Sustainable Living August

This blog has always been about living life in a mindful and intentional way, for me this means that most of the decisions we make have been thought about carefully, even if we decide to continue as we are a decision has still been made.  When we take a product from a shelf in a shop or tap a button on a screen, should we stop and think about how it has got this point before we do so?  It can be hard to make decisions over many aspects of our lives, we are often far removed from the means of production and it can be hard to find out how this operates.  Maybe we shouldn't be thinking is there a more sustainable replacement for something, rather do we really need it at all?

To help me keep on track I have come up with some words that I will be using to keep my decision making mindful and intentional, and my life in general as sustainable as I can make it.  If you you want to join me you would be most welcome, either using the same words for inspiration or your own that are more meaningful to you.  These are the words (you can read my thoughts behind some of them here and here) that I have been using in August:

Nourish

I have been struggling once again to find recipes to eek out the contents of our veg box, I had hoped that the garden would be able to fill this gap but it wasn't to be.  We have been able to harvest courgettes, broad beans and salad leaves but we have not had much else.  I don't think the quantities that I am getting in the veg box are as big as I was getting this time last year when I started to get the box.  I am really looking forward to the farmers market restarting next month where I can get a supply of veg to top up the box.  I have not felt as inspired to cook anything new this month, so it has been more of the same old favourites.  A friend has recommended a new to her recipe book which I am going to order a copy of in the hope that it will inspire me!

I started harvesting and preserving a little this month.  We picked the blackcurrants, we have one bush which always gives us a good quantity, this year we picked 9lbs, the whitecurrants are now ready to be harvested.  The rhubarb has been abundant this year, loving the cooler temperatures that we have had, I have already frozen 3lbs and there is about another 6 or 7 lbs to harvest, I have given away quite a bit this year.  I was lucky enough to receive some plums and figs from a friend, I have frozen and dehydrated most of the plums and the figs got eaten, fresh figs are a luxury, they didn't last long!

Lessen

We have been going through many of our storage places this month, sorting out things that we don't make use of any more, or things that the children have outgrown.  We have a large bag of things for the charity shop, they are taking donations, you have to make an appointment to drop them off, I need to arrange that. We also have a bag of clothes ready to pass onto friends with children that are younger, I am not sure when that will be possible and the place they are being stored in is rather full already.  We have also listed a few items online to sell through eBay.  It was a job that was long overdue, the house is getting rather full again, it is a job that often gets neglected in the busyness of life.

Thankful

At the end of last year I had an acupuncture appointment for the first time, it was a difficult time for me and it helped with the overwhelm of some of the things that I was dealing with.  I have needed it again this month and it never ceases to amaze me how restoring it is.  The first of my most recent appointments I attended I felt so anxious and overwhelmed, but I managed to fall asleep whilst the needles were in and felt so relaxed when I came out, I was surprised I was able to drive home!  

Create

My shawl is off the needles, blocked and has most of the buttons that it needs.  I found a suitable button in my local sewing shop but they only had 25 and I need 30, I have bought them and sewn them on whilst I wait for some more to come into stock.  I hope I haven't made a mistake doing that as the next batch may not match!  I am looking forward to being able to wear this once it is finally finished and will share photos when I have been able to buy the extra 5 buttons I need.  I wanted a small project once the shawl was  complete, I went through my stash of yarn, mostly the ends of balls from other projects, and found a ball to make a hat.  I have no idea what this yarn is as I don't seem to have recorded anywhere what I originally bought it for, I also had no idea how much I had left.  I did a bit of maths by weighing 5g and measuring it, to guesstimate how much was on the whole yarn cake, I am hoping I have enough to knit my hat!

Grow

My garden has been a real disappointment this month, after the lovely warm days we had in spring I had high hopes that we might have a warm summer but it hasn't been so, it has been really Autumnal here for most of the month with the odd rare hot sunny day.  Not only have we had cool temperatures (around 15°C/59°F) it has also been overcast and grey so little is growing and ripening, we have also had high winds and storms on a couple of occasions so the garden is looking a little battered in places.  I have a few tomatoes in the polytunnel which are tiny and green, the cucumbers and courgettes have virtually stopped fruiting, the salad leaves have continued to be abundant, with a steady supply.  In the garden the leeks, cabbages and broccoli have hardly grown beyond the size they were when I planted them out.  I am hoping for a warm spell in September which we sometimes have it might mean the Sunflowers actually flower, they have the flower heads but I think it is too cold for them to actually bloom.

Sanctuary

I have once again been walking this month as much as possible.  It was somewhat hampered by a pain that started in my foot right at the end of last month, the pain had started when I was sitting with friend, I had been walking around shortly before but only around her house.  It is a cool house so my feet were rather cold, which is not unusual.  I rested it a little over the following days and then it seemed to improve so I continued to walk on it, we join friends to walk along a beach, through woods and up a steep hill for a swim in a tarn/small lake, the pain came and went, I think I was getting also used to it.  When it was still not improving three weeks later I looked closely at my toes and realised something was not right, I video called a friend who is a medic and we concluded that I had most likely dislocated a toe!  It is back in place now and the pain is completely gone but it has made walking a bit more painful this month!

Learning 

I have been so thankful for being able to fit in time for my yoga everyday, I have found it to be so calming and restorative this month for those times when I have had a lot to deal with.  I did some research and found some videos online to extend and improve my practice.  I have learnt many new poses this month, some that I thought I would never be able to do.   It has been a good challenge for me, building my muscle  strength - gently! 

Fun

The highlight of the month has to be a short visit by my brother, his partner and my nearly three year old nephew.  They were travelling back from a holiday and passing our house so they dropped in for a couple of hours.  We decided it would be best if went for a short walk together, we managed to pick the only two hours of the day when it was not raining!  It was so lovely to see the again, it has been seven months since we were last able to get together.  I was amazed that my nephew recognised us and was really excited to see us.

Thank you once again for reading through this very long post.  I realise that it may seem that I do an awful lot, I suspect you do to, if you were to write it all down like I have here.  You are most welcome to join me, either use the same words or your own which mean more to you, let me know in the comments below and I will head over and have a read.  I will post my Sustainable Living September roundup on Thursday 1 October.