Gardener's "Gold"

My worm farm is overflowing.
Okay, so if you know me you probably realise I am prone to exaggeration.
But it is pretty close.
We (Munchkin and I) only emptied it a few weeks ago.  And it is again nearly full to the brim.
The corn is probably what tips the balance these days, but we don't put cobs, just the leaves as the worms actually like them.  And if it wasn't that it'd be something else.  Feijoa skins if we get enough given to us!  Or cabbage, cauli and pumpkin from winter soups.

It's a great worm farm, and family sized.  But I guess we just eat a lot of fresh food. 

A good problem to have, but I am still not comfortable with leaving good food wasting in a rubbish bag when it could instead be enriching my garden and therefore my food and personal well-being.  Big garden prunings go in the fadge in the back corner.  My dad is going to swing by and add it to his truck one day when he has room on a green waste run for his business.  But that's nearly full too.  After just a couple of months...and we have at least 4 deciduous trees on this small section and autumn on the way.

I've wanted a compost bin for awhile.  Actually, I'd like two.  Just basic ones, nothing too fancy, but one that is being filled and one that is decomposing.

This is the week.

I finally bought one!

I found it at the Warehouse.  It's similar to my mother-in-law's which I know works well for them.  It fits snugly where the worm farm was (till it got too hot and was moved under the lemon tree).  And it cost me $30.  And I managed to put it together (just!) by myself.  Grin.

 

It already has some prunings and a container of food scraps in it.  Hooray!

I took a few photos of the garden while I was out there this morning.  It's been a long time since I recorded what is in it...

Beside the house.  Dry, and needing some soil TLC but still growing tomatoes (aren't my stakes fascinating?!)...some violets conveniently found it too hot and died off so I now have a bit more space for my veges...as I already transplanted violets under the lemon tree where they are very happy I remain unfazed. 

Beside the shed. Another rather dry little garden. The rosemary and fennel were here when we arrived.  Will be taking the fennel out soonish, I've just left it to self seed into the garden beside it.

The 'main' vege garden at my house.  Area on left to be planted in beetroot soon.  Zucchini taking over lawn.  Kale (dark green at back), and celery.  And I've got herbs along the front. 

So there you go.  Hopefully a richer garden soil next year than this, but good food to eat anyway in the meantime!

Amy - proud compost-bin-owner

When You're Feeling a Little Bored

Sometimes even a good thing can become a little same-old-same-old.

You know, when you've used it so many times that you're just feeling a little jaded?

Seemingly overnight, something that you or your kids just LOVED for weeks and weeks is now sitting, unused, forlorn, forgotten, gathering dust.  The kid's moved on.  The old toy's forgotten.  And you're left with a house full of unused stuff.

Ever found that happen in your house?

I think one of the great unacknowledged tragedies of our modern, instant-gratification, new-is-best generation is our inability to really milk something for all it's worth.  We're really not good at getting every little drop of use and goodness out of things before discarding them for something newer, faster, brighter, shinier.  Our landfills are testament of our passion for the short-term fling, the buy-it-cheap, use-it-fast, and throw-it-away-as-soon-as-it-starts-looking-tired mentality.  It's sad.  And what's even more sad is that we're raising an entire generation (several of them in fact) who know only this.  They don't really know how to look after belongings to make them last the length of a person's lifetime.  They don't know how to repair, mend, or replace parts to renew an old appliance or give new life to an old toy.  They don't know how to use their imaginations to create something new from something old.  They get easily bored, easily distracted, easily led to the latest gadet or fad leaving behind them a wake of half-used toys, discarded clothes, and unwanted gifts.

But what do you do?  It's such a pervasive attitude that runs throughout our entire society, half the time I find myself giving in to it without realising why.  Why do I need new cushions?  Does it really matter that a few of them don't match, when I have a pre-schooler who likes to play with them, drool on them, and pillow fight with them?  Surely I could just wait a few years.

I've watched friends give away or sell unwanted toys, after discussions with their child about how they don't use it any more so they should let another child have it instead.

I know a few folks who hide half the toys in a back cupboard somewhere, while the child plays with the others.  Then every few months some toys are 'swapped out' with cupboard ones.  It's like having new toys all over again!

Here's a solution from the Munchkin:  When you get bored of using something for one purpose, find another way to play with it.  Engage your imagination.  You'll have already seen that Munchkin LOVES his sandpit.  He loves to dig in it, he loves to zoom cars around a  race track or through bridges.  But even sandpit play can get boring.  Recently the cars got to have a rest, and the toy animals came out to play instead. 

It was amazing listening to my little guy create intricate story lines around all the things his animals were doing!

So, when you find your kids (or yourself!) a little bored, perhaps instead of something completely new, it might just be time to move things around a bit, change how you play with or use them, see them in a different light?

What creative ways has your family reused or otherwise adapted the use of something recently?

Amy

Christmas Stars

Well, Christmas has well and truly come and gone.  The decorations are now safely wrapped in bubble wrap, tucked in their box under the stairs.  Our lights are still up, however, because we love them so, and we've hardly used them (Christmas lights really are a waste in New Zealand - the middle of summer, it's hardly dark before we adults are going to bed, I think we should just put them up in winter so we can really enjoy them to their full extent!).

I tried to do some crafty activities with Munchkin this year, seeing as he is three and a half.  We made paper chains, we did some thumb print ornaments, we baked gingerbread stained glass stars for our neighbours, we made button ornaments and start ornaments.  I tried to find ideas that would work for small fingers and a short attention span, that didn't require me to buy very many extras, and that were hopefully encouraging Munchkin to grasp our worldview of Christmas.  Tried doing dot-to-dot pictures for instance, but I was disappointed to find that almost every available one online that had less than thirty numbers was about Santa, reindeer, stockings, or snowmen.  Just not quite what I had in mind.  Nativity or stars being more what I had in mind.  Think next year I might draw my own.  I've already got a list of possible activities for next Christmas - a combination of things I didn't get to this year, and others that seemed a little beyond Munchkin's level but might not be next time round.

I must admit that by the time Christmas Day arrived, I was a bit Christmased-out.  It wasn't that I didn't enjoy the activities.  I did.  And I think he did too.  It was just Christmas takes all this time.  Time that would usually otherwise be spent on other things, which just didn't get attention.  So I was ultimately glad to lay aside the festivities and return to 'normal' life and normal food once more.

Here's one of our activities:

Christmas Stars.
Originally found here, I simply chose a star shape from clipart online instead of a Christmas tree.

I printed it, cut it out, glued it to cardboard, and cut that out.

Then we put paint on a cheap sponge.

And used our bubble wrap star like a big stamp. We had to make sure to get paint over the whole star, and then press it carefully to get an even star on our black cardboard. 

And wa-lah!  Lots of stars (disclaimer: Munchkin did one star on his own.  Mummy did most of the rest.)

Some coloured cardboard from the cupboard matched our colours nicely.  And there was ribbon in the ribbon stash.

I made these double sided so that they can spin on the tree and we will see the patterns on both front and back.  Munchkin's one got his name and date printed.

There's something really beautiful about handmade Christmas decorations.

Amy

It's a Boy's World

This is what happens when you have a boy.  Or at least when you have a boy who is as mad keen on trucks, diggers, and all other forms of machinery as our son is!

Those are baubles from his Christmas tree.  While many of the friends who visited absolutely loved hanging them on the tree, Munchkin was much more interested in carting them around in his dump truck.  His dump truck that is supposed to be used for the sandpit but is, quite obviously, not anywhere near it.  Grin.

Amy

A Simple Project

Sometimes we don't need fancy toys or carefully planned activities to have fun.  In fact, sometimes, the simplest things can give the greatest delight.  Everyday items can be used for amazing things, and imaginary adventures abound.

One day my son and I arrived at his preschool to discover a container of milk bottle lids, a reel of cellotape, some pipe cleaners, and a vivid on a table, together with an example a teacher had made.

It was fascinating watching the immense delight the children had in mastering the cellotape dispenser, pulling the tape across it, and getting it to 'cut' it with that serrated cutting edge.  I watched as chubby little fingers attempted to wrap tape around bottle tops without it getting stuck together (we forget sometimes just how incredibly HARD that can be!). 

Deep concentration.  Great purpose.

The finished product?

A caterpillar.  Well, that's what we did.  We simply copied what had been left on the table, Munchkin and I working together happily for a few minutes before I headed off and he went outside to play.

His caterpillar now sits, pride of place, in our dining room.  I love looking at it.  It's winking, you see!  It's got the happiest face, just like my son!

Got any bottle tops lying around your place?  What could you turn them into?

Amy

Ah, Flowers

I just love flowers.

Especially in my bathroom right now.  I love that they sit against the mirror, with light streaming in through the window.  I get to look at them every time I walk in, or even just when I walk past.

