of washing, cooking potato bake & cleaning up the kitchen, I printed out my bank statement for May & June so far and started to work out just where I am spending my money. Of course, this does not take into account cash I have spent but it is a start. And, for me to do all those things on a Friday night after working most of the day - that is a huge change! At about 5.30pm I saw an ad on TV as I walked past it for Hungry Jacks and for a split second I thought "easy". But you know what? As soon as it flashed into my head to buy dinner it flashed straight out. I wanted home cooking tonight and I did not want to spend the money. It surely adds up... After working out what I have been spending I looked at how much I have left of my monthly food budget and started planning what we will eat for the rest of June. I "stocktaked" the freezer and compared it to my list of what is in my cupboard. I then flicked through the recipe books - I think the family is getting sick of the same old things! Found some yummy ideas and because I was looking through Weight Watchers recipe books they are all healthy too. Tomorrow morning I will finish my plan and I may drive over to Aldi and do my first shop there. I am actually looking forward to seeing what it is like and saving money. Two months ago I dreaded grocery shopping!

Anzac Biscuits YUMMO!

2008-06-05T20:07:00.004+10:00

I am sitting here eating freshly baked anzac biscuits as I write this. I have tasted some bad anzac biscuits in my time and I was quite prepared for ours to taste bad but they have totally exceeded my expectations! E and I cooked them just before dinner tonight - it was quality time together after the hustle and bustle of the day and afternoon. I have included a photo of them below. The first photo here is of the potato bake that I cooked on Monday. I had the day off and it rained all day so I cooked. I made bacon and lentil soup, beef and lentil casserole and the potato bake. I froze most of it which made up about 5 nights worth of dinners. Unfortunately, I don't like the casserole... I did not have all the ingredients to follow a recipe I had so I made it up as I went (not a great idea!). The last time I made up a recipe it was too bland so this time I put in heaps of herbs etc and it was just way too much. Oh well, I am expecting lots of failed experiments on this journey and I know not to do it again!

On Monday before I cooked I went and did some grocery shopping (you would think I would have bought the ingredients I needed wouldn't you...!). I purchased meat from the local butcher for the first time and I was impressed with the service and the meat. I will continue to use the butcher. I also purchased lots of fruit and veg from the local fruit shop which I have been using for some time now. Very happy with them. I was going to go to Aldi but the closest one is about 20 mins away and I did not want to drive that distance in the rain. Next time I need to stock up I will go there. I am trying to use up ingredients I have in the house at the moment rather than making lots of trips to the shops. That way I will save money. For the first time I grabbed the Coles brochure for the week with their sale items listed and sat down and went through it. Apart from toilet paper on special there was nothing else that we really use. As I am new to stockpiling I purchased only two lots of the toilet paper - yes, should have bought more but I am still getting my head around this stocking up!

Back to the casserole... I am trying to incorporate more lentils into our cooking. I used half of what I would normally for the beef and substituted with lentils for the rest. If you have any great recipes using meat and lentils I would absolutely love for you to share them with me!

Life's Not About What's Better Than...

2008-06-01T17:41:00.005+10:00

I love this song from the John Butler Trio (in fact I love most of their music!).

Here are the lyrics:

All you want is

What you can't have and if ya'

Just look around man

You'll see you got magic

So just, sit back and relax

Enjoy it while you still have it

Don't, look back on life man

And only see tragic because

chorus:

