Topsy Turvy Easter

So the weather got it all wrong this year...we had glorious sunshine on Friday and enjoyed sitting at the Hot Walls, and then had a slightly damp breakfast at the Beach Hut on Easter Sunday.  But it's been another good Easter weekend, and as ever started with a great veggie meal with the justice gang on Thursday evening.  Leaving that evening, via the quiet room with candles, thorns, nails, wood, a hammer etc, jogs the mind to think on what Jesus must have gone through that night before it all kicked off.  (And birth experiences have definitely helped bring something more to the empathy; facing something that you know has to happen, and can't avoid, the rest of the world being asleep etc.)

Sadly a little one year old's lack of sleep (think probably relating to first year jabs...all three in one sitting!), led to being very tired at 8am on the beach on Sunday, but it was great, as ever, to celebrate the world changing, and Jesus coming back to life.  It's been a great weekend of spending time with our Portsmouth family.

Start of Spring

It's been a while since my last post, and I'm not sure why that is; partly I haven't managed many free moments, and partly I'm not sure there's anything new to write about.  

Life ticks along, but some progress has gone on in the garden, thanks to some beautiful March weather.  The shed is in situ.  Lots of little seeds have been planted...am not filled with confidence that they'll be a giant harvest, but my little helper more than makes up for my fears...hope she's not too disappointed.

Work juggling, with poorly little people, household tasks, play groups and weekends with visitors has made life feel very full.  Lots of lovely moments hidden amidst lots of routine.

Recycling continues, but I need to work on the compost bin in the back yard.  It's a very enclosed space (even more so with the new shed now), and on warmer days, the aroma is a bit strong...reminds me a micro brewery!  I've found out that Lush recycle all plastic bottle tops, and we're now a disposable nappy free house (good, other than there's no room for error on the supply of clean terries!).

Gift making continues, with recently some Piccalli (a first) and more home-made cards.  I'm now trying to get a month ahead, as otherwise I'm feeling rather too much last minute pressure to create, but it's easier said than done.

Tiredness is definitely having an impact on the spring in my step (and it is a rainy morning as I type), but as with all journeys, the honeymoon period is over, and effort is now required to find deeper richness.

Waste Challenge - Results Unveiled!

Drum roll please.....

....and the results of the first week of the bokashi existing in our waste challenge are...

Pre-Bokashi

23rd Nov    10kg

30th Nov     8.5kg (of which 4kg was disposable night nappies!)

7th Dec       7kg

(there was a bit of a gap of weighing in the middle of December, due to being away and the general madness of the Christmas week)

With Bokashi

4th Jan         6.5kg (of which 4kg was disposable night nappies)

To have a clearer picture we'll obviously need a few more weeks of results, and equally should probably have had more 'pre-bokashi' weeks when we weren't changing other habits.

But the really interesting thing has been generally thinking more about where the things we'd normally pop in the general waste bin could go to.  So here are where lots of bits are now going, and I'm hoping we'll get even lighter general waste going forward!

How we 'recycle'

• paper, tin, plastic bottles - the recycle bin
• glass - the glass bank
• shredded paper - the compost
• egg cartons - the compost or junk modelling
• plastic trays, yoghurt pots etc - nursery for junk modelling
• foil - a local church that collects (via a friend who does a trip there every so often)
• milk bottle lids - the office to a charity that collects them
• broken or unused 'things' - freegle, charity shops (and if that fails, the general waste)
• fabric/shoes - clothes/fabric bank, if no good for friends or charity shops.

Things that we haven't found a way to recycle (yet!)

Lurking at the back of the cleaning cupboard!

• tissues (we seem to have a lot of these with four snotty winter noses in the house)
• plastic wrappers that annoyingly covers most food from supermarkets! (a bit reason for getting fruit & veg boxes delievered each week is that everything is loose in a box that you return or can recycle)
• disposable nappies (although I'm considering trying both kids in the daytime terry nappies for a few nights - the reason we'd changed previously is that the wet when they are little can get them to wake more frequently, but would like to see if that's the reality now they're a bit older)
• chemicals/cleaning products that we don't want (I recently cleared out the cleaning cupboard (with some irony - see the photo!), and some things we've been given randomly over the years, haven't used, but wanted rid of...I tried freegling some, but to no avail...so sadly ended up in the bin).
• oil/fat (at the council recycle centre they now have an oil bank, however, a) I have to drive to the other end of the island to get to it b) we don't collect very much and it went really mouldy in the jar c) the bank was locked shut when I get there, so they said just to leave it on the floor next to it...did it ever make it into the bin, or just into the general household skips?)

So we're going to keep at it, and I am going to look into whether the council pays a tax on the weight of waste that is disposed, as on the basis that our small kitchen compost caddy is definitely heavier each week than our whole kitchen general waste bin, there may be a cost saving argument for introducing food waste collecting (plenty of other areas do it).  Although looking at the number of black bin bags that our neighbours put out each week, the habit shift required to make it viable would be enormous (not a reason not to do it, if it's the right thing though!).

Week -5 Update

So I've got this mad ambition to do a brief weekly update on challenges/successes/thoughts on each week, to track my day-to-day a bit more, rather than simply the main things I'm thinking on.  We'll see how many gaps appear in this!

(As it's not 2012 yet, you'll notice some minus figures in my countdown.)

Southsea Greenhouse on the Seafront

Food - I've just received my first organic veg box from the 'Southsea Greenhouse' which is a local co-operative that has started up this year.  It was a really impressive array of veg (although some bits were washed...a shame, as it lasts so much longer when it's still covered in soil), and has slightly soften my trepidation of not getting our normal Riverford box (which I highly recommend for those that don't live locally to Southsea).

Waste - no composting going on yet, so I weighed the black bag with trepidation this morning.  8.5kg of rubbish, of which 4kg was disposable nappies!!!  We only get through 2 a day as both kids sleep in them, rather than the terries...imagine what the weight would be if we just did disposable!  Mariella must have felt my pain, as tonight (bless her) she announced that she didn't want a night nappy any more...so fingers crossed I don't have lots of wash loads of bedding to do tomorrow!

Christmas Presents - with less than a month to go, I'm trying to be creative, although I've simply given up on the gifts that need to be sent further afield.  Note to self: start planning earlier for them next year!  However, I'm so happy with how simple and quick it was to make homemade Spiced Apple Chutney...will be doing that again, and am excited about a tiffin recipe I've found with popping candy inside (I'm hoping a great surprise for the kids that will receive it!).  I've also managed to pick up two unused baby clothing items at a local charity shop for a friend who's just given birth...it's amazing what people give away.

Inspiring Reading - I got the latest Conspire: magazine this week 'Food, Feast & Table'.  Another great read and challenge!  An inspiring article about a community that not only has a community garden (fruit, veg & livestock) but also composts all the local households food waste...has set my mind buzzing with questions about how we might add it into some local mutterings about a community allotment on our patch...just need to work out a bit of land!  (As ever there is so much in this, I might need to do a seperate post about it.)

What a week...and this was meant to be short!!!