Simple Living Sunday 28

This post is a little late as our internet was down all day yesterday so it's time for a little catch up. As you can see from this week's basket, we finally got a couple of eggs from our two girls. Yay!! The star fruit in the basket were given to me, but they add a little colour to an otherwise green basket. An indian lime pickle, and lime chutney are on the to-do list this week.

On Saturday I visited the amazing community gardens in Yandina. They adopt all of the Permaculture principles and I had a fascinating wander around which I will post about another time.

I was thrilled to discover that they sell plants....really cheap. I bought a Pepino, Strawberry, Herb Robert, Gotu Kola, Comfrey, Nasturtium (red), two arrowroot tubers, and the large plant is a Cassava. These cost me a grand total of $15!! I will be back.

The main reason I went to the gardens was to attend a free workshop on cooking and preparing tropical food. It was a fantastic workshop, I tasted many unusual dishes, brought home some goodies, and met some wonderful people...all for free!! The above image is of banana-leaf wrapped Cassava desert. More on that later :)

This cabbage is just starting to look like one now.

Amazing how much this little eggplant has grown in a week.

The corn is starting to take shape.

The caterpillars love the cauliflowers and kale in the water tank garden so I have now sprayed with bio-organic Dipel.

Nothing  has managed to find the kale in the gum tree garden though. They are thriving!

This is where I am planning my food forest. The fruit trees are going in and then I will work on the understory planting. A big job but very exciting!

I have found if I place some cardboard (half an egg carton in this case) under the pumpkins, then they thrive away from the damp grass.

There are still many bees hovering around doing their job. Yay!

The Tigerella tomatoes are starting to fruit.

I received an amazing batch of seeds from Fair Dinkum Seeds, a great local business which I will be featuring later in the week...together with a description of the unusual and exotic seeds they gave me.

So, I happily spent the afternoon potting up some seeds to put in my lovely new hothouse. These can thrive during winter, and I will plant out when the risk of frost is over. There are other seeds which I will be planting direct over the coming weeks.

Finally I couldn't resist a photo of breakfast. Look at the colour in those scrambled eggs! Absolutely beautiful.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I would love to hear what you have been up to :)

2014 in one word

Every new year Maxabella Loves invites everyone to set their 'theme' for the coming year using one word. It's actually a difficult task once you really think about it, choosing just one word from so many, but it is also very effective. Instead of making up dozens of New Years resolutions, or even just one, the right word can encompass so many areas of your life...just like that. Short, sharp and simple. I was not part of the blogosphere for the 2013 word but I know that in retrospect my word was 'simple'. This one word encompasses everything I have been working towards over the past year and has enriched my life more than I ever thought was possible. Thank you Rhonda Hetzel from Down to Earth for introducing this way of life to me.

So, the word simple will still be with me in 2014 and for many years to come but I am now well on my way with this journey. In considering my word for this year I jokingly considered flood-free but that is not realistic and is certainly out of my control...a pipe dream.

Instead, the word that keeps coming at me with regards to 2014 is a word that has crossed my path many times this past year, and is always at the back of my consciousness:

Mindfulness

Yes, Mindfulness is my word for 2014. I posted about it earlier this year (What is Mindfulness). It is a practice, a way of thinking about things that makes it so much more than just a word. In summary mindfulness is all about slowing down, taking the time to live in the moment and making a conscious decision to live in the here and now. Doctors use mindfulness to treat anxiety and depression as it involves taking the focus away from the problem...and back to the individual - you, me, ourself. The important part of the concept is the conscious decision...it is all too easy to let things distract us from doing so.

I know this is an important word for me because my job completely took over me leading up to my Christmas break. It is only now, in the second week of my holidays, that I am coming to terms with how debilitating and stressful it was...and the toll it took on me. I love my job, but doing the work of two people takes possession of you, and you find it hard to get yourself back. I was too drained to do anything and let things go, like my fitness, in order to claw back valuable time.

Well, it won't be happening again. I will talk to my boss about getting some help in busy times. I started back at the gym on Monday, and commenced my diet today to lose the three kilos I have gained through lack of attention and care for myself. I have found me again, through embracing simple pleasures like preserving...

...and spending precious time with my family. I will keep mindfulness at the forefront of my mind, and not let it be squashed under the layers of job stress and commitment. I owe it to myself and to my family to be the best person I can be, to be happy and fulfilled...not washed out and drained.

So, there you have it...my focus for 2014 is on me and mindfulness is the key. Everything else will fall into place if I take care of myself first. I have a few ideas of how I can achieve this...and will share when I have sorted them out.

How would you sum up your past year in one word?