Earth Hour-

Hi all,
Just a quick one today...wayyyyy too nice to be inside, and trying to type outside is just too distracting :)

I just wanted to share this link for Earth Hour .
I think Earth Hour is a really great idea. Fabulous even!
Here's why:

It doesn't COST you anything (in fact it saves you a few $$)...

You get to actually TALK to your loved ones, maybe play a boardgame, or cards, or charades, stuff that is really really fun but everytime you play you wonder why you don't do it more often??
If you can play the guitar why wouldn't you get that out & have a bit of a sing-a-long? That's what I would do if I could play the guitar (or sing!)
My family like music a lot & we like to play a lot of musical themed games.....one time the power went out for three hours & my Dad & I drank wine & spent THREE HOURS humming songs for the other one to guess....
(we are not very good hummers, but we had a LOT of fun!)
But I digress.....

I also like the idea of Earth Hour because it really is nice to feel like you are a part of something bigger.
You might sometimes think...'big deal, who cares if I turn my lights off for an hour...how much difference will it make?!"
But when you think just how many people will turn off their lights for an hour tonight....the change is ENORMOUS! It really is. It does make a difference. What YOU do, makes a difference!
Check out these cool pics. If these landmarks around the world can switch off....so can we yeah??
Pics here
This link will take you to the Earth Hour facebook page...you should 'like' it & have a squiz at the snaps ;)

Now, turn off the computer...go outside, plant your winter veggies, weed your garden, make a compost bin, or start a worm farm.....

Then relax with a candlelit dinner....it's what Jon & I will be doing!

Starting Again....

Wowsers...
It's been AGES since my last post. Almost a year, and SO much has changed in my world.
Most of you will know me, (because you have followed my link from Facebook- THANKYOU!)
So you will know of the BIG changes-

I Got Married :)

My sister had her second baby- the cutest little Lolah Violet
Ohhhh she is SO PERFECT!!

 Equally as perfect as her cheeky, and SO FUNNY big sister Willow Ivy

And the last big change......
My beautiful, beautiful Mum passed away....
This is me & Mum:

I miss her every single minute!

So, with these three BIG changes, life for me is different now.
I think a lot harder about the circle of life...birth, marriage, death....all of that.
And I think a LOT harder about how we make our lives more worthwhile, and I certainly do not mean the Lets buy a mansion & Ferrari type of WORTHwhile!

I mean the worthwhile life that is JOYFUL, GRATEFUL, LOVING and LOVED!
That, to me is WORTHwhile!


All this thinking has made me even more conscious of the way I live, of each decision I make...
What to eat, how to spend my time, how I spend my money and how I conduct my daily activities.
I THINK about these things a lot, but as yet I've been SLOOOWWWWWW to implement any true changes.
So this blog is to keep me accountable.
To MAKE CHANGES!!
To share the things I learn (most likely from my failures lol)
To learn as much as I can from YOU,
and..... to join the revolution, the slow living revolution- growing our own, sewing our own, eating locally, living sustainably, sharing resources....and saving them for the future!!
Reducing, Re-using, Recycling......
You with me?

Checking in...

Hey there...

Hows things in your world? It's been F F F Frrrreeeeezzing here.
An excellent excuse to rug up with my puppies & fiance I think :)

I've finally had the time to sit & reflect on how my last week has been, you know, with the whole 'Green' thing I have going on....
And, if I was a 'Cup half empty' type person, I would probably say it was an EPIC fail!
(who else hates the word EPIC?)
I work with Youth & hear it 'literally' a million times a day.

But...this is not about my finnikity nature with grammar & language, it is about changing my life..

So, since I am  a 'Cup half full' type person, I'm going to talk about the things I did well, and where I can do better next week.

Things I did well:

• At home I have transitioned completely to a vegetarian (almost Vegan) diet! and it wasn't even very hard! I picked up a couple cookbooks from the Post Punk Kitchen and the recipes are cheap, easy, quick, and DELICIOUS!! Especially from Vegan with a Vengeance  this has become our 'go to' book for dinner inspiration every night. 
• Even my motorbike racing fiance has converted to completely veg at home! Though he hasn't restricted dairy the way I have. I'm super proud of him for doing this with me. He's pretty spesh :)
• We've been a LOT more careful around home with the power we are using, and I made a special effort to get out in my veggie patch & feed them some yummy SeaSol so they will grow up big & strong! (Is it strange that I sing a bit of Bob Dylan to my veggies while I garden? Try it....I swear it makes them grow...I swear!)
• I brought home three bags of shredded paper from work to recycle (Thank-you to Deanna for this idea!)
• There has been quite a few things which I would normally buy that I just DIDNT. And...I'm still ok?! I have always been a massive buyer of everything. Mostly junk, so for me to NOT buy, well, that's almost miraculous! Turns out..I really didn't NEED another Maxi dress, or another pair of running shoes (even though they were cheap) I just didn't NEED them!!

Things that I can do better at:

• Well.... Soy milk tastes DISGUSTING in Coffee!! Blergh yuck! It kind of curdles & separates & gets all gross... So I keep drinking cows milk ONLY in coffee & tea. But, when your veins have more caffeine than plasma...well, I need to cut back on the Cow Juice! Black coffee is NOT an option... I've tried quite a few different Soy varieties...HELP!!!  What do you put in your coffee?

• I'm also a bit worried about the BRAND of coffee I drink. At the moment it's just an instant that I got at Safeway (I know, I'm BAD) but I don't want to throw it out. So when I drink it all, I'll be looking for a tasty, ethical, reasonably priced brew....Any ideas???

