I have been following Christine at Slow Living Essentials for a while (OK, Its really lurking - I'm just a bit shy!) and she has set a challenge that appeals to me. To record on our blog monthly how we have "slowed down" under the following nine categories - most of which I do anyway. So I thought I would give it a go. This is my January reflection of Slowing Down - the Slow Living Essentials way!
Here's what I did...
NOURISH: Make and bake as much as possible from scratch. Ditch over packaged, over processed convenience foods and opt for 'real' food instead. I have been menu planning for years now. Practically everything we eat is made at home, bought from the local markets and ethical butchers! Homemade Ricotta cheese anyone...
PREPARE: Stockpile and preserve. I have slowed down on my preserving this year - we have a backlog of jams especially strawberry, some are dated 2008... Still good, still yummy, still a lot of them! But I did make some tomato sauce last year!
REDUCE: Cut down on household waste by re-using, re-purposing and repairing. This I'm quite good at already being into fixing, cleaning and decluttering! Throw out 50 things post
GREEN: up our lives. Start (or continue!) using homemade products. I make my own washing powder and face cleanser and toner. This gives me an excuse to make other stuff I've wanted to try for a while! Cockroach demise post...
GROW: plant/harvest. What's growing this month? What's being eaten from the garden? I aspire to this goal on a regular basis but Mother Nature has other plans for my gardening efforts. Microgreens are the best I can do at the moment along with a herb pot or two!
CREATE: to fill a need or feed the soul. Create for ourselves or for others. I love making things but I like to have a use for them. I'm not very good at making for the sake of it. So when I have a purpose (like these high tea invitations) I like to go all out!
DISCOVER: Feed the mind by reading texts relevant to current interests. I love the library. I often have more than the allowable amount of books out. Went to the LifeLine BookFest again this year and managed to limit my self to only 24 books! Dictionaries, stories, gardening, French cooking, craft...
ENHANCE: community: The rewards for your time are often returned tenfold. I belong to a social basketball team, buy as much as I can locally and read blogs (see my side bar) - and I have just started commenting on some! January doesn't seem to offer as many opportunities for community as later in the year will when things get back up and into routine again.
ENJOY: Life! Embrace moments with friends and family. My husbands birthday camping weekend. Having homemade salmon quiche and fresh salad birthday dinner delivered to the tent door by the owner of the campground and then sitting in our chairs munching, watching Lorrikeets, King parrots, kookaburras and Rosella's watching us eat - hoping a morsel would be thrown or left for them. With a glass of wine, some atmospheric mist and a good book to read snuggled up in a tent next to a loved one - it doesn't get much better than that!
Hey - that was good! Thanks Christine! It was nice to have a cup of tea and reflect on January 2012.
Here's what I did...
NOURISH: Make and bake as much as possible from scratch. Ditch over packaged, over processed convenience foods and opt for 'real' food instead. I have been menu planning for years now. Practically everything we eat is made at home, bought from the local markets and ethical butchers! Homemade Ricotta cheese anyone...
PREPARE: Stockpile and preserve. I have slowed down on my preserving this year - we have a backlog of jams especially strawberry, some are dated 2008... Still good, still yummy, still a lot of them! But I did make some tomato sauce last year!
REDUCE: Cut down on household waste by re-using, re-purposing and repairing. This I'm quite good at already being into fixing, cleaning and decluttering! Throw out 50 things post
GREEN: up our lives. Start (or continue!) using homemade products. I make my own washing powder and face cleanser and toner. This gives me an excuse to make other stuff I've wanted to try for a while! Cockroach demise post...
GROW: plant/harvest. What's growing this month? What's being eaten from the garden? I aspire to this goal on a regular basis but Mother Nature has other plans for my gardening efforts. Microgreens are the best I can do at the moment along with a herb pot or two!
CREATE: to fill a need or feed the soul. Create for ourselves or for others. I love making things but I like to have a use for them. I'm not very good at making for the sake of it. So when I have a purpose (like these high tea invitations) I like to go all out!
DISCOVER: Feed the mind by reading texts relevant to current interests. I love the library. I often have more than the allowable amount of books out. Went to the LifeLine BookFest again this year and managed to limit my self to only 24 books! Dictionaries, stories, gardening, French cooking, craft...
ENHANCE: community: The rewards for your time are often returned tenfold. I belong to a social basketball team, buy as much as I can locally and read blogs (see my side bar) - and I have just started commenting on some! January doesn't seem to offer as many opportunities for community as later in the year will when things get back up and into routine again.
ENJOY: Life! Embrace moments with friends and family. My husbands birthday camping weekend. Having homemade salmon quiche and fresh salad birthday dinner delivered to the tent door by the owner of the campground and then sitting in our chairs munching, watching Lorrikeets, King parrots, kookaburras and Rosella's watching us eat - hoping a morsel would be thrown or left for them. With a glass of wine, some atmospheric mist and a good book to read snuggled up in a tent next to a loved one - it doesn't get much better than that!
Hey - that was good! Thanks Christine! It was nice to have a cup of tea and reflect on January 2012.
Comments
Good to read what you've been up to Kara :-)
Cheers - Kara