New beginnings-and coming closer to the end

This is our new fridge!

The new fridge arrived this week. The old fridge has gone to a good home -my son has a friend just starting up a home of their own and they had no fridge, so this is a win-win situation.

Our new fridge has a high number of 'stars' which means energy efficiency for us when compared with the old one. We also get extra freezer space, which we will enjoy because we use it a lot for freezing stock, or left overs to make sure that they are still in good condition when next we decide to use them.
I have planted my raised garden bed with broccoli, red cabbages, cauliflowers and a few mizuna seedlings. It seems a bit early still, because our weather today was fine and around 29degrees C, but surely the autumn and winter will come soon?

My dear husband and I took off this afternoon to our very favourite Swan Valley restaurant and vineyard for lunch. Dear Jan and Bruno! Hostess and vigneron extraordinaire. We sat for hours and enjoyed fine food and wine whilst we dreamed of the next stages in our life journey.

That is what Little River has done for us on so many occasions. Given us the time and beautiful space necessary to really talk and dream together.

Of course, one of our big topics is the fact that I am now only 10 working days away from my long service leave! In my whole working life I have never had long service leave before, and the chances are I never will again. I am so looking forward to time to do all of those things I can't do when working full time.

I didn't always work full time. For the first 15 years of our married life at least, we shared one full time position, so that we could each work half time and devote the other half time to our family and our whole lives. That was a wonderful lifestyle, but it was not bringing in enough money to purchase a home of our own. So we took up other work and with it all the stresses of modern living.

We are now so close to achieving the end of our mortgage, and as our children are almost independent, we are hoping soon to gradually cut back on the hours we both work. Maybe not this year, maybe not next -but soon. We only need to work enough to allow the bills to be paid -we have simple needs and our commitment to a simple lifestyle makes those bills smaller and smaller over time.

What would we do if we did not work full time and our children did not need constant attention?

We talked about our dreams -everything from just being able to sit and read without feeling like we had to be productive all the time, to developing 'mastery' at some particular skill such as woodwork or veggie growing.

I am sure that we would have some kind of voluntary work to benefit the community.

I am sure it would be lovely to be able to choose what that community work was!

Lots of hopeful things were discussed, and hope is one of those things which make us more energetic and optimistic.

I will have some time on Long Service Leave to look carefully at our financial position and to begin to determine what our income level could be reduced to, without too much stress and strain. This will be a good first step on the road back to a balance in our life again.

Until then, gardening and lunch at our favourite restaurant occasionally will keep us going.

It was a great party!

It was a great party! In the afternoon my DH came home with a bunch of magnificent yellow flowers and so I had a great time arranging them to decorate the party table. Out came my 33 year old yellow tablecloth and my 33 year old lace cloth. Out came my collection of thrifted serviettes -no 'disposables' for us! Such style on almost no cost at all -the flowers were leftover from Church celebrations! It turns out that I have more than 25 serviettes -all collected from op shops for no more than $2 for four.

The food worked out great -although my slow cooker lasagne probably needed only half the cooking time. It was a Simple Saver recipe and it gave me the confidence to have a go. The egg and cornflour in the cheese sauce was very simple to do. The best thing about parties of course is the leftovers and there are enough of those to make sure we can enjoy special treats for days to come.
I had another pink bunch of flowers for the outdoor patio setting which gave it a lovely atmosphere. My fairy lights twinked beautifully.

There were about 20 of us. It rained. This confirmed my observation that the Autumn rains usually arrive at Easter in Perth -we had a good downpour but the patio blinds kept us all dry.

We were thrilled to meet my newest Grand Nephew -just a few months old. I was able to get a great aunt cuddle!

We caught up with each other's lives, we discussed the state of the world.

My brother and I swapped experience of growing veggies in the back yard. He has promised me some spaghetti squash seeds.

My DS and his friends sat in the family rooms and had a great time. It was so good to see these wonderful young people together.

We admired our young first time parents, so bravely going into the whole experience of looking after their precious charge.

We talked about what makes for a good life. Caring for each other, watching over the young ones, savouring the moment. It was lovely to have such a family time and you know what, we could not have been happier in a grand restaurant! The food was simple but well received, and the laughter was honest and good.

