Words

Heavy rain falls outside. It is school holidays and Phil and his mates are gathered inside playing electronic games, a contrast to last week when they spent every day boogie boarding at the beach.

Wet clothes and bed sheets hang from a clothes line in the garage, drying slowly. I feel virtuous for; not using the clothes dryer, digging a second compost heap and setting up a garbage processing corner in my kitchen. It is stocked with newspaper, plastic bags, bread bag clips and twist ties for recycling, and the compost container - the idea being that if it's all laid out neatly in front of us, we will all find it easier to use than before, when everything was in a different drawer or cupboard. The most interesting thing I have found on examining our rubbish more closely, is that there is so much plastic! Time to examine my shopping habits more closely too. Conscious shopping.

My enthusiasm to dig a Vegie patch has been put on the back-burner until the rain-sodden soil drys out a little. No complaints from me though cos a rainy day is perfect for studio time, journal playtime.

These words spoke to me...

Growing Your Own

Like me, you've probably been hearing a lot about how we must live in a sustainable environment, or face a bleak future. For me at home, it means recycling, re-using, repairing, growing our own organic food (currently parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme, strawberries, lemons), catching, storing and reducing water consumption, not buying packaged products where possible, using cloth shopping bags, wrapping rubbish in newspaper (like our Grandmothers used to) instead of using plastic, turning off the lights (just so you know - beeswax candles are the purest to burn, environmentally speaking), walking where possible, practicing frugality ..... there are so many things that can be done.

I have not been a perfect example of these things in the past, but I know I must give it my full attention from now on. No excuses, dedicated passion is required!

I have just filled an exercise book with plans for a Vegie garden i.e. permaculture, water storage, composting, fertilizing, mulching, planting - I hope to use the phases of the moon (see also the back pages of the Australian Women's Weekly if you're an Aussie), pests will need to be controlled by natural means (eg coffee grounds to deter snails, squishing or re-locating :) , not spraying).......

If you're a gardener like me you'll appreciate how exciting this is! At the library I found some great inspiration in 'Lawns into Lunch - Growing Food In The City' (not certain if it's still in print). It is all about creating a vegie garden in an Australian suburban backyard, taking into account the challenges of limited space, sunlight and council regulations. The people contributing to this book are not horticulturalists, they are ordinary people like you and me, from many different cultural backgrounds, some with only apartment balconies and small backyards. One Uni student even turned a nature strip into a community vegie garden! How good would that be?!

All good for the environment, our health and our pockets. If only we could all do this at home, no matter how small the effort, imagine the impact it would have .....

Abundant Garden

This painting was an awful hotch potch for me, or let's just call it an experiment! Somehow, I managed to finish it, despite all the ideas for my NExt painting coming in thick and fast while in the middle of this one. I chose not to use the familiar black outline this time. Despite two incomplete 'Lucy' paintings in my cupboard, I'm thinking I want to depart from the fantasy style for a while and maybe do something a little more......?? .... a little more what? It's like an itch that I'm trying to scratch and we'll just have to wait and see!

Check out the website of artist Lynne Feldman I fell in love with her amazing Collage Tapestries, coming away with loads of inspiration.

Six Word Memoir

It's been a long while since I've been tagged and this one from Kelly was a challenge in the way a Haiku poem can be. A six word memoir. These six words sum up what I have learned in this life so far. If I had more words I would throw in 'and smile while you're doing it' !

Live now,
Live kind,
Live true.

This section of journal page was inspired by a book I borrowed from the library on African design, which was full of beautiful colour and simplicity.

These are the rules if you choose to accept the tag:

1.) Write a six-word memoir, post it on your blog (add an illustration if you like).
2.)Link to the person that tagged you in your post.
3.)Tag five more blogs with links.
4.) Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.

Cate, Eileen, Happyluau, Suki and Martie