Slow Living Monthly Link Up April 2014

Linking up with Christine again this month and this month seems to have been quite busy.

Nourish -Make and bake as much as possible from scratch. Ditch over packaged, over processed convenience foods and opt for 'real' food instead.
All of our meals were cooked from scratch this month and I have been really focused on using up the food we have on had rather than doing any shopping.  We will be killing "Freezer 2" our cow (yes that really is her name) soon and we are trying to clear out our freezer of as much as possible.  We still have a small amount of  "Freezer 1" left (a couple of lots of corned beef and roasts) but there is also a bit of frozen fruit, some of our home killed roosters and other odds and ends.
Also Hubby has been off work since the end of January with an injury and as he is self employed he is on a income protection payment which is about half of what he normally earns so money is a bit tight at the moment.  This is an even bigger incentive to not go shopping and to use up things that we have on hand, so the pantry is also getting a clear out.

Prepare - Stockpile and preserve. Freeze extra meals or excess garden/market produce. Bottle/can, dehydrate or pickle foods to enjoy when they are not in season.
Hubby has been off work since the end of January with an injury and as he is self employed he is on a income protection payment which is only about half of what he normally earns so money is a bit tight at the moment.  So instead of add ing to our stockpile we are actually making use of it since we are currently in a situation where we have had to cut costs.  This is an incentive to not go shopping and to use up things that we have on hand, so the pantry is also getting a clear out.

Chocolate Crunchies on hand for a sweet treat 

Reduce - Cut down on household waste by re-using, re-purposing and repairing.
I have been culling my old life style magazine collection and have only kept recipes that I want to try and ideas for the new house we will be building.  After tearing out these pages all the magazines went into the recycling bin.  Now that we have finished renovating we have been finding new homes for all the building materials we have left over.  We could try and sell some things but most things are not really salable so we are giving it away with the belief that what goes around comes around.

Green - Start (or continue!) using homemade cleaners, body products and basic herbal remedies. The options are endless, the savings huge and the health benefits enormous.
Just the usual happening on this front.

Grow - plant/harvest. What's growing this month? What's being eaten from the garden?

The garden is pretty bare at the moment but I have managed to get some seeds planted and garlic in.  I have a late crop of climbing beans in and hopefully will start flowering soon, I have some pak choy that was sown last month and we are thinning it out and eating it and there are self seeded cherry tomatoes coming up all over the place.  I also have an egg plant bush that is still fruiting so we have enough veggies that we do not need to buy many to fill in the gaps.
The citrus are also fruiting and even though the trees are quite young we have already had a few lemons and limes and there are blood oranges to come.

Create - To fill a need or feed the soul. Create for ourselves or for others.

I have picked up the crochet needle again and I have been practicing getting my stitches even and a good tension.  I will be going back to the pattern for the baby booties that I attempted and failed at as mentioned last month.

Discover - Feed the mind by reading texts relevant to current interests.
I have been reading lots over the last month.  Liz lent me some great books and I am working my way through them.

Enhance - Community
Planning for this years Classic Car Show is well under way again and will be keeping me busy for many months to come. Other than this I have taken a step back this year as I have other things I need to dedicate my time to.

Enjoy - Life! Embrace moments with friends and family. Marking the seasons, celebrations and new arrivals are all cause for enjoyment.
Hubby and I have had 2 camping trips in the last month one where we got rained out and one that was everything it should be, relaxing and spent with good company.  Even Jessie enjoyed herself.

Jessie chilling out and not letting her favourite toy out of her sight,
just in case we want to throw it again.

We also had a nice day at the beach.  Sometimes the simple things are the best.

What have you been up to?