Simple living -if you want it.

Easter is a time to celebrate

This card came in the mail this week, from one of our local Churches. I love it! It is so inviting...to help people think about what Easter is all about, what all this egg giving is all about.

In our house, Easter is often a double celebration because my two lovely men, DS and DH are both celebrating their birthdays this weekend. So as well as the Maundy Thursday service, the Good Friday Stations of the Cross and the Dawn Service, we are also having a family party!

No painting the house, no camping holiday, no! We are full on in celebrating Easter and the life of these two wonderful guys.

I am going to be cooking for quite some time this weekend.

• I have a large slow cooker, and that is going to be the lasagne for feeding the hordes.
• I have a smaller round slow cooker, which will be a beef and bacon and wine casserole.
• I am going to be doing a potato bake in the oven
• Lots of cos lettuce out in the garden for Caesar salad
  
• I have enough basil and tomatoes to make a lovely bruschetta for starters
• There will be a lemon and poppy seed cake
• and sour cherries
• and finally there will also be my famous rose water flavoured fruit salad!

Monday is the day when friends and family will be here for dinner. I hope this glorious weather lasts. I love it when we get together.

Hope you are having a lovely celebration this Easter too.

Inspiration

Here is a pic of what I found at the Op Shop today -the cute apple tin and a Victorian-image- covered notebook. I also picked up some more boxes and tins (you can never have too many), and some cotton yarn.

I am getting so excited about my up-and-coming long service leave. We have booked ourselves in to a fabulous hotel on the ocean -with open fire in the bedroom-for our anniversary in Victoria. I have been looking at what shows are on in May in Melbourne and beginning to book them too.

I have been getting so much inspiration about craft and art projects from all sorts of sources. I will have so much time for all the craft I can't do when I am at work. There is beginning to be quite a list! Meanwhile I am enjoying Curlew Country -and I love her list of favourite blogs too.
Like Sal's snippets who has a pic of some bunting she made - I have bought some fabric to do something similar as part of my Easter decorating. These ladies from blogland in the UK have the same love of vintage and country and craft and thrifting as I do, and they fill my need for pictures of the old country too!

This is what my Easter table looks like this week, after my DH spoilt me with these lovely flowers. I hope to post pictures very soon of the next stage of my Easter decorating.

Nearly autumn

Most Gardening Gurus are talking about 'what to do in Autumn", but here in Perth we are just gently sliding away from the really hot days into the slightly cooler mornings. The day time is still quite warm though. A few exotic trees are beginning to look like they are thinking about changing the colour of their leaves. We had one brief shower of rain on Friday -I think it lasted three minutes!

So not really autumn yet, but it is on the way! I found this olive (above) in a garden when I was walking last weekend -I love the colour change as the berries go from green to that fantastic purple colour. I love the bougainvillea too -what fantastically generous plants. They are looking like this all around Perth at the moment.Native plants see Autumn in Perth as a kind of spring. They start to look healthy again after their summer 'shut down and survive' mode. Some are in flower and putting out wonderful new leaves like this Ficifolia:

I have been doing my own bit of creativity this week. I bought some styrofoam eggs and I have been painting them as part of my Easter decorative collection. My DH challenged me to put some effort into making the house look special for Easter, the way it does for Christmas.

Being interested in simplicity and thriftyness, the first thing I did was look at what I had in that could be used in new ways. I had some lovely tablecloths I had bought at Op Shops, and I had my ever-growing collection of religious icons (most in thrifted frames). The one which has special significance for Easter has Jesus rescuing Adam and Eve from hell -it is known as the Anastasis and means 'resurrection".

I had a little Easter Bunny with an egg, and I had some real bird nests I had found on my walks around the suburb. I think that new life is really the theme of Easter and that is what I am trying to show in the decorations.

I did indulge myself and buy one or two special things at my favourite store in Mandurah, though! In the market there is a store which has quite reasonably priced items and many of them are things that I can quite happily take home.

