What An Adventure.....

We set off on Thursday morning for our 'Epic Journey'. All packed with the good ol' 1970s airpot and the home baked ANZAC cookies. We were travelling in the poor old four wheel drive this time, which hasn't been allowed to venture far from home since the fuel price increases. She was chewing at the bit to be allowed to head up into the mountains like the good old days. We head over the mountain via Thunderbolt's Way- a lovely road that links the coast with the inland plains.

We stopped for a picnic lunch at Nowendoc, a little "area" ( couldn't even call it a town) that consists of a shop on a hill, a hall and a police station/residence. We always stop there as our half way point. This time, it was the COLDEST picnic I have ever had. The wind was blowing and it was ICY.

Determined not to be beaten I set out the table cloth, pinned down by everything I had in the basket and proceeded to make lunch. Lovely sandwiches and fresh coffee. Well..... the kids ended up eating in the car and hubbie and I huddled up together, making ongoing comments about how lovely the day was, if it wasn't for the wind. At one point my long hair was standing straight up! - should have got a photo. LOL When the wind turned and my hair flew into my mouth with the sandwich I realised it was time to move on. - As we were packing up the clouds were rolling in and I said..... "they look like snow clouds over there" ( I hadn't read your comments at this stage)

Well...................... just up the road we were greeted with this.................

The kids went mad! As we drove on there was more and more snow. The pine forest near Nundle was like something out of a movie. We all got out of the car, took lots of photos and played in the snow. The funny thing was that it was a really warm day at home and the kids were in shorts and t-shirts. As we drove along, they started singing Christmas carols...... ( well, if you count ' jingle bells, batman smells' as a carol). If you are a fan of the Australian movie the Castle, you would understand our delight when we were proclaiming " why would you want to go to the gold coast when you can have this!"

Here are some more photos. The bottom one is taken at the Nundle Woolen Mill.

A Winter Break.

Last week we finally got our tank of petrol off layby, remortgaged the house for the second tank and set off for a little tripping around. Ahhhhh the sweet freedom. No deadlines, no return date, no expectations.

First stop was to stay with friends in Sydney - a little place in the Sutherland Shire called Oyster Bay. The sign says " a little bit of country in the middle of the city" and I have to agree. The Kookaburras are the loudest alarm clock and there are plenty of possums about.

It's always nice to go down there and see the progress on our friends house. They have done the most wonderful renovations on their block over the last few years and I was lucky enough to get some super pumpkin seeds to plant.

While we were there we caught the train into the city and spent the whole day at the Powerhouse Museum. It was wonderful and I could have spent a lot more time there. The boys really enjoyed it.

On one of the days we tripped down to the South Coast to see some of the places I used to live.

( Shame you weren't home Libby, I could have used a cup of tea and a chat! ) I navigated us around Albion Park, Oak Flats, Mt Warrigal, Shellharbour. It has all changed so much. I did manage to get a couple of photos of houses that I lived in for my scrapbook. They have really changed, especially the house at Mt Warrigal. Someone has rendered over our lovely 70s red brick ! LOL The photo above is of Hubbie fooling around at the beach at Shellharbour.

We came home on Monday night. Just enough time to unpack and wash, build another couple of garden beds, plant some seeds and plants, bake some bread, cakes and ANZAC biscuits and now we are off again, This time we are heading out to Quirindi to have some time with Hubbie's family. I am looking forward to the trip over the mountain and stopping at the little town of Nundle. We will stay there for a few days then I will meet my Mum in the Hunter Valley and head over to Dubbo with her because my Grandmother turns 101 on Tuesday.

So....... with news headlines this morning that petrol has reached $1.75 per litre, you can see why I am remortgaging the house for this trip ! LOL. It will be our last for a while now. So that will allow me to lay-by the next tank of petrol for another trip.

On the home front, there has been so much happening. Once I am home I will upload a progress report, but the exciting news is that Hubbie and No2 son enjoyed two home grown tomatoes this week on their sandwich and Hubbie reported the taste as 'sensational'. So, that's good.

Signing off now......... time to fill my 1970s airpot with hot water and pack my basket with lovely home baked goodies and head off over the mountain, coasting down the other side to save petrol.

We Apologise for The Break In Programming.....

The past two months have been a huge transition time in my life and in our house.


I have decided that I will leave my paid employment and come home. The reason it is such a huge transition is this. I used to be a teacher. While I was off work on maternity leave I did a law degree and in October 2005 I began working for a large law firm. I was admitted as a solicitor in 2006.


Working as a lawyer is really a great profession, despite what stereotyping may tell you. I worked in an area of law that really helped people in crisis. The best thing about helping them was that it didn't cost them anything. I enjoyed this because I enjoy helping people. I get a real 'buzz' from empowering others.


