me and my gal

Me and my gal went fossicking at Camberwell Market this morning. Loaded up with toasty layers and headed in to town. It felt wrong the whole way there. It felt wrong driving on a Sunday morning. It felt wrong driving into town on a Sunday morning. Wrong driving into town to a Sunday market where there are things to buy and I'm not buying. Aren't I? I reminded myself that it was only consumables coming in on large ships requiring bay dredging that I wasn't buying. And there have been plenty of things I haven't bought because of that flat and simple rule. So while I picked up an ooh yeah have to have it cause of those pockets black skirt today for a fiver, I haven't been buying pumpkin patch tights, chesty bonds singlets or plain wooden fairy wands for the small folk to decorate as they will. Which is neither here nor there to aforementioned small folk, as they have been busy decorating the chook house instead.


cluck cluck

I've got a thing about keeping my family's kidneys warm over winter. I also have a thing about second hand underwear. Thus: where oh where can I get new tights and singlets that haven't been shipped in? Help me out, folks.

what else is essential?

A sunset beer at the Espy at the Essential Festival

....and some Esseential Freeware for you techies

....and the bare minimum essentials for the displaced in Somalia

....and kids in the hoods



are there small folk in there?

What would you do?

A friend rang me this morning to wish me a happy birthday and to tell me he had a crisis in the underwear department as a result of his reading of this blog and connecting with the intention behind it. In said underwear department, he mused: Do I need those new underpants? I have 10 pairs already. Shouldn't I just wash the ones I have more regularly? Freaky. Did this friend hear me walking down the hall this morning grumbling about how I was wearing a really old pair and absolutely needed to buy some new nickers? Apparently he also had a similar crisis in the shorts department. But shorts have no place in my wardrobe so I couldn't connect with that one at all! Shorts cannot be beautiful. But this, this is beautiful. The picture above is from her etsy site.

Lovely lover then came home at sunset and told me he'd done "something bad". From his tone, I thought he may have hassled a local drop tail lizard with a stick on his way home. But he said he'd bought a new tennis racquet with a little pot of cash he'd been saving. And as I reminded him of our 'not buying it' status, he then said he'd also saved the same amount for me to spend on 'whatever I like, as long as it is for yourself'. How much do we love that man? Ten out of ten. But then the strangest thing happened. I couldn't actually think of anything I wanted to buy. But then I remembered that dress (or any of the others gaiaconceptions makes) and now I am looking at a few days/weeks/months/years/a lifetime of internal debate about whether I should.

Pros: A piece designed, sewn, and dyed using eco-friendly fabrics such as local organic cotton, hemp, raw silk, and organic wool. Custom made. Small home based producer. Absolutely beautiful piece of attire.
Cons: Do I need another dress? Can I cheat on my pledge?

What would you do?

BLOGMEET 2008

I love that the theme of this years' blogmeet is Using What You Have. Seems I'm not the only one in love with this concept. I'm in for this year's meet, and if you send in your intention now, you just might make the cut too! Now, what DO I fancy putting in my lucky dip bag?????

flywire for felting

I headed out last night to my first Sylph crafting class for autumn. Sylph is this little toy/craft/book/handmade joint up the road from our place that I just love. Recently from said Sylph, I've been making these little felt heart brooches and popping them on the present table at weddings in places like Warburton and Inglewood from wool tