Library inspiration

I found this Martingale publication in my local library, and it has inspired me. 

This one above is a gorgeous use of light and dark batik.

This Bento box has really got me going, though! There will be quite a few smallish quilts in my life in the near future!

Frugality

Simply 40th Anniversary

Somehow we made it to this milestone! I don't know, my parents were really old when they got to this! Obviously I was a child bride. LOL. 

We went to our favourite place, ALBANY on the south coast. This is the place my DH invited me to when he was 'just a friend'. I fell in love with the place and with him. 

We had a lovely four days. We had lunch in a winery, we visited all the scenes we love, and we brought home some fine southern wines. 

8 years of simple living

I have been blogging for 8 years this weekend! I started the blog with this in mind"

This is written for myself, my family and anyone who enjoys reading my story of the quest for simplicity within the confines of our urban environment.

This was my first post: it was written when I was still working full time, and so was DH. We still had two young adult children at home. It was written before the raised garden beds, before even the garden shed!

The reason that my blog is called 'earthmotherwithin" is that eight years ago, I felt like there was another person inside my full time career woman persona. Every time I had a holiday or weekend off, I turned into a 19050s housewife, happily baking, sewing and gardening. Then I would pack it all away and cram my life full of a very challenging and rewarding job which often required evening and weekends too. My DH was the same.

I had begun to yearn for a simple life. In doing so I found this website -not used so much now, but still an enormous resource for those who want to find out how to live simply.

We started watching our water and electricity use and finding ways to reduce them. We eventually put solar panels on the roof .

We cooked from scratch. We became part time vegetarians (we eat meatless meals about every second day).

We gave up shopping as a recreation. Instead we found other things to make us happy - walking on the beach in the summer, throwing winter feasts for friends, developing a wide range of favourite authors to read, getting involved in our hobbies and volunteering in our community.

We learned to grow some food and ended up planting a food forest on our 800 square metre block. We experimented with wicking beds and shade to keep things alive in our very hot summers. We had successes and failures as we learned how to grow in this climate. We added a water tank to help out.

DH developed his home handyman skills and then became our jam maker and food preserver.

I commented at the start of 2010 "it is with a sense of amazement at what changes I made, mostly as a result to the way I changed my thinking. It seems to me that if 2010 is going to be better as a year for me, it is important to notice this and to build upon it".

Each year built our skills and the infrastructure we needed to live more simply. We added even more shade to the house so that we could stay cool without airconditioning.

I changed jobs -three times! Gradually I became a part time worker, and public transport became my go-to choice for getting around.

We paid off the mortgage which freed up both of us (eventually) to work part time.

I learned how to quilt- and this blog almost got completely taken over by quilting until I added a tab to the blog.

http://earthmotherwithin.blogspot.com.au/p/home.html

I nagged the family about recycling following the lead from online mentors like Rhonda at Down to Earth. We put a 'no junk mail' sign on our letterbox and the world of sales catalogues left us for ever. Now we buy things when we recognise a need for them!

I became a passionate enthusiast for vintage sewing machines -see the whole herd here.

Our family changed over the eight years. We lost people we loved and pets who had been here for decades.

We gained a lovely daughter in law and two fabulous little grandchildren.

We got older -and our lives have got simpler. What we spend our time on is much more our choice.

It has been a lot of fun to look back over my 8 years of blog posts. It is a wonderful record of our journey towards simplicity.

Beauty shots: playground days quilt

At last I found a dry afternoon and got my beauty shots of the recently completed Playground Days quilt. 

My grand daughter is here in Perth this weekend which is just before she is turning 4. So nice to be able to give it to her in person. 

The rhythm of the season of autumn

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” 
― Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

The season has broken, the rains have arrived.

My quilt is back on the bed.

Soup is back on the menu. 

I have been wearing my long black pants to work again.
The umbrella has been broken out, after a search to find it.
Yesterday, when attending an early morning vigil in the streets of Perth, I wore my full length raincoat.
Some time soon I will need to find my leather gloves, and the cute beret I found last time I was in Tasmania.

It is time to take down the shade sails and blinds from around the house, and let the winter sun come in.

We have started turning on the electric booster on the solar hot water system -but after months and months of free hot water, that is OK. It is part of this season.

The snuggle quilts I have draped over our chairs will be put into use in cool nights.

Simple Living Autumn challenges for us:

• Finding ways of getting exercise when the rain falls and we don't want to walk outside. We have been looking at adding a swim at the local pool as something to do to mix up our exercise. We can get a seniors discount on 10 tickets -might be worth doing.
• Adding lime to the garden beds -they have got acidic over the years and have been producing less and less
• The citrus harvest will come in shortly. DH has made the most amazing Myer Lemon jelly which is bursting with flavour, but we have the grapefruit just about in, and then it will be the tangellos. 

How does the change of seasons work where you are, I wonder? 

That end of the project feeling!

Playground Days is finished, washed and dried but the weather has been so wet and dull I haven't got a good picture yet. 

I spent the day cleaning the sewing room. 

I allowed myself to throw out some tiny scraps and anything that I was too bored to use in a quilt! 

Leftovers from the last two projects were cut into the sizes I keep. 

My friend brought back the Singer 328 so I tidied up and set her up for a get to know you session. She is doing very well! 

Tell me, it is not weird to have 6 sewing machines, is it?