• Also, the biggest thing I need to improve on, which will happen over time, is to give up meat when we go out to friends/family for meals. On the weekend I went to my in-laws (to be) place a couple times. My MIL is the most AMAZING cook, and had been to a lot of trouble to cook up some delicious fish & lamb on the weekend...I know it was delicious because I ate it!! In fairness...I've only just stopped eating meat (like, last week) and I didn't want to be a mega pain in the butt! All "I don't eat meat" & stuff when I sure did last week! This one I will work on :)

So,

Kind of a successfully failed week!

What do you reckon??

What do I put in my coffee?? What brew do you drink at home?? And how do you let family etc know of your changes without being a pain to invite around???

My Great Big Green Thing.....

I have decided to make a really big change...
For me, this will be huge.
It will affect what I do EVERY day....

I am giving up MEAT!
Yep....Going Veg.

As best as I can I'm going to stop eating as many animal products as I can. I'll do my very best to give up milk & cheese & eggs as well (Until we get our own chooks...I will eat eggs from them because I will know that they are happy hens!)

I think this will also be good for my body too.
If I am careful to get all of the nutrients I need.

This is starting TODAY!!

I know that I won't be perfect right from the beginning, and I also don't want to make life difficult for my family & friends by all of a sudden declaring that I have new dietary requirements and I must ONLY eat vegan products.
This would not be nice. and I like to be nice.
I would like to do my bit for the world, AND keep my friends thank-you.

All I am going to do is my very best. Because that is all I can ever do.
And I think that will be good enough...

What do you think?

Are you a Veggo??
Do you do it for your health?
Or because you don't like meat?
Or, like me, because it is a more gentle way to live?

And.... do you have any yummo great recipes??

I would love to hear them.. that would be great!
Maybe I will even cook them for you? Now that really would be great wouldn't it?!


So that is what I will do!

So how EXACTLY does one 'Go Green?'

Well,
Now that I have started, there's nothing left to do but start writing posts right??
SO here goes...
I mentioned in my first post that my top three focuses in life at the moment are:
1: Going GREEN
2: Getting more crafty, and
3: Getting off my ba-donk-a-donk butt & get RUNNING!
Today, I will focus on Numero Uno. Number One. My big bee in my bonnet...
GOING GREEN!

So why blog about it??
Because I have no idea HOW I'm going to do this!
Usually, when I make a grand statement like " I'm Going Green" my first thought is
"Holy Moly....where on earth do I begin, there's so much I need to do!"
And then I think all kinds of things like
Now that I'm 'Green' do I have to turn off the heater?
Which is better...should I give up buying bottled water, or stop taking baths?
Ideally, I should do both..but I then I think of ALL the things I should do...
And then I get overwhelmed and do a big fat NOTHING!
And that's BAD, very BAD :(
I need to work out just how far I am prepared to go to be Green.

SO......

Where do I go to get solid information?
Information about PRACTICAL stuff, you know...stuff I can actually DO.
Stuff that won't take up hours & hours of my time, and stuff that ACTUALLY makes a difference.
You all know I LOVE to read. So throw em at me peeps...hit me with anything you may have read/watched/heard about that got YOU thinking about being more Green.
What have you seen/heard or read lately that motivated you (or even motivated you to think about getting motivated)
If you want to check out a few things I have read lately, you can go here, to check out a great resource.
And, you can go  here or here to read a couple blogs about minimalism...
Minimalism is what started my brain clogs turning over about all this in the first place. I think it is a really cool concept & something I'll be working towards.

But for now, lets start with what we already do....
My thoughts at the moment is that no effort is too small.. so let me know what it is YOU do.
What you do every day, some days, some weeks, or just once. I really want to know!
If we all do it...your little effort, will become a HUGE effort. And the world will be happier :)
And then I will be happier because I will be closer to my Number One Goal!!

Let me have it......

The beginning of a blog :)

So...
to begin a blog.... just start writing right??
Well, here I am, just me, writing for you. Or am I really writing for me? I think the latter is more to the point, but you might like to join me anyway?!

So, a bit of an outline...what will I be writing about?
All the many zillions of things that rush through my mind at any one point in time.
These range from

• What's for lunch?
• How can I pay off my debts faster?
• Why are some people STILL living in poverty?
• Did I decide on lunch yet?
• What else do I need to arrange for my wedding? (which is now only 4 months away)
• I should go for a run.... but I'll think about lunch first
• What book can I devour next?? HUGE BOOK NERD!
• How can I find the time to knit, crochet, garden, learn to sew, read all my 'to reads', and STILL go to work everyday?
• What can I eat now?
• How can I live my life more gently? More gentle to the planet, more gentle on my wallet, more gently in general?
• Why does the media always make us women feel like crap? And how can I be more inspiring to young women?
• Why do I keep BUYING stuff?? 
• Oohh, I love her shoes/dress/hair- whatever...
• Did I really just see young women in bikini's advertising coffee?? What The!!!
• Is it lunch time yet?
• What gig's on this weekend? LOVE live, aussie talent!

So... if any of these things also go through your mind...especially what you are going to have for lunch....

then please, lets chat :)

As you can tell...I have a million ideals, a million goals, a million dreams and a million projects unfinished. Hopefully this blog will help keep me on track with this a little bit?!

A few of my most important goals at the moment:

1. In the coming months I REALLY want to start living more GREEN!

2. I want to MINIMALISE the stuff in my home. Stop COMSUMING so darn much!

3. Learn to sew, crochet more, write more, bake more...just CREATE!

4. Run! Just run. Get off my butt & do it. Do it for health, do it for weight management, do it for charity,          whatever... JUST DO IT!

5. And of course...blog :)

So, want to be friends? I do :)