back into it

Today is the first day I have seriously sat down since before Christmas to sew or make anything for my business. It's been so hard to get motivated. I have really enjoyed the break, and just playing Mum for a change. It's been nice to have one less direction to be pulled in. But, today has been about making again. I've done some sewing, and have also pulled out the gocco to make some prints for cards. It was kind of nice being crafty again. It's been ages.

on plastic and precycling

No matter which way you look at it, this is a huge pile of crap. Plastic has a way of creeping and seeping into our household. I like to think that I am environmentally minded. Plastic seems to be my downfall though. There is so much of it. I do all the usual stuff. I send kids off to school with reusable containers, I take my own bags when I shop, I don’t buy products packaged within an inch of their lives... but what plastic I do have, breeds.

I like the idea of pre-cycling. This is when you buy products that aren’t packaged. Healthier for the environment, but also healthier for you. Just a quick look around any food store shows that it’s generally healthier options that aren’t packaged or that have minimal packaging. Think ‘by-the-scoop’ chickpeas or such at a wholefoods store, or fruit at a greengrocer. This doesn’t always just apply to foods though. Friends of the Earth sell detergents, cleaning products and shampoos by weight, as do other health food shops. And today I noticed that the nursery at Ceres sells seaweed and fish concentrates by weight too.

For some time I’ve been trying to pre-cycle. I’ve been shopping at the Preston market, Asian grocers and health food stores, and only going to the supermarket for stuff like milk or cat food. I wonder if I keep shopping this way the plastic will stop breeding? Or is the stuff too bloody promiscuous?!

simple pleasure

I could get all metaphysical or something. But lets tell it how it is. Opshop gold is simple pleasure. And this time it comes in the form of a vintage tin showing Niagra Falls. Cheesy but good. Just how I like it!

flourishing

When my garden last truly flourished, my now eight year old was perhaps eighteen months old. It rained then so much more than now. Enough rain that it seemed worthwhile owning an umbrella, or having a raincoat. There is something in rain that no amount of hosed water can replace. It’s something life giving and natural. Or perhaps it’s just the absence of chemicals. Whatever it is, rain makes a garden bloom.

Since late Spring and early Summer, we have actually had rain. Enough rain to make the garden grow. Enough rain to make my boys rediscover the happiness that comes with playing in puddles. Enough rain that my tomatoes are close to seven feet high and producing at a rate of knots! I am loving it!

living

When I was at uni, I lived in a share house right around the corner from the Hare Krishna Temple in Albert Park. I used to go there often on a Sunday evening for the free vegetarian feast, and to sit in the Temple and listen to the chanting. Now years later, I sometimes go back for the prasad with my own boys. My eldest in particular loves going. He sits listening to the chanting, and is eager to pass his hands across the blessed flame. While we are not a religious family, I love exposing my boys to different cultures, spiritualities and ideologies. I want my children to grow as human beings with an openness that comes through a rich lived experience. Visiting the temple may be one small thing, but it is part of a larger whole.

making

Over the past week or so, I have been really enjoying not sewing. I usually spend a fair chunk of time each day making things, so it's been fantastic having a break. Yesterday I got the urge to make something though. So late last night I pulled out some great fabric I found in an opshop last year, and made some of it into a cushion. The fabric at the back was also found in an opshop, and the buttons (three to form a closure at the back) were handmade by my father in law. The odd shape of the cushion comes from late night improvising... I stuffed it with the filler I bought to make a bunch of softies that never eventuated. I didn't get it too even! Ah well, no matter!

slowing down

It’s a new year. A new decade. Time does go faster the older you get. I remember as a small child, time seemed to drag. The months between Christmas or birthdays seemed years, and days became weeks. Now, the adults around me bemoan time flying. My children still feel the length of the days and truly live in the moment.

I’d like to feel a little of that. I want to slow down and experience things. Play more. Be. Feel time passing like a child does, instead of always feeling rushed and time poor.

Today I brushed the cobwebs off my bike and rode down to the creek. It’s amazing the pleasure that something as simple as riding can bring. The wind in your hair, feeling the burn in your legs as you make your body work, being there instead of just rushing by.On my ride, I noticed how beautiful water reeds and flowering fennel look growing tangled together along the creek. So, when Zeph decided to do some drawing this afternoon, I sat down with him to do some drawing of my own. Slowing down is kind of nice.