the whys and wherefores of blogging

It was while living in Canberra, after we had bought our block in the country that I discovered the world of blogs. Our life had already taken a turn in a different direction. Not long before I had started to become a regular shopper at the weekend farmers markets. I had a small but successful vegie garden in the backyard. I started making my own bread. I began cooking up batches of liquid washing mix. We had plans for a small house on an acre of land (you can read more about that here) . I was delving into the world of a simpler way of life, but with no clear idea of what I was really doing. My research led me into the world of blogs, and it was here that I discovered a world I never knew existed.

In this world there were people living the simpler life that I was envisioning.  And far more. I particularly started enjoying many crafty blogs. I had no idea when it came to sewing or knitting, but I was always drawn to it. I read about family life, cooking from scratch, gardening and alternative cleaning methods. Blogs such as Down to Earth, Soulemama, Foxs Lane, Tiny Happy and Farmama (no longer blogging)  though quite different to each other, were hugely inspiring, and continue to be daily reads.

From the time we rented in town, to building and moving into our new house, to welcoming another baby into the family, I continued reading blogs. I learned to sew and knit in these few years. I'd had a desire to learn these things for so long, but it was the inspiration found on blogs that finally made me decide to learn.

It was Daniel who started suggesting that I start a blog of my own. At first I laughed at the idea. I had many doubts. Who would want to read my relatively unexciting life? How would I find ideas for blog posts and wouldn't these ideas run out?  Would I constantly suffer from writers block? I hadn't done any form of writing since I was a teenager. Shouldn't I wait until I had a better camera? There is also that vulnerability of putting yourself out there and so being open to criticism. And importantly, how would I find the time?

But despite the doubts and after some time had passed, I decided to give it a try. I had a feeling that blogging might be something that I would very much enjoy. The blog became a little life of it's own. A little escape for me in the day to day, where I could record what was going on at that point of time. I was never really stuck for ideas. I would, and still do, usually park myself in front of the computer early in the morning, and write about whatever is on my mind, or find that my just downloaded photos tell a story of their own. I'd write about what I was making, what the kids were doing, what I was baking, what I was reading or where we went.

I recently realised that blogging is not unlike the constant diary and journal keeping that I kept form the age of eleven to nineteen. During my teen years I felt a need to keep a record of my day to day, and in my later teen years I carried my camera almost everywhere. Blogging has felt like going back to both of those in a sense.

But the thing I love about blogging the most is the connection I've felt to other people. People who are kind of like me. People who "get me". I can count on one or two fingers the people I know in real life who sew or knit or make bread or are interested in simpler living. I had always felt different somehow, but the blogging community has helped to fill that gap with their support and sharing of ideas.

 


Of course having a blog led me to discover many, many more wonderful blogs out there. Some I feel, that I can truly call friends, despite never having met them in real life.


So thank you for your generously shared ideas. Thank you for your comments that help keep me going. Thank you for visiting.




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Also I am very grateful for your all comments and suggestions in yesterday's post. Shadecloth sounds like a very good suggestion, as does companion planting. I think I need to have some discussions with my handyman husband. Thank you Elaina for the natural pest spray recipes.

I can also happily report that it's raining right now and has been since late last night!

on shopping and diy haircuts

In what sometimes feels a little like a "former life" to me, but was in fact only four or five years ago, I  had a hobby. I loved to shop.  I had fear of being caught out of the style loop.  My "hobby" involved a weekly or sometimes twice weekly visit to my local giant shopping centre (in our Wollongong days).  Clothes, clothes, more clothes, and often shoes. I loved to shop. Though I would not say I had a full blown shopping addiction, I do think I had a subtle form of it. There was no credit card debt racked up and I did it within our means (mostly), but I think the hidden cost in all this was the disgruntled little kid's that had been dragged around the shops all day, as well as the wasted savings. Clothes that were designed to be disposable and were often discarded at the end of the season. I never stopped to think about how wasteful and unsustainable this really was. It had become one of the most important things in my life. My main source of recreation, and the more I shopped the more I felt like shopping. It was what most people I knew did. It was "normal". But I do believe it was filling some kind of void.

a leisurely day of shopping while on holidays - at least I still have the dress

We moved to Canberra. The shopping was good and I embraced it. I devoured fashion magazines. Sales catalogues warranted a sit down and cup of coffee. But one day I stumbled on this book (saying something about my mindset at the time) at one of those discounted store displays. Nothing truly groundbreaking, but it was a huge eye opener for me. It talked about getting connected with your food by visiting farmers markets and growing your own food.

So I found a local farmers market and began taking the family out every Sunday morning. We would come home every Sunday lunch time and we would break open the local sourdough and olives and I would cook with the beautiful fresh vegetables, the likes of which I had never tasted before. I'd always enjoyed cooking, but there is nothing like cooking with exceptional ingredients.

It wasn't long before I started my own vegie garden in the tiny backyard of our unit. I began making bread and most of the kid's snacks. I learned about the dangers of processed foods and stopped buying low fat anything. It was all this that pushed us into the direction of wanting to have a little land. To be able to grown vegetables and fruit trees. Some space for the kid's to run around outside. Not too long afterwards we purchased our acre and I think you know the rest of the story.

