the fruits of my labour

I recently bought this set of decorative fabric hoops from Aunty Cookie’s Etsy shop. I cannot tell you how happy these hoops make me every time I look over at them. It’s rather embarrassing to admit, but I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve bought something for the house that is purely aesthetic and not at all utilitarian. Unless you count pot plants. Which are kind of utlitarian anyway, if you consider their contribution to improving the indoor air quality. Anyway, I love these fabric hoops and I love that they come from someone working not too far from me. I think this is the start of many more Etsy and aesthetic-driven purchases for the home.

As I mentioned in my previous post, we’re moving. This will be the tenth move of my life so far and my seventh since I first left home at 18. I know that some people move all the time and for many, this would be no big deal at all. But because I’m such a homebody, it’s a big deal to me. And I’m sure that because we rent and have to move so often, it’s why I never really make our house feel like a home. It’s like because it’s never really my home, I don’t really want to invest myself too much in the home. Also, renting makes it hard to make the changes you’d like to make and it gets hard ( at least I find it hard) to keep adjusting your setup every time you move. Who knows if/when we’ll ever own our own home, so maybe I’ll just have to get over it. Maybe I’ve started to. We’ll be moving in a couple of weeks (we found somewhere acceptable) and although it’ll be painful, I’m kind of looking forward to the fresh start, especially as we have done a lot of decluttering and intend to do more.

What I do know is that wherever my family is, is my home. Corny, but true.

Lowlights:

• having nausea and a headache (and other delightful symptoms that come with a gastro-type bug) for six days straight
• trying to convince people that I was sick and not pregnant
• not having the strength to make hot cross buns or cook a fish meal for Good Friday (not that we’re religious; it’s just a tradition we like to uphold)
• entering the eighth week of having an unreliable oven and continually being told they’re “waiting on a part”
• finding out the property our rented house is on is going up for auction next month
• contemplating finding a new place to live and then moving (possibly my least favourite thing to do)
• not getting any sewing done
• eating too much Easter chocolate
• not getting any blogging done

Highlights:

• receiving a visit and some gifts from my parents on their way back to Tasmania after holidaying in Malaysia
• eating fish and chips by the river with Chris and the kids on Good Friday (above)
• watching the second series of Life on Mars with Chris
• eating too much Easter chocolate
• hearing Isobel say “mama” over and over again
• learning my sister Emily, who’s been overseas for nearly a year will be back home for a couple of months soon
• seeing the wonderful Wilco at The Palace on Wednesday night with my sister Anna

Replacing: a stained and fusible interfacing covered old one. Inspiration: this one. Fabric: Japanese quilting cotton from Spotlight, plus part of the old one. Wrinkles, shoddy sewing and poor photography: all me.

To me, it really seems to be as easy as reduce, reuse, recycle. If toddlers watching Bob the Builder can catch on to this, we all can. So, what I try to do (and I’m by no means saying I’m a model citizen, but I definitely do try) is think about all my actions, particularly purchasing, usage and disposal. I try to buy only what I need and of that, I try to make sure I make the best choice, environmentally. Given the amount of choice available in nearly every product type, this can be pretty hard and sometimes I nearly have a breakdown in the supermarket aisle, but I try to stay calm and make the best choice I can, based on the information I have to hand. If I think I need more information to make a better choice in future, I attempt to make time for research.

And when something is no longer useful to me, I try to think of other ways in which I can use it, and if I can’t, then I look for the best method of disposal. Food scraps go to the worm farm, recyclables go in the recycling bin (corks to the zoo, batteries and light bulbs to Ikea), items that might not be useful to me, but may be useful to someone else, leave the house via either eBay or Freecycle. If I can’t get rid of an item by any of these means, then it goes in the bin and off to landfill. I must admit I can procrastinate a bit on these decisions, which is one of the main reasons for the clutter in our house, but our rubbish (not recycling) bin is usually no more than half full each week. Which, for a household of our size and makeup, isn’t bad. (It helps that Isobel’s bottom has never seen a disposable nappy. ) Not that I wouldn’t like to improve on that. Sometimes I shudder at the amount of packaging some items are sold in, but we generally don’t buy anything over-packaged.

These are only small things, but if we all do them, the cumulative effect can be great. I truly believe that if we all make changes, however small they may seem in the scheme of things, they will make a difference. And if we can influence at least one person to change with us, then even better, because it doesn’t take long for another and another to be influenced.* However, there is more we can do. For example. in Australia, we have an election coming up next month. Firstly, I strongly urge you to ensure you and your family and friends are correctly enrolled to vote by 8pm this Wednesday, 17 October. If you’re not enrolled by this date, you will not be able to vote. Go here if you need help with this. Secondly, use your vote to let our leaders know what action you think needs to be taken to secure the future of this planet. After all, what else is there?

Thanks for listening.

*Yes, my blog is virtually unheard of, but I do know some people read it. (Hi, Chris!) If one person reads this and enrols to vote or thinks twice before accepting that plastic bag when shopping, it will have been worth it.