Rubbish challenge

Theoretically I shouldn't be empting my rubbish bin till tomorrow night but it's full.

We were trying really hard too.

I haven't started shopping at Binn Inn yet. Binn inn is a shop where you can buy all you baking needs unpackaged (therefore saving all those plastic non-reusable bags). I have been told, that the one I will be going to, supply brown paper bags or you can take in your own containers.

Here's my list so far:

coconut

brown sugar

icing sugar

caster sugar

cocoa powder

baking powder

baking soda

corn flour

chocolate chips

cream of tartar

sultanas

oats

cereals

dog biscuis

salt

The pain of sprain

This is me at the moment. I tripped off the kerb last night and sprained my ankle. Yep! All those torn ligaments really hurt, not to mention the swelling or bruising.

But I didn't break my arms so I can still fold washing, make lunches and cuppas.

Necessity is the mother of invention

In my reading today was a quote by a Roman poet written just before the birth of Christ (yes, along time ago).

'Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant'

This is so true for me. I have learnt to budget, sew, paint, cook, wallpaper, knit, recycle, grow vege, bake, organise, parent, make jam/pickle, bottle fruit etc.

What skills have you learnt because of necessity?

New look blog

I followed this awesomely easy tutorial by Clover Lane on how to make a header for your blog.

So please check it out as I'm so excited that I did it myself.

Thank you Dee for the inspiration to update the look.

1 week rubbish bag challenge

YEP! Our challenge started today. We are hopefully going to take one whole week to fill this bin (not our usual one or two days).

So far it has one biscuit packet, 2 wipes and 5 oxo wrappers.

I have to say that my one week rubbish challenge doesn't work very well with trying to minimalise the house. I went through my sons room today and came up with this bag of non-recyclable, broken toys.

Now..... if I was to put this in the bin it would fill it up in one day, so.... I'm going to cheat!

I am going to put all this broken stuff in a separate bag and use my bin for all the everyday normal rubbish.

I also filled a box with crappy plastic McDonald type toys that I will donate, so they can fill up someone else's home.

Minimalism

I have been inspired by a blog called Becoming Minamilist.

I am not much of a hoarder, but I do have more stuff than I need, and very little storage.

So I'm paring it down. Today I gave away a box of plastic kitchen stuff

and tomorrow I'm going to a clothes swap. I wonder how much I will come home with though?

Hopefully I won't fill back up these 3 bags.

The past few weeks I have been going through our clothes and have already given away loads.

I think this might be the last of it. I also went through our sheets and towels. I've kept 2-3 sets of winter sheets per bed. I figure that's 1 set on the bed, 1 set being washed and 1 set spare for the accidental wets that sometimes happen (kids beds not mine). lol

Homemade doggy food

Don't be fooled by this yummy looking meal in my crockpot (slow cooker).

Its the dogs food. Every time I cook it Mr. Divine says "Something smells good.

What you cooking?" My reply "Taste it and see."

Here's the recipe

1kg pet mince

1 cup pasta

1 cup rice

*2 (or more) cups vegetables, frozen or fresh*

garlic

water to cover

Put it all in your crockpot and cook on low over night (or all day)

*Usually I keep all my peelings and off cuts of my veges in a bag in the freezer and then when it comes to making the pet food I put those in the crockpot instead of mixed vegetables.

P.S. Cats can eat this too, just not husbands or children. hehe

Eco fruit and vege bags

I was wanting some light weight, reusable bags to put my fruit and veg in when I shop at the markets and found these mesh wash bags at a $2 kinda store.

They are washable, available in different sizes and best of all, no nasty plastic bags filling up my rubbish bin.

Soap Nuts

Washberry soap nuts are the dried fruit of the Sapindus Mukorossi tree.

You can use them in your washing machine, dishwasher and to make your own detergent.

These are what they look like. Little, sappy looking berry nuts.

They are natural so you aren't putting harmful chemicals down the drain.

Also, if you want to re-use your grey water you know you won't be putting poisons onto your gardens.

A change of direction

I have found it hard to continue blogging as my crafting as taken a back seat to being a mum, recyclist (is that even a word), fair trader, local market supporter, ethical buyer, self sufficient, low carbon footprint woman.

Soooooo, my blog will be changing (it's OK, change doesn't have to be scary). I will be sharing how I am changing my lifestyle to be more who I believe I should be.

I already recycle and cook most meals from scratch. I still am crafting, but it is crafting with a purpose and mainly for my family. I am trying to grow a vege garden from seed and have chooks for eggs but I still manage to produce at least one shopping bag full of rubbish per day.

Having been inspired by these people who managed just one small, tiny rubbish bag for a year.

I am going for one a week.

Great giveaway

Amy over at New Nostalgia is hosting a fab giveaway.

Go and visit HERE if you want a chance to win an ebook called 'Simplify' by Joshua Becker.

So please go and check out Amy's blog New Nostalgia.

Dry Nights

Miss Lulu (4) is out of night time nappies.

I have to admit that it happened by accident. Mr. Divine put Lulu to bed and forgot to put her pull-up on. In the morning she got up, went to the bathroom and a big proud voice said "I wore knickers all night and I'm dry."

So, we made a big fuss of her and pretended that we had planned it that way.

She went on a daddy date to the local cafe and has been in knickers for the past 5 nights.

Only one more little one in nappies now.

Autumn = Knitting

Some hats and fingerless gloves for my two girls.

Really the gloves are like sleeves with thumb holes. They are super cute and easy for little hands to put on.

Happy mothers day

I had a fab mothers day.

I recieved flowers and homemade cards and I spent the morning

mooching around the markets.

We went out to dinner at our local restaurant and even the kids behaved.

I had a pumpkin and feta filo pastry followed by strudel and icecream,

washed down with a bottle of Asti.

I wish it was mothers day more often.

Happy mothers day :)

The zoo (again)

When you have a year pass, you try to make the most of it.

Our highlight this time was feeding the deer. It was so gentle.

Lulu took a fancy to the goat.

Button's face tells the story. hehe

My 3 beautiful girls.

My new BFF

I hung out with my new BFF this morning.

She helped me with the housework for 3 hours and all she wanted was some water.

I'd like to introduce you to the steam mop (hehe).

My old BFF lent me her steam mop. I don't know how she parted with it.

It was slow going, but my kitchen floor is soooooo clean.

Tomorrow I'm going to hang with my new BFF and clean our bathroom and foyer.