Over the last couple of years I had been questioning my priorities. Making money is a very good thing, as it gives you choices. But making money doesn't do it for me. It sounds like such a cliché but money doesn't necessarily bring me happiness. The lack of money ( and I have been there too) gives me anxiety where as the middle ground brings me joy. The problem with making good money in a job is that you constantly trade your time for the money. Throughout my life it always seems a shift between having lots of money and no time or having lots of time and no money. So I have been on a quest for the middle ground. What if I could design my life the way I want to. After all, nothing is permanent. If I make the wrong decision I can go back, can't I ? There are thousands of sheets of notepaper laying around this house with lists. When the going gets tough, the tough make lists! Lists of pros lists of cons, lists of values, lists of qualities, lists of strengths, lists of weaknesses, lists of assets and lists of liabilities. Lists of goals, aims,objectives. Not that I am into astrology but apparently I am the typical Libran- weighing it up all the time.



Then on the 19th of April I got a call to say that a friend from work had lost her husband all of a sudden. This was a lady who is a real role model to me. She has two children about 18 and 21 and they were a very close and loving family. I looked at her son and hoped that I would be able to raise my sons to be fine young men as well. There she was in her mid 40s - a widow. She had lost her beautiful husband so suddenly. As I sat at the funeral I realised that life is as delicate as a butterfly's wings. It clings to us like a fine spider web that is gone in a breath of wind. Yet we treat it like it is permanent, like it is set in stone, that somehow it is our right to have it for as long as we demand. Truth is, it can be blown away with any breath of wind like a dandelion seed.


With this new found perspective I listed on yet another list what really brought me joy and how I really wanted to design my life and how I really want to raise my children. It always comes back to the way of the old days. How did they afford to live ? Of course they didn't have many of the 'luxuries' that we call every day items, but human needs have not changed at all in the last 50 years. We still need water, food, shelter and love. The only thing that has changed is our unquenchable need for items introduced to us via advertising. We buy because we have a need to fulfill. The items fill that need for short period but then we need something else to fill the void. What is the void we are trying to fill ? We needs in our human psyche are not being met ? The great philosopher Epicurus surmised that we need friends, freedom and an analysed life, that is, to discuss the philosophy of life with friends, while sharing good food. I think I tend to agree with him.


So... once I made the decision there was no turning back. Suddenly there arose a further list of very important things. A To-Do-List of the mammoth proportions. Firstly, secure food. As I have always thought, my Grandmother would never have had only some parsley and coriander in the garden and told the kids to get in the car and take them to McDonalds! Of course there was no McDonalds and no car ! LOL


It was just taken for granted that there would be things to eat in the garden. So..... we built more garden beds and started studying up on when to plant and when to harvest etc. At the moment, there is not much to show for our efforts because it is winter, but the seeds are sown for a wonderful spring.


I have been doing quite a bit of reading. I have stated many times before that no matter what perspective an article is written from it always adds up to the same conclusion to me. Whether it is about green living, peak oil, permaculture, frugal living, voluntary simplicity etc etc it always comes back to living like it's 1940. So I will take on many things from the past whilst keeping the treasures of our modern society.


Only my closest friends can truly understand my reason for living my career, that is, "that I have an overwhelming need to till the earth while my children are young" LOL ! I am sure that many will believe that I have had some sort of breakdown. If you remember the very first episode of "The Good Life" you will be laughing now I am sure.


I guess this means it is time to put my money ( or lack of it) where my mouth is and commence the experiment. Can a thoroughly modern mum live freely in a modern world. Can she produce food? Can she cook from scratch? Can she knit socks(gulp!)? Can she raise chooks for eggs? Can she learn to sew properly (gulp!) and........ can she still afford to buy the occasional vanilla latte on skim milk that has become her signature coffee ?


I believe that my user name "BusyWoman" is about to become an extremely accurate assessment of the days to come. I look forward to it with a sick sense of excitement. I hope you will stick around for the journey.

Making Money - The Entrepenuer in Me.

There is always a lot of talk about saving money. However, even after you have squeezed every last cent out of the budget there are things that have to be paid for - rates, electricity, petrol (!!)

As most of my readers know, I work completely in cash. Each week I withdraw the exact amount I need in the correct denominations. I put it away into categories for times when I need it. Whether the kids need new clothes or we are going on holidays or hiring a DVD - we always have the money there for it. If we don't have the money we don't do it! It is truly wonderful to know that it is only April and your 'Christmas' bag has lots of $20 notes in it already. It brings peace.

My question today, however, is what do you do currently or have you done in the past to bring money into your home. I don't mean your day job if you have one, I mean those extra entrepreneurial things that we often think up. I will start......

1. Tutoring kids

2. Teaching piano

3. Restoring photographs

4. babysitting

5. Teaching Scrapbooking

6. Writing people's life stories.

7. Selling on Ebay

8. Garage sales

9. Selling at 2nd hand stores

10. Markets

I love how in days gone by people made their own money. Lots of people worked for themselves. Small towns and villages had the local butcher baker and candlestick maker. Today we tend to think that we either have a job or we don't. Or that if we're only making a few dollars then it's not 'worth it'.

When you generate your own money - even if it's only $20, you have the satisfaction of knowing that therein lies a few cartons of milk, some fruit and veg and eggs!

So...... the question is over to you: How have you generated income yourself, or what would you love to do if you knew you couldn't fail or you had all the time you needed ?

Post your reply in the comments section or send me an email and I will put together a list for everyone to enjoy. If you would like to tag some friends to participate simply paste the link to this post into their comments section and ask them to post here.