I've come to a realisation recently.  I could live in a house with monotone walls.  I never thought I could, always assuming I'd have a different wall colour for every room.  But I'm realising living here that the textured, off-white walls actually suit me just fine.  Colour comes to my home through couch cushions, duvets, photos, and flowers.  And I like it.  I think it is how light it is, that there are windows with views to the outside and not a single room feels dark, confined, or dreary.  The wallpaper is old.  It's pretty tatty when you look up close, but sitting down in the lounge, or walking up the hallway, it looks really good!  Graceful, beautiful, and light.  I'm visual, and I'm definitely noticing that living somewhere that feels beautiful is calming and uplifting for me.

I love having a bathroom that is bright and airy, light, and inviting.  Our last bathroom was, well, utilitarian.  It wasn't really it's fault.  It was just dark and a bit dingy, with a lean-to outside that blocked a lot of light.

Another thing I've realised lately is WHY I like flowers in my bathroom.  Why don't I have them on the dining table?  Or the kitchen bench, or the china cabinet?  Because they get cluttered.  I don't like looking through flowers to see my husband at dinner, and I don't like worrying that they will get knocked over, so they only tend to stay on the table for special occasions.  Every other place in my house at present gets too much clutter, and the flowers simply get lost in the busyness.  And I don't like that. I want to really SEE them, notice their details, drink in their colour, marvel at the changes each day as they furl open.  For me, flowers are a piece of artwork.  So while some folks have a collection of ornaments on a dresser, I have flowers in my bathroom.  On my bathroom vanity I can see them, view them, enjoy them, just as you would a piece of art.  (Deep sigh of contentment, and a sudden thought that I should go wash my hands downstairs so I can have another peek at my flowers!).  I would buy a hall table for the sole purpose of displaying fresh flowers.  Seriously, I would.  And while flowers take time to maintain, I don't really mind.  For me, they are worth it.  Many of these ones were collected down our walkway, interspersed with hydrangeas and agapanthus from our section.  I usually collect and arrange them in the evening, pottering away to my heart's content.  As an aside, my three and a half year old knows what agapanthus look like.  He keeps pointing them out as we are driving along the road! 

Amy

Thanksgiving - only for Americans?

A really good friend of mine is American.  She's lived here in NZ for years and is definitely Kiwi, but every now and then she shows her American roots.  Like when she makes pumpkin pie (something many Kiwis don't even know the taste of).  Or in late November, when she makes a Thanksgiving dinner for her family.  This year, I was inspired by my friend, together with Kiwi folks in our life group who have adopted Thanksgiving.

We had Thanksgiving too.  I thought, why not.  It's about being grateful, remembering just how plentiful our lives are, just as the early American settlers were thankful for their bounteous first Autumn harvest.

We didn't have a meal. That was way too far beyond my ability and brain space (especially when I only decided a week before that we'd do something!).  But we had a Thankful tree, and an afternoon tea at which some friends joined us in eating ginger crunch and strawberries and writing things we are thankful for on leaves that we then hung on our tree.

I really enjoyed it.

I'm 'into' being grateful. I think we need to be reminded (frequently) that we are very blessed, and that a grateful heart is a softer and more giving heart, and generally also a happier heart.  I really want my son to grow up learning to be grateful.  Remembering to be grateful.  CHOOSING to be grateful.  In fact I believe in it so strongly that his bedtime prayers at present almost always consist of "Thank you God for..."

To make our Thankful tree, I printed some Google Images of leaves in about the right size, and cut others out of coloured paper (as this was my first time I figured we'd try a few different ones!).  I took the handsaw out on a walk (in my backpack so my husband wasn't too embarrassed to be seen with me!) and cut a small branch, stripped it's leaves, and stuck it in a large glass container with sand in the bottom.  A little wobbly but okay. 

The 'leaves' had holes punched in them, and small pieces of pipe cleaner to tie them to the tree.  The idea came from my life group, where they use those little decorative wooden pegs to hang leaves on a tree.  I just used what we had in the house so it didn't cost us anything extra to do.

I'd like to continue Thanksgiving, but make it more fully 'ours.'  We might get to have the full meal next year with my friend and her family, which would be really special!  I hope to do a tree again, but I'm thinking that as it's not Autumn here I might use silver leaves or spray paint the branches silver and use green leaves. 

If you were writing on a Thankful leaf today, what would you say?

Amy