This week is Anti-Poverty Week -check out the end of this post for some resources about poverty.
Meanwhile many of us are living simple, frugal lives for many reasons. Some of us are living on small and insecure incomes, some of us are voluntarily reducing our spending in order to care for the planet and support charitable works, some of us have big savings goals.
DH and I are loving our simple retired lifestyle. I am getting better at my 'elevator speech' which explains that no, we are not travelling around the world and no, we are not playing golf every day. Our lives are full and wonderful just the same! We cook from scratch, grow some food and have volunteering days and crafty days which keep us happy.
Here are some of the achievements this week
1. I gave up on a quilt project.
Sorry to start with a negative, but that blue community quilt with the wonky blocks that I struggled with for so long? Well, in trying a new-to-me technique I inadvertently quilted over a couple of safety pins and sandwiched them between the layers of the quilt.
Nope, not going to give it to anyone -not even a pet (it could be unsafe).
Nope, not unpicking any more (this thing was a nightmare).
Instead I made a Christmas place mat for the the WAQA community quilt project -we give them to nursing homes for the trays on Christmas Day, and I have a new project all lined up to start.
Sometimes you just have to do what brings you joy. How was this frugal? Well, it was frugal with my time and energy! I quilt as a hobby, to be creative and to produce things which bring other people joy. If a project isn't doing that, I reserve the full and complete right to ditch it. I don't do this lightly or frequently and yes, I did think about the fabric and the wadding (which was stitched together left-over strips anyway). They were unusable for anything but a compost heap, and even then the presence of the pins would be a hazard.
2. I saved seeds from my mizuna, after having let the bees have their fun on the pretty yellow flowers for quite a while. One of my projects is to grow more from seed, and to do that where possible from seed I have saved, so that over time the plants I grow are more and more adapted to my growing conditions. (PS do check out this lovely video about regenerative agriculture)
3. Following on from example from Annabelle over at The Blue Birds are Nesting, I am drying rose buds and petals, and lavender flowers. I figure the rose buds will be pretty decorations on Christmas presents, and the petals and lavender I plan to use in little mesh bags for going under my pillow!
4. We combined a number of trips together to go further afield to find a few things we needed. I have been buying conditioner in bulk to save on the plastic bottles, and I needed a specialised pump to get the conditioner out and decant it into my own bottle for the shower. While we were there, we found some preserving jars to go with some new lids someone gave us -but the shop said that the supplier only provided them with jars and lids together! After a minute or two, the assistant said that she thought they had some jars without lids that we could have...and the next thing we had 15 jars for free!
During this trip I also went to a local quilt shop to pick up a part I needed for my Accuquilt Go strip cutter. This will enable me to cut my next project out with ease.
We also looked in some antique shops and op shops -at the moment DH is looking for a chess set to go with the chess board he made this week using scrap timber someone gave him. Didn't find one yet -but that is OK. Part of the fun is the hunt!
Then we went a bit further to the wonderful Stitched and Bound exhibition of quilts up at Kalamunda. It was too far to go as a single trip from our place, but all together with the other errands it was doable, and we both enjoyed it very much.
5. We put out a fire!
It all started with an innocent lunch on the patio when DH noticed smoke from behind our neighbor’s place. Some kids had set a xanthorea on fire in the walkway behind her place. 
We started a bucket brigade and the neighbours used shovels to damp down the flames until the fire brigade turned up -they were quick, but with the situation around the fire as it was, we couldn't wait. The fire was about 3 metres from our neighbour's house, and it was underneath a big eucalypt. If the tree had caught fire, and sparks had landed on J's roof, this would have been very serious indeed!
6. We are enjoying our library books. This week I read Dr Michael Mosley's book called The Clever Guts Diet. It is about eating a variety of foods designed to improve the biota in the gut. I found it very interesting, and I am making sure I add some of the foods he suggested, into our meal plan regularly.
7. Exercise for free I have been getting back into walking around our suburb -there is a route which takes about an hour. I prefer that to exercising in a noisy gym where you can't even see outside.
Thanks for reading my blog, and all of your comments are very much appreciated.
Reading about poverty in Western Australia here WA Council of Social Service report Food insecurity can lead to long-term entrenched food stress, and significantly impact people’s health and wellbeing.
Here's a $75 fix that would help solve Australia's poverty problem
For those in Australia
Join the campaign to Raise the Rate of Newstart and Youth Allowance this Anti-Poverty Week.
- Call 6277 7111 and ask to speak to your local MP and explain why we need to increase Newstart
or find them here: https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members
- Register to meet your politician: tinyurl.com/y6zo49hb
- Sign up to the Raise the Rate campaign: www.raisetherate.org.au
- Share your story with us: tinyurl.com/y4lu52yq
or find them here: https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members
- Register to meet your politician: tinyurl.com/y6zo49hb
- Sign up to the Raise the Rate campaign: www.raisetherate.org.au
- Share your story with us: tinyurl.com/y4lu52yq
5 comments:
Wow, those kids! They could have destroyed your neighbor’s house.
Exactly, Nil, they could have done. We are so glad we were here!
I do love coming to read your posts, you are doing so many things that I do but there is always room for more improvements/changes isn't there?
I can't believe those children who set fire to a tree, what were they thinking, not of the consequences for sure.
We have used dried rose buds in a foot bath along with lavender it was lovely, we had been for a barefoot walk beforehand and it was a lovely way to finish the walk.
Mizuna self seeds all over my garden, I rarely need to grow it these days along with rocket and many other lovely salad leaves.
Thank goodness the fire was stopped. That sounds like a close call. Growing flowers from seed is so rewarding. I like to plant zinnias and sunflowers.
I am reading a book called "Basic Income" by Phillippe Van Parijs and Yannick Vanderborght at the moment; it's about the concept of a regular income paid to every person no matter how much they earn or what they own. I borrowed it from my local library.
I feel that the Newstart allowance payment, which so many in the community, across organisations and among those concerned with social welfare believe to be inadequate, traps people in a cycle of poverty which not only makes it difficult for them to provide basic needs and meet basic costs but also robs them of dignity and opportunity. I don't believe that politicians opposed to increasing this payment truly understand those hardships.
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