Slow living April 2012
Linking to
SLOW LIVING - Month by Month April 2012
NOURISH: I have been trying a new recipe every Tuesday in order to gather together some well tried and tested recipes to make menu planning easier. I am also trying to have more meatless meals along with Rhonda from Down to Earth. Last night we just had a bunch of roasted veggies - pumpkin, onions, garlic, broccoli, celery, and carrots with brown rice. It was totally delicious, and I realized I must not stress about not having a plan for dinner, and just cook what is there.
PREPARE: I made some comfrey ointment, hoping to have a positive effect on my hubby's sore ankle.
REDUCE: I cleaned out the pantry and repacked a lot of things into glass bottles, reducing the amount of plastic containers. I took note of the extra items I had that were purchased and then not used again and will plan to use them up so that I only keep a core list in my pantry, not half the supermarket.
GREEN: Does the fact that I now have a pair of gardening gloves made of bamboo count? I won a couple of pairs of gardening gloves from -the-urban-farm-handbook-challenge.
GROW: The garden is definitely starting to pick up and produce now. I harvested lots of ginger in order to make room for the tomatoes, and the winged bean are going crazy! I thought they were just a wet season vegetable, but I see they are here for good, so will have to assign that portion of the patch over to them. I am harvesting salad greens by picking off the leaves so that they can continue to grow. Some seedlings seem slow in starting up. I have starting adding a little sulphate of potash to my fortnightly feed with seaweed.
CREATE: My grandkids are going on a holiday to Brisbane where it gets a little cooler than here so beanies and scarves were requested. I used a variegated yarn, and think they turned out quite well.
I reached over 100 followers on my blog and organized a giveaway of one of my silk scarves. I make them using a paint that uses the sun to set the designs and lay flowers and ferns on the scarves to set in the design. scarves
DISCOVER: Share titles/authors of what has been read this month.
I simply love Alexander McCalls books in the No1 ladies detective Agency series. I found a new one in the library called "The Limpopo academy of Private Detection". I also ordered some for my mom - at a great price and with free shipping. 3 books - paid for in Australia, shipped to South Africa, for a total price of 14.00! It is worth checking out and they have a further 10% off for the months of April and May. book depository I can't wait for my mom to read them.
ENHANCE: I made a new path in the garden, and love wandering down butterfly alley!
ENJOY: We had some visitors from overseas and really enjoyed showing them around the beautiful part of Australia that we call home. There is a rocky outcrop above Mossman Gorge and for the first time ever I got some good photos which I shared on my travel blog here: Good Shepherd I am so blessed to live here!
thank you so much Christine for organizing this - I am really enjoying this bit of reflection every month!
I love your garden path! And I love Alexander McCall Smith too, must look out for that one ... A good idea to try new recipes once a week.
ReplyDeletethanks, all his detective books are good.
DeleteHmmmm.. I must have another plastic throw out too. I have managed to replace all my plastic bowls with glass or ceramic ones, but still have about a thousand plastic containers hiding in various cupboards...
ReplyDeleteYour gardens are wonderful - I have garden envy just looking at the pictures! You must have green hands (not thumbs) under those bamboo gloves! Enjoy butterfly alley! - Kara
I find plastic has a way of creeping in without me noticing it! Just lucky to live in the tropics where everything grows.
DeleteWell done on your month! I wish we could grow ginger here!
ReplyDeleteI think you could in a greenhouse!
DeleteDearest Africanaussie,
ReplyDeleteOh yes, ginger, new path and so on. I admire the way you look back you month, my friend!
I may follow your footstep♬♬♬
Love you always, xoxo Miyako*
Yes you should join in..
DeleteNice path.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I kept reading...now I need to go check out your urban gardening link on the previous post. Thanks for sharing
I find it fun to do these challenges
Deletewishing we could grow ginger too!
ReplyDeleteIt's really quite funny to read about you lovelies in north Qld just starting up your growing year - here in Tas we are winding down with everything just plodding along slowly over winter!
ReplyDeleteAnd I am another with ginger envy....!
Oh yes I cant imagine how cold it must get in Tasmania. we just look at those figures on TV and cringe.
DeleteI am laughing at you making beanies and scarves for a trip to Brisbane, it's lovely down here LOL
ReplyDeletewell I think it is more a case of asking grandma to make something..
DeleteAdd me to those southerners wishing for homegrown ginger! Your garden looks so lush and healthy. Butterfly Alley looks like a lovely place to wander through.
ReplyDeletehere I am wondering what to do with it all. Now I need to find another project. :)
DeleteYour butterfly alley looks beautiful, I had already seen the post when you did the clearing up of that corner of your garden, but hadn´t commented then. What a lovely idea to have a day a week when you try out new recipes, I seem to just collect recipes but always make the same old things, I must get more adventurous! I also love the Alexander McCall Smith´s books, I was given 2 recently by a visiting friend from Sydney, that I haven´t yet read. That offer from the Book depository sounds great, I have ordered a few books from them before, but mainly study books for my son´s uni course.
ReplyDeleteI keep collecting them and then never trying them -hope this does reduce the pile a bit. I was so surprised that they can offer free shipping as well as great prices.
DeleteBamboo garden gloves?? I didn't know they made those... I always tend to go with deer skin since it's soft and durable.
ReplyDeleteI can't even imagine what home-grown ginger must be like. Serious gardening envy over here.
deer skin - we do live in different worlds :) the bamboo gloves actually came from America! I do love my home grown ginger.
ReplyDeletelinking up from slow living month...I so love your butterfly alley :)
ReplyDelete