Showing posts with label Slow living. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Slow living. Show all posts

4.03.2024

April Theme: Re-organise and Transition

In the Southern Hemisphere, April is in Autumn. 

The days here are still warmish, but there is a sneaking whisper in the wind. That whisper is saying 'winter's on its way'. 

This time of year always makes me think about the transition into winter. I start to prepare things for the cooler months. 

We often reserve spring time for cleaning, but there is a also a cleaning energy that arrives in April. It's more of a 'reorganise and transition' type of energy. 

I find myself packing things away from the summer, decluttering, washing bedding and preparing blankets knowing that I can still wash them and dry them in the warm sun well before winter arrives. 

I often think about herbs, oils, foods, flowers and other things around me with a seasonal view. 

It's a time for harvesting lots of rosemary, adding cinnamon to my coffee on cooler morings, using lavender oil on my pillow for a better sleep, baking apple pies and watching my trees turn from green to shades of yellow and then orange. 

My April summary would be:  

Word or Theme: Re-organise and Transition

Herb: Rosemary

Spice: Cinnamon

Oil: lavender

Fruit: apple

Colour: golden yellow

Seasonal Tasks: preparing bedding

Song: 59th Street Bridge Song (Simon & Garfunkel) 'Slow down'.

Garden tasks: harvest the last of the summer crops, prune back any overgrown plants, burn off the garden and tree lopping for charcoal and ash, prepare the soil and plant the winter crops like peas, broad beans, onion and garlic.

Does April bring a particular feeling for you each year ? What is happening where you live ?

Next year I will look back and see whether the April theme comes again on the wind.


1.14.2023

Making Tea

 





When we think about making tea, we immediately think of the brand, the bag, the pot. 

We are so conditioned to associate an item with a brand first and foremost. 

I can still recall jingles about tea bags from my childhood..... and that is frightening. Where is this data stored in my brain for all these decades ? 

Did you know that gresh spices make a lovely tea ? They are the same spices that I often use in cooking and you can buy them in bulk. 

For a refreshing tea, the basis would be coriander, fennel and cumin seeds, however, I like to 'spice mine up a little. 

I like to add some cardamom pods (broken open) and some cinnamon stick. I also add some mulberries from the freezer from last year's surplus. I like to call the tea ' Mulberry Spice'. 

You can make enough for a week or so by putting those ingrediatents into a dry jar. Don't woryy about quanities.... just find your own taste and change it up as you like. 

I have a little jar that I fill when I am travelling. 

I have a little tea strainer ball that cost me $1.00! I also use an old inside of a tea pot... or if you like, why not make the pot! 

The point is, it's straight from the jar.... sooooooo cost effective, no packaging (after the bulk purchase) and you can change it to suit the season and your taste. 

It is the perfect ritual to start the day with.... to sip slowly.... to be at peace..... THEN, you can dive into the coffee and the crazxy world. 

9.23.2015

Old Wisdom and the Spring Equinox in Australia


















I just love spring! It has such a special feel to it.

The Spring Equinox happens in Australia between September 21 and 23. This year it happens today at 6.23pm.

Mathematically, we are at a quarter point for the seasonal year. Day and night are completely equal in time and from tomorrow day will be longer than night.

This balance in the earth’s days reminds me that we should stop and calibrate things in our own lives. We should seek balance. This often means that we need to do a clean sweep, re-evaluate and change things a little.

In days of old, the Spring Equinox held great hope to people because it symbolised the end of the cooler weather, the emergence of seedlings and the anticipation of new crops. The houses were opened and the soot of winter fires cleared out.

We still hold onto this time of ‘Spring Cleaning’. It’s time to pack away blankets, tidy our cupboards, donate clothing that doesn’t fit and generally de-clutter.

We take this time to sow our summer seeds, work out what seedlings we will need and think about harvesting what is abundant now.



Lavender is in abundance at the moment, which tells me it is time to make new skin care products and soap. After harvesting this crop of lavender and picking some rosemary and spinach for dinner, the house smelt sensational ! 


On the 28th of September I celebrate my birthday, another reason to stop and think about the season and the year to come.

The many new colours of the flowers, the sounds of the birds and the smell of a potential summer breeze on the wind makes me stop, think and bring everything back into balance, ready for a fresh new season.

Do you have a spring ritual, a cleaning ritual or any other special things you do to bring in the new season ? 



8.04.2015

The Fire Pit




The boys had been wanting to build a fire pit for some time. They had been very mathematical in measuring out the hole, planning the surrounds and dreaming of their nights toasting marshmallows.



There was quite a lot of clay where they decided to put it, so the digging was quite difficult.

Unfortunately, it rained and rained not long after they dug their hole and it become nothing more than a duck pond for quite a few months.

They had almost given up on the idea and signed it over to the ducks permanently, but as the cold nights hit, they had a renewed interest in the project.




They dug it out and lined it with old bricks, tiles and anything else they could find.




Of course, when it came to lighting, no ordinary match would do. They wanted to experiment with lighting a fire with a battery and some steel wool. It worked really well.


 As they built up the layers of wood they could find from around the property, it settled into a beautiful warm fire. We moved some chairs down there and brought down a really nourishing meal of slow cooked meatballs and mash and all sat around chatting.

It was such a slow relaxing night. It felt like we were camping, but we were 100m from the house.


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