You can be better than that

Don't let it get the better of you

What could be better than that

Life's not about what's better than

You can be better than that

Don't let it get the better of you

What could be better than that

Life's not about what's better

All the time while ya' lookin' away

There are, things you can do man

There's things you can say

Unto the, the ones your with

With whom you're spending the day

Get your, gaze off tomorrow

And come on and maybe, because

chorus

Oh, I know, sometimes

Things can be hard

But you should know, by now

They come and they go so why

Oh why do I

Look to the other side, 'cause I know

The grass is greener

But, just as hard to mow

Life's not about what's better than

All you want is

What you can't have

And if ya' just look around man

You'll see you got magic

So just, sit back and relax

Enjoy it while you still have it

Don't, look back on life man

And only see tragic because

chorus

I spent the day with Kate & E today. Just sitting around chatting and had lunch together. We talked about the cost of petrol and how they are predicting the cost of food will double over the next year. I hadn't heard that figure but she said they mentioned it on TV today. As I have been reading so many blogs etc about this topic I was not surprised. I told her about my readings and that we all really need to learn to be more self sufficient - grow our own food where we can, wean ourselves off oil etc etc. We talked a lot about this and then moved on to the topic of spending what we earn ie society in general not just us (we don't earn much so not much to spend lol!). I told her that I believe it would be an interesting experiment to live without the media's influence in our life for a couple of months and see what happens. I heard someone say that in today's society it is hard to develop a sense of self. I have to say that I agree with this. With the media telling us what we want, what we need, who we should be or aspire to be, what we should earn etc etc it can be a little hard to drown it all out and think for ourselves. Especially because our friends and family are also being lead by the media so if we try to go against the norm, they are there to tell us what they think! Now I am not saying that this totally applies to everyone but I think to some extent it does for us all. So, to close ourselves off from advertising in all forms I wonder if that would give us some quiet time and space to think, read, play, BREATHE, and become ourselves a little bit more... Do you know what I mean? Just something to think about on a cold, wet day!

Gotta Have Friends

2008-05-31T23:07:00.002+10:00

I have just come home from a night out with the girls. We went and saw the new Bette Midler movie (I think it is called Then She Found Me) and then went for dinner afterwards. These are friends I have made through our scrapbooking shop. Wonderful women who come from diverse backgrounds but who share a love of craft and now who share this easy and comforting friendship. These women come to my classes every Wednesday night and also often to my Saturday classes. They first came to learn how to scrapbook but mostly they now come for the friendship we all have. It is one of my favourite parts of my job. Many of these ladies are professional women who work extremely hard and have craft as their stress relief. I now call our Wed classes "therapy sessions"! I also get therapy from them and that is fabulous. So, tonight some of them brought their mums and sisters and we all had a great big chat over dinner. Just what the doctor ordered (I have been battling a cold this week). It reminds me how lucky I am to have these ladies in my life. I often wonder how women cope in life if they don't have at least one close friend. I am so lucky to have Kate as my best friend. We can talk about anything to each other. And my friendships with my scrapping friends are becoming closer all the time. Tonight we talked about planning a retreat away soon. Up in the mountains in a little bed and breakfast with fireplaces, massages and great company - heaven! But before that we will be going to see Mamma Mia when it comes out - looks fabulous!

Petrol YIKES!

2008-05-28T21:40:00.004+10:00

I just filled my car tonight and I managed to save myself 13c a litre! I use Premium Unleaded but the BP was out of that so I had to put in the Ultimate and it was 1.55 a litre (the normal petrol was $1.42). They were raising the price in half an hour to $1.55 for normal and $1.68 for Ultimate. The other servos in the area were already higher. $70 later and I walked out of there... Recently I priced bus fairs but never went any further - now I think I will. We will also consider walking to school and work. I am fortunate that I work a block away from where E's school is and we actually live on the same road too. However, it is a very long road and it is a good 40 - 50 minute walk. So it really depends on whether I want a longer sleep in or not as to whether we have time to walk! And in the colder weather I have to tell you that sleep wins! But a compromise could work - bus in the morning and walk in the arvo especially while it is not so hot. Better for the environment and better for my waistline too!!

I am considering having a garage sale. Have never had one before but we have stacks of "stuff" and I was going to just donate it because essentially I am a lazy person ;) but I realise I could make a few dollars that could go towards my vegie garden. I will also be starting with Ebay. Well, actually I have used Ebay a lot for work but never for personal things. It will be interesting to see if any of my things sell on there! For a while now I have considered selling my handmade goods on ebay but have been slightly put off because there is so much on there. You know what though - if you don't try you will never know! I design handmade wedding invitations for work (fairly basic ones because customers need to see that they can easily replicate them at home). My plan is that I could design more intricate ones for sale on ebay. Maybe this weekend I should sit down and do that and load them on to ebay and just see what happens!

