Slow Living Essentials - September to December

Linking up with Christine at Slow Living Essentials to do a recap of the past 3 months of slow living.  It does seem anything but slow but thoroughly enjoyable learning some new skills. These are a bit out of order and I've combined a few headings as they cover both topics.

{DISCOVER & GREEN}
I discovered that things I had thought appeared too difficult were actually easy and very enjoyable.

I made soap for the very first time which you can read about here.

I made washing powder for the very first time which you can read about here.

Sienna and I made Vanilla Essence for the very first time which you can read about here.

I did a course in "Preserving" which you can read about here.

{NOURISH & PREPARE}
I made a few new recipes and our favourites were Rhonda's Muffins from her Down to Earth Book and my Mother-in-Law's "Apple Slice" recipe.

I made some lemonade and foccacia bread for the hard workers weeding the garden in the post below.

{GROW}
Well the only thing I have been growing lately was weeds so while Pop was up from Melbourne he and Sienna got stuck into the veggie garden and weeded it and planted corn, carrotts, lettuce, capsicum, schallots and cucumbers.  The photo at the bottom is 2 weeks growth of the seeds, pretty good.

{REDUCE}
I have taken a few bags to the Salvos however this is still just the tip of the iceberg in this household and in 2014 I am going to get really serious to declutter the entire house room to room.  It does require a bit of an action plan and am wanting to ebay things so I can get some pocket money from those years of spending.  I have craft kits galore which have been unopened.  Cross stitch patterns, patchwork kits etc. which I have paid good money for and are sitting in boxes in my garage.

{CREATE}
I can't think of anything that I have created however I did participate in Ali Edwards "Week in the Life" Photography project which I have done for the past five years.  Basically you document how your life is for a period of 7 days.  Similar to a "photo a day" but it's all day and everything.  It's exhausting but such a worth while project.  I have done the hard work taking the photos and documenting our life for 7 days in September, now I need to spend time uploading them into a Blurb Photo Book over this holiday period.  My Week in the Life Book from 2012 can be seen here.

{ENHANCE}
I volunteered my time to take photos of Sienna's grade 2 class for their Christmas Craft Activities.  Each child was going to make a little frame for their photo and give it to their parents.  They all wore this hat and held my lovely wooden Christmas Tree.

{ENJOY}
We were lucky enough to have a visit from Pop from Melbourne for James birthday so that was very special for us as it's been 2.5 years since we have seen him.  We speak to him and Nanny on the phone every couple of weeks and the kids write letters but it was especially lovely having him here.  He is amazing with the kids and loves playing board games with them.

In October we had a few days away camping with our friends which you can read about here.  We love camping and it is so good for the kids.