Me Blogging...

I have no idea why it can be so hard for me to write a blog. It is not due to a lack of things to say. Nor a lack of time, really. I mean, yeah, I am flat out all the time (and lovin' it) but blogging doesn't really take that long (unless I want to add photo's, then it can take AGES!!). Maybe its the thought of the time I MIGHT spend and the interuptions I MIGHT get that make me put it off till the PERFECT time that never actually comes..... hmmm.....
Anyway, what shall I tell you about?
I have an enormous cauliflower in my garden! The veggie gardens are finished now, and full of yummy things growing.
The fruit trees are all cut back and ready for spring.
The last of the green tomatoes are all made into green tomato chutney (10 jars! all maturing. will break into them in another couple of months) and the red ones are canned up and slowly being used as I need them.
The plans for the chicken coop and run are evolving. Very exciting, the prospect of getting chooks!! Got a spot for the coop already and a box to make the cook out of (though it is at a friends at the moment, will get it soon).
Schoolwork is going great! Malachi is reading like a pro now, and Dassah is picking it up quickly. They just need their confidence boosted from time to time. I actually ran out of PACE's (the books that I use that are a combination of texts and writing) for a few days. They were used up without my noticing! And the days that lapsed while waiting for new ones to arrive I did make up lessons on aboriginal history that included stories, atrs and crafts. They enjoyed it immensly!
Missed church on Sunday, because my co-conspirator in Sunday School was at home sick, so instead of going we went on a bushwalk instead in the Morwell National Park and it was AWESOME!! All the children bar Eli walked, and he was in a carrier on Daddy's back. The children got to see some awesome and STEEP moutanous hills, some trees so big that even with all three of them with linked hands couldn't reach around them. Birds (kookaburra's mostly) and bird houses, plants and wambat holes, poop and scratchings! It was the best time ever!!
Eli has little blond curls tickling the back of his neck. He has a deep chuckle, and impish blue eyes. He is very intelligent, and will have a different approach to things the others ever did (like say for instance if he wants to go through a gate we will look for the catch, not try to climb over!) and we are still breastfeeding, but he will try anything once, lol!
I have started making my own hash browns, as well as muffins, bread, pies, bikkies,meatloaf, and meat pies, cordials, tomato sauce, and chilli sauce I have found the saving is about half of what I would normally pay for buying these things outright!
Went with my friedns, Kelly, (who is getting married very soon) to get some woodchip mulch from of the side of the road in a place outside of Thorpdale (about hald an hour away) with her trailer on our car (she doesn't have a tow bar!) and that is where I got the big box that is going to be the chook house too. Tell ya what! The car felt pretty heavy on the way home, LOL!!
Have been popping into the wonderful new place that Kelly showed me, Pintrest, which is my new filing cabinet. I like it because it works with pictures, and so instead of a series of links you have to read, it is a line of pictures you can cast your eye over. Very handy :)
I have been going down a 'green' road that I have decided I am not terribly happy with. I want to be self sufficient as much as possible, I want to have less chemicals and more natural stuff coming through my home, but I also need to be able to afford to keep living, lol. A friend of mine is near fanatical about this, and she states that if your going to do it, you have to do it right. What is the point of changing and substituting stuff if what your now using is not much better than before? My stress was, what ingredience are bad and what was not. Why was all the 'good' stuff only to be found in Health shops, which cost the earth? And what exactly is 'bad'?
Firstly, I decided I needed to get my priorities straight. What is my priority? The happiness and health of myself and my family. Now, you all know my family is both happy and healthy, so there is no need to change for my priority, eh? True.
So why go down this road? Answer: Cost. Schooling has gone up due to an increase in the quantity we need. Also, we are scrapping dancing lessons (again) because Dassah is just not making it worth the money we are pooring into it. We want to replace it with Martial Arts lessons, which cost more. As a result of this we have had to scrap child care for Phebe, as it is an indulgence. All she is getting out of it is bites and bruises, and she get get the same socialization time out of visiting her friend once a week, so we decided we don't need it. As a result, we are out of pocket more, and so to continue to live within our needs, sometings have got to give.
Now, I realized I was falling into a comercial trap when I started to listen to what everyone was telling me about the 'greenest' and the best things to buy, and realizing they cost big moolah, and it was not a once off cost, but a continuing one. Ack! The reason for the simple living we do is to cut out the stress, not gain more! So! Reprioritize! Rethink! Replan!
The new priority is now to live simply and save money where possible. So if this means I have to spend 99c on a bottle of dish detergent rather than make it myself for $4, then so be it, drat it!! I am not a greenie, I am a survivalist!!
Now, that being said I might be able to make my own dish liquid by using pure soap flakes instead of that liquid Castle soap stuff, but I still have to look into it! Also I am very interested in trying my hand at home made soap, and home made bubble bath, but I am not going to kill meself trying to gather the 'best' ingredience to make it! And I will not be guilt tripped into buying them either!! (which I was, until I pinpointed where the stress was coming from!!).
I have had to shed a lot of stress over the years by getting rid of a lot of things, like my front end loader washing machine (uses too much water, the twin tub uses a third, and still does a bl**dy good job of getting my clothes clean), my gym membership (not  enough hours in the day to run a family AND go to thr gym) our Quick Flix membership (not enough free time in one block to sit down and watch a movie unmolested, too many interuptions is stressful!) Precooked meals (Mine taste nicer) Soccer and Basket ball (children not showing an active interest) and what not. It was hard giving them up at the time, but after that initial separation, we have never looked back and feel lighter and happier as a result!
Hmmm, prattled on about that a wee bit, didn't I? LOL!
Michael had a stomach bug for a couple of days, but thankfully he didn't share it, and now he's back on the band wagon of DIY :) Today he is has made the flyscreen we needed for the girls bedroom window, and helped me stick some adhesive heart shaped mirrors to the ceiling above Dassah's bed. Tomorrow he is going to do what he can to the grey water tank we are going to be using to store the bath water in over night till I need it the following morning (instead of in the bath, where it causes a ring!!).
Our back yard has at least two birds nests in the trees some where! I haven't seen the nests, but, boy! Have I heard the birds!! LOL! I'm thinking about hanging a bird feeder of some sort out there to encourage them to stay :)
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 I had to stop for a bit as we had an unexpected visit from Granny, who has come back to the mainland from Tasmania for an unexpected visit! She is looking great by the way! Full of tcomical tales of woe about what is broken or rotton or mouldy in her house. Also of tales of hey hubby skinny dipping in the oceanm (euw! and brrr!) and her lighting a bonfire with rubbish on the beach with hopes the tide would take the debree away, and  of her depositing armfulls of decaying greenwaste in anyones bin available for sneeky access, or leaving it on the side of the road, or giving it to the ocean (ooh! Naughty Granny! LOL! She is so funny!).