Slow Living in 2012 - Month 3

I was thinking that I didn't have much worth posting about for this months slow living, feeling like I've been a bit slack.  But when i started writing a few things down on paper that I've achieved this month, I realized I haven't been too bad !  I have to remember that just because I haven't done something incredibly amazing in most categories, doesn't mean I haven't been successful !!

So here we go for March....



Nourish: It's still iceblock weather up here, so we've been making lots of iceblocks still.  I found out how to make the best choc coated frozen fruit iceblocks this month and they have been a hit with the whole family.  I also made Fiona's chocolate beetroot cake - if you haven't tried it yet, then you're in for a treat - it is soooo yummy !! thanks Fiona !!  We had it with some homemade creme fraiche and it was the bomb ! 




Prepare: Not a lot here, made a big batch of sausage rolls to freeze for lunches, and that was about as good as it got !




Reduce: Went through the kids clothes, sent all of Marlise's too small clothes and shoes to the second hand shop and put away Ruby's old clothes for Marlise.  I was fortunate to have a friend who gave me all her kids old clothes last year so I dug out 'new - old' clothes for Ruby, and also for Marlise.  I'm pretty confident I won't have to buy any new clothes for them for this Autumn and Winter - what a blessing !




Green: Have been using homemade toothpaste all this month and loving it - will post the recipe soon. Still using everything else homemade for toiletries - can't convince my husband to go 'no poo' though !

Grow:  Went away for a week and what little I had in the garden fried in the heat.  Planning to start the garden again after Easter.  However....the kids planted pineapple tops and their watermelon pips out the back, and we just noticed a few days ago that those neglected watermelon seeds are growing !!  They have 5 big seedlings to take care of now - how exciting !  The pineapples seem to have taken too.

Create:  Loving this category this month.  Have been into making felt.  I made a little mat that turned out beautifully, so I got excited and made another mat which is a O's and X's game board for Ruby.  Made a whole lot of wet felted eggs for Easter, and some wet felted balls - I'm getting hooked on this craft. Collected some shells with the kids and made beeswax candles with the shells too.

Enhance: Taught some friends how to make wet felted eggs - does that count?  And Marlise and I attended a community run "Messy Play Day" for little kiddies.  she had so much fun...




Discover:  Borrowed some books on felting from the library and have been reading lots of wonderful blogs on felting too.  Bought this e-book about making wet felted playmats for story telling and playing, they look awesome.  Have also been reading alot about homeschooling.  I really want my girls to have a Steiner based education, and since the closest school to us is 6 hours away, I've decided to homeschool.




Enjoy:  We celebrated Marlise's 2nd birthday this month.  We had a party with just the 4 of us and it was so much fun!  While I try to keep my family well nourished, I've decided that at birthdays, they can have what they like.  Since Marlise is too young to decide, I asked Ruby to choose the menu for her sisters birthday this year...we had homemade sausage rolls and pizza, fresh fruit, chips, peanut M&M's and an orange cake with jaffa icing.  Needless to say, with all that good food on the table, Marlise only ate the M&M''s and birthday cake.  Happy Birthday my girl!