Simple. Sustainable. Frugal.

A two weekly round up of our progress towards simple, sustainable and frugal living.

Sustainable Things.

Vege market – The vege market is usually a weekly stop for us, and we are lucky to have access to many different vege markets around Wellington, while not quite a farmer’s market the produce is affordable, seasonal and reasonably local. We always make sure to take our reusable bags too to avoid any extra plastic.

Composting – what scraps can’t be given to the chickens go in to our compost bin, and it seems to have been a lot this week.

Chicken Coop – S. mucked out the chicken coop and the chicken poop has been doing wonders for our compost bin. She also added all of the sand from T.’s sandpit to the chicken’s run to help control the winter mud.

Selling things we no longer need or use – There are a few things sitting around our house that for whatever reason we no longer need or use, so in a spirit of minimalism, I have sold some of the them (on TradeMe and through Facebook Groups) this week, and it has felt lovely to know that they are finding a new home and as a bonus we are getting a little money back for them.

Frugal Things.

Meals out of leftovers – Using up leftovers is just par for the course in our family. Often they are my lunches, but this week we have turned them into dinners – leftover roast vege became mini egg frittatas, extra rice became egg fried rice the next day.

Eggs, eggs eggs – Oh my goodness we are overflowing with eggs this week. Our chickens have been very productive and so this afternoon with family coming around it’s quiche time.

Chicken Stew – S. made a delicious chicken stew a few weeks ago, but it was far richer than T. and I usually eat (S. is vegetarian) so we froze it and have been having it over rice, which is just the perfect way to calm down the richness of the stew while still be completely delicious. It’s done us quite a few dinners, including T.’s grandparents when they came to babysit so we could have a (rare) evening out.

Homemade treats – while I didn’t quite manage any baking this week myself, S. baked me some delicious afghans that T. and I have been enjoying all week, as well as a few treats for herself.

Homemade instant porridge mix – S. (being the domestic goddess that she is) mixed up some paper bags of oatmeal, sugar and apricots to make some easily microwaveable porridge mix for me to have at work, it’s lovely on cold days, but half a cup of oatmeal makes an enormous amount of porridge. So instead of bags I’m going to take a jar of it to school, so I can just have how much I feel like eating.

Secondhand merino – the sudden cold (freezing) turn in weather has sent me running to my merino, and seeing a few gaps in my wardbrobe, I turned to TradeMe and found a merino cardi and a merino tunic (different colour but same style to one I already have and love) in almost new condition to add to my wardrobe. Now I can just literally rotate tunics and cardis all winter and not have to think about what I am wearing. As a bonus both pieces were $10 or less.

Homemade wheat bags – After an unfortunate microwave incident in which S.’s wheatie caught on fire, we seriously debated a move to hot water bottles, but S. likes them boiling hot and after reading several reports about them bursting and causing serious burns, we decided to stick with wheaties. It’s really the only thing we use our microwave for, and mum and dad have offered us my Gran’s old microwave (which if far better than ours). So problem solved except for S.’s lack of wheat bag, but no worries there as I’d whipped up a few over the summer and it just needed to be filled.

 

Slow Things.

Reading – I have been reading Carl Honore’s book In Praise of Slow, which has been an interesting and though provoking read (though a little more theoretical than practical). Suprisingly, it’s given me some interesting things to think about with my dance business.

Bubbles – spontaneously last weekend kids from 3 neighbouring houses – we wall share a corner – spent about an hour blowing bubbles to each other across the fences, and climbing through into each others’ yards. It was lovely.

Down time – T. has had a lingering cold for the better part of the last few weeks and so he and S. have been having lots of downtime – plenty of snuggles and books.

Movie – S. and I had a very rare treat on Friday night – we went to a movie. Such things are usually reserved for birthdays, but since S.’s parents were in town, the offered to babysit and off we went. We saw Tea with the Dames and were the youngest in the audience by far but the movie was lovely and it was lovely to spend some time together.

 

Healthy Things

Sauerkraut – After reading about the benefits of fermented food (no I don’t like kombucha – too fizzy) I decided to add sauerkraut into my diet. As I have quite a penchant for German food, this has been a wonderful addition.

Vitamins – We have been keeping T. well stocked with vitamins through the winter to help keep his immune system fighting. He has a regular multi-vitamin, a magnesium tablet (seems to make quite a difference to his sleep) and an extra vitamin C.

Garlic – S. has been feeding us all with garlic (she can’t eat it but we can) to help fight off bugs. She has been doing it so thoroughly that I actually had to ask her to dial it back a bit this week. It does appear to be working though.

Inseason Herbals – Like T. I have had a bit of an underlying cold (or maybe it’s just winter). I really like the Sinus and Adult Respiratory Syrup from InSeason Herbals to help keep the immune system fighting.

 

Spiritual Things

OBOD Tea with a Druid – I have been enjoying listening to the Tea with a Druid sessions on FaceBook Live this week. Of course I am always quite after the fact so they are never actually live by the time I see them, but there are a lovely way to connect with my spiritual side.

Reading – I have been rereading The Druid Way by Phillip Carr-Gomm (Chief of OBOD) which is a lovely recount of a journey through the sacred landscapes of England.