Simple Living

2008-05-27T19:57:00.003+10:00

I enjoyed Rhonda's post today about simple living. She asked readers to share what they are doing in their lives. I left my list of what we have started to do in the last few weeks and I was surprised at how far we have come. Still nowhere near the other readers who commented but it is a start. Never in a million years did I think this is who I would become. I am happy about the change though! For me, the hardest part is making conscious choices because I seem to live more on automatic pilot. I need to slow down and really think about how I live. I know that my life will be better for it. During the last school holidays I had a week off with E and it was one of the best weeks of my life. We slowed right down and really enjoyed our time together. We cooked, read, crafted and pottered around the house. I rediscovered just how wonderful my girl is! I will be having a week off with her again during the next school holidays. And I am still researching homeschooling. I have pretty much decided to do it once we sort the business out and I am really looking forward to it - the next chapter of our lives!

2008-05-26T19:49:00.001+10:00

I worked today - normally I have Monday's off but Kate is on holidays so it was up to me! I had a good one, lots of nice customers in today and I made this layout for a mini class we are having later in the week. Mmmm just tried to upload it below this text and it went above it???

So, apart from work nothing else of real interest happened today, bit boring I know! Some news of mine to report about recycling - after really paying attention to this last week I am proud to say that we recycled heaps. Again, I need to admit that I am embarrassed that we have not been faithful recyclers but at least we have seen the errors of our way. I also checked out our electricity usage last night and discovered that we used an average of 25.9kWh per day on our last bill. From what I have read this is a little higher than the average (I am putting this down to us really giving the air conditioner a workout over Summer). I am setting myself a goal to get this down, although we are nearly finished this quarter so it probably won't be noticed on the next bill. According to the bill this averages out to $3.97 a day. One good thing is that I have signed up for Green Earth so 20% of our electricity is green. I am going to look into whether I can get more green energy supplied than 20%. Am sure this is possible. I also read somewhere on the Aussies Living Simply site that a fair amount of usage is from the hot water so I need to cut this down. We are almost within our target of 140l per person of water a day (we went over by 6l). But I know that I can cut this more and that would help with the hot water issue I guess. Thank God for the people who are doing more than their bit - makes up for us who don't...

Here is a link to another blog that I have done a little reading on lately - Consumption Rebellion.

2008-05-25T14:04:00.001+10:00

I love blogs! I have learnt so much from other people's blogs and can spend hours getting lost going from link to link. Welcome to mine. I plan to share so much here and hope that you will find some inspiration in my ramblings!

Some background on me - I am 32, nearly 33. I am single and have 1 daughter (E who is 9). Currently I own a scrapbooking shop with my best friend Kate - we have had it now for nearly 4 years. I live in beautiful Brisbane, QLD, AU. I love crafting (papercraft, beading and would dearly love to learn how to sew), reading, cooking, homemaking (although this is a new love so am still getting there ;), time with family and friends. Yes, I have turned into boring old me but I love it!

A very new interest for me is the environment. Yes, am embarrassed to admit that until this year I have not really taken the time to learn about how I impact on our environment and what I can do to minimise this impact. Kate thinks I am losing the plot I think with all my ramblings about going green lol! Unfortunately, I know that I am not losing the plot - we all need to sit up and take notice AND do our bit. I have been totally inspired by Rhonda's blog and encourage you to read it. I was searching for ways to live more simply when I stumbled upon this blog and from there I have found so many links to other frugal living blogs, green living blogs, homeschooling blogs and loads more. I have started to bake from scratch (not a lot so far but every week I focus a little more on this), recycle more, watch what I spend, starting to think about a vegie garden, look into green cleaning ideas, stockpile slowly, consider what I am buying and whether I really need it especially taking into consideration the packaging. This is just a few things I can think of right now. I do have a list somewhere of my goals and when I find that I will post it here (more so to keep me on track).

I have to admit that after 32 years of living the consumer lifestyle I am finding it hard to change. However, I figure step by step and I will get there.