To get started I am tagging:

http://www.sunnycornerfarm.blogspot.com/

http://crazy-mumma.blogspot.com/

10 Tips for Reducing School Morning Stress

Tips for reducing the morning stress.


1. Have all clothes ironed and ready the night before.


2. Put children's clothes in a place where they can easily access themselves. We put our boys clothes over the same chair every day so when they go to get dressed everything is there.


3. Prepare notes the night before. We have a thin folder for communications between school and home


4. Have lunch boxes out ready to be packed. Depending on what foods you include, some can be prepared the night before.


5. Have an early bed time. Reduce stimulation well before bed time – have quiet music, relaxing baths, turn of TV, read aloud etc


6. Start early in the morning. Don’t leave everything until the last minute when you have to run around madly.


7. Have children do their ‘morning jobs’. Kids thrive on rhythm and routine. Depending on their age they may be able to do their own jobs such as making the bed, tidying their room etc.


8. Get yourself ready early. Get up before your children so you have a head start on the day.


9. Take the time to have a good breakfast.


10. Turn off the TV in the mornings. Time always go slower when the TV is off.








If you can implement these things it will bring peace to a very busy time of the day.

THIS IS AMAZING !

Never under estimate that one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Because of all the rain, I started having another clean out and listed some items on Ebay. I listed the DVD of "All The Rivers Run" an ABC series.

I listed it for $11 thinking that was a reasonable price for the whole series. It currently sits at $81 dollars!!!!! Holy Dooley !!! That is absolutely incredible.

Is there something that someone isn't telling me ? Why is it such an incredible price ?

Our Simple Life

In keeping with Rhonda at Down to Earth's challenge, I am writing a post that summarises our approach to simple living.

The whole basis of our lifestyle is captured in my blog tag " - Live Simply, Live Joyfully. Follow the old paths, they are tried and true". The 'Vision Splendid' is the ideal that my family and I are trying to move towards. We are far from it, but the journey is a lovely one.

There are four of us. Me, Hubbie, and two sons aged 6 and 9. I work outside the home 4 days per week and hubbie is now the stay at home Dad. Because we avoid commercial TV we find that we live in a parallel universe. We have no idea about trends, sales and gadgets! We think it is quite funny.

Our underlying philosophy comes from old fashioned living as we saw with our grandparents.

We LOVE the sustainable way of living in the 1940s. We often chat about how our families were 'self sufficient' without really knowing it because everybody was ! They had their own water supply, grew everything, raised their own meat. cooked everything from scratch and never had a garbage truck come to collect all their rubbish each week!

We believe that there is a lot to be learned from the old ways. By applying this philosophy we keep our lives simple and joyful. We have jumped off the treadmill of constantly acquiring stuff to make ourselves feel better and then constantly having to work to keep up. We have less income now but more savings because we don't need 'stuff'.

In practical terms this means the following:

1. Living within our means in a small house with no debt

2. No commercial TV

3. Cooking from scratch
4. Finding old 'sturdy' items second hand rather than a constant supply of cheap 'made in china' items that need replacing every 12 months
5. Spending quality family time together
6. Baking our own bread
7. Brewing our own beer
8. Fixing things ourselves
9. Growing what we can
10. Doing our own renovations
11. Using the town library as a resource
12. Buying local produce
13. Composting our food scraps
14. Minimising plastic packaging on foods
15. Avoiding petrochemicals in products
16. Work on a completely cash budget
17. Changing all lights to CFLs
18. Line dry the washing
19. Menu planning
20. Buying Australian grocery items where local not available
21. Stockpiling

22. Managing my home in a single binder

23. Getting ahead by applying the 6P principle

24. Having a planning day once a week

25. Having a cooking day once a week

26. Work hard at 'saving' through the year for an annual holiday

27. Using old fashioned items and remedies - e.g. washup with sunlight soap, put eucalyptus oil on your hankie if you feel a cold coming.

28. Wear an apron to keep your clothes clean
29. Turn the TV off and read out loud to my children
30. Wear hand me downs
31. Avoiding food additives and chemicals

We also formulated our own family eco-challenge after watching the Carbon Cops series on the ABC last year. Here are the areas we focused on:

1. Energy

a) Turn off lights when not in use

b) turn off appliances at the wall

c) Have shorter showers

d) install energy efficient light bulbs

e) use re-chargeable batteries

2. Water

a) shorter showers and water saving showerheads

b) catch cold water when waiting for hot to come through – use this to fill water bottle and kettle

c) wash up in the small sink

d) flush when necessary

e) install water tanks

3. Transport

a) Ride bikes to school and work
b) Limit trips to town – by planning and grouping trips

c) Get Dad to ride motorbike to town for smaller items/ errands

d) Walk

e) Find cheaper fuel, drive more economically

4. Garbage

a) Compost Food Scraps

b) Stop Getting Plastic Bags

c) Buy items with less packaging

5. Consumption

a) Don’t buy unnecessary things

b) Work on a cash budget

c) Use things sparingly-

d) Do instead of buy – make it yourself.

This is an ever growing and changing list.