This is what I have in one corner of the loungeroom so far:


I have plans for an Easter Quilt, but the plans keep changing all the time! I want it to have the word "Alleluia" on it somewhere.

And I am in the middle of sewing cushion covers for the loungeroom and family room. I have been following some English blogs and finding so much inspiration. So much to do and so little time to do it. That is why I am looking forward to my Long Service Leave, which is not so far away now, and I have already made some plans and booked myself into some craft workshops.

What luxury it will be to have Three Months -getting paid and not going to work!

What is an achievement?

Last week I was fortunate to attend the Ethnic Community Council of WA and the Federation of Ethnic Communities' Council of Australia's first national Immigrant and Refugee Women's Conference in Fremantle.

The picture is of the Joys of the Women choir, who opened the conference with Italian folk songs. The lady in the gold hat in the foreground was just one of many people proudly wearing clothing that showcases their ethnic and cultural background.

The speakers and the participants showcased some amazing community organisations. People who had survived the most amazing disasters had not only rebuilt their own lives, but helped others to do so too. It was at times very sad, and there were tears. Many friendships were made or renewed, and there was lots of laughter.

I came away from it feeling very uplifted by the realisation, yet again, of the power of volunteering and the not-for-profit sector in general. One proverb says "women hold up half the sky" and there was lots of proof of that here.

Many of the participants are often overlooked by our mainstream culture. They do not get much in the way of recognition. Somehow it does not stop them!

Last night, my DH and I proudly watched our son graduate with a Bachelor of Music. The young and not-so-young graduates each testified to their dedication and persistence in the face of many obstacles. Each one stands ready to contribute to their world. The WA Academy of Performing Arts has developed some world-renowned actors and musicians. Many more of the graduates will do what they do best -uplift the community with their gifts, teach and mentor others to find their creative side, offer another way of looking at this world. They may not get rich this way, except in all the things that matter.

I am now reflecting yet again on what a real achievement in life is, and how little we pay proper attention to it. I am sure that the simple sustainable life is built in a simple and sustainable society in which we each contribute to overcome the struggles and enliven the celebrations.

Hoping you are the same.

Outwitting the price hike in power

West Australians are looking at considerable increases in energy costs over the next 12 months, particularly in electricity.

Our household energy use is fairly consistent at 19 units per day. This is not too bad for a house with 4 adults, and 8 computers. It could be better of course and the price hike is a good time for us to evaluate our strategies for saving on energy use and to start to make that 19 units go down some more.

We already have low energy compact fluorescent globes in all the light fittings which can take them. One of the issues for us is that the ceiling fans in most of the rooms have a light fitting which will not allow a compact fluoro. These ceiling fans are economical forms of cooling, and we also use them in winter to circulate the warm air from gas heating, but they are costly in terms of lighting.

Recently we installed two cheap wall lights from Ikea in our bedroom. We just got fed up with table lamps which were unstable and this seemed a great way to overcome the problem. One extra advantage is that we can put compact fluoros in these light fittings, which means that we can save too.

We have set ourselves up with power boards which allow us to turn off major electrical items like the TV when we have finished with them, but it is hard to develop the habit of actually doing this in everyone who uses them.

This week DH installed two of these wall lights in our family room. This room often has the light on, even when I think the light is adequate, because my DD or DS are in there with their laptops and they want a bit more light. If we can train them to use the wall lights rather than the light which is part of the ceiling fan, we can save here too.

The main big user of power, according to advice from the electricity company, however is the 'beer fridge". Like most West Australians we have an elderly fridge on the back patio and we use it to store our cool drinks and to hold party platters when we are entertaining. It was made before the idea of low energy refridgeration was thought of. I can't imagine not having the useful storage capacity of this fridge, but I recognise that this particular model has to go.

I think it is time for a more modern drinks fridge which can keep things cool without guzzling the power. We have a street verge clean up soon so I think this one is going out. I am looking for a second hand fridge of a newer type which will hopefully put our energy use under 18 units per day. I wonder how low we can go?

I can encourage everyone to turn things off at the wall, but I find that kind of habit is hard to develop and easy to lose again. That is why structural changes are most successful in our house. How about yours?