I am no longer what I would consider "in fashion". I rarely shop in new shops anymore and I think I've been to a big shopping centre once in the past twelve months. I still love clothes but now most of my clothes shopping is done in op shops, and I have plans for sewing up some summer clothes for myself. My wardrobe is a little challenging right now, during the breastfeeding phase, but I'm learning not to equate worth with fashionable-ness. When you ignore that hunger to acquire "stuff", it slowly goes away, leaving you with freedom in your life to be yourself.

And yes, I cut my own hair last week in a moment of vanity induced desperation. My hair had thinned so much after I had Violet, and it was just too hard to get to the hairdresser. But it's not too bad. Just don't mind the extra make up I popped on for the benefit of Photo Booth.

And the void I mentioned before? I think my void has been filled by a simpler approach to life. Less things, a little more work, but satisfaction in the creativity of cooking, learning to sew, knit and garden.

our house

A few of you have asked me about the house that we call home. For some reason I've been putting off this post, but as my camera sadly broke yesterday (unfortunately I dropped it!) , I needed to pull a rabbit out of the hat, or in this case, some photos deep from the archives.

The story of our house starts with a one acre block that we almost stumbled upon on a weekend drive one day. A year previously we had sold our first home in Wollongong and moved to Canberra. At that point in time it was not in our heads to even think about moving to the country. But a few weeks later we began to talk about it. We felt a sense of limbo where we were. There was the unaffordability of where we lived and I was reluctant to return to the workforce, wanting to stay at home with the kids. So after much research (and an awful lot of petrol) we took the plunge and bought the block. Which, I might add, was dirt cheap.

2009 saw us move into a local rental property while we settled into the area, starting new schools and a new job for Daniel. It was a leap of faith so to speak, but for some reason I felt calmer and more in control of our lives than I had in years. Fortunately things seemed to be working out and six months later, at the end of Autumn, we became "owner builders" and began excavating the building site and driveways.

Of course, our "almost flat" block needed far more excavation than we thought it would. Fortunately Daniel did a lot of the work himself,  holding several machinery operator licenses. I hate to think what it would have cost us otherwise.

Our biggest (and necessary) issue was keeping to a strict budget. We pored over kit home brochures and even visited display villages.  In the end we went with a local shed company who supplied and erected our house to lock up stage.  It saved us quite a bit as the outer structure of corrugated zincalume and colourbond roof were less expensive and required far less labour to put up. The colours we chose were inspired by the old shearers sheds with their rusty rooves that dot the landscape in the country.

Daniel, also a concretor by trade, poured the slabs himself. Unfortunately it hailed that day, making it very difficult to later get the desired finish on the floors.

Having a shed was also a necessary building for us. Afterall what would a man be without his shed?  A place to store the ride-on mower, and whatever else it is they need. Oh, and the car.

We had a local architectural draftsman draw up our house plan, whom we later became good friends with (another tree-change family).  A basic three bedder, one bathroom, big kitchen, and pantry and laundry in one. Lot's of light and open planned.

All doors and widows were from Ebay or salvage yards, most quite old, as I wanted to add a little "aged" character to our brand new house. This also saved us quite a bit of money in the end. And added a little headache for our builders.

Testing out kitchen colours - I went with the middle one

Our gyprocker was an old family friend (who lived in the area) with incredible talent who had previously worked on heritage houses in Sydney. With the high ceilings there was a lot of square setting to do, which he did without fault.

 Just about ready to move in. It was now Spring. The solar panels for the hot water system are yet to be put in.
And then we moved in. Just in time for christmas.

Taken just after we moved in. The walls are very bare.

 Kitchen : We were incredibly lucky to have a family member who owns a joinery so our kitchen was quite a bit cheaper than it would have been otherwise. I did splash out on the Villeroy and Boch sink, but I have to say that it is rather difficult to clean and does scratch. It is beautiful though, and fits so much in it. I fear I overwork it a little, having no dishwasher. Our oven was an ebay buy, an old St George double door oven, and very reliable.

Laundry/pantry : We combined the laundry inside the pantry thus saving on space. I must admit it is so much easier to keep clean this way.

Excuse the strange angle

Bathroom : Our cast iron bath was from here and tapware from here. I was very, very nervous about the black, but so glad that I went with it.
The basin was an old cast iron model, a bright green, scratched ebay buy that I had re-finished.
The large tiles were a faux marble finish and fairly inexpensive. With stone coving tiles (which hide the waterproofing).

Floors : Daniel had to hire a special machine for the final polish. Then we stayed up all night painting a water-based satin-matte finish by hand.

Walls: Antique White USA in Haymes Paint. Colonial style skirting boards and architraves.

 

 Heating :  We opted for a Nectre which keeps us toasty warm. One more word of advice is insulate, insulate, insulate!

And then on to landscaping... a whole acre

Our septic-watered grass

In the end we had house which was built from an idea conceived in our heads. Six months of weekends and frequently weeknights were spent on the building site. A great deal of stress, sweat, tears, joy and excitement went into it's making. Daniel spent weeks on end doing as much of the work as he could himself. But a lot of the work we paid professionals to do.

We saved in some areas and splurged a little on quality fittings where we could afford it. Quality over quantity and supporting Australian made where possible. We managed to keep our mortgage well within our means and so to this day I have been able to stay home, now with one little extra addition.

Would I ever build again? Perhaps, but not very likely. It has a way of turning your life upside down. It is a huge learning curve. In the end, though,  it is a short amount of time in the scheme of things and is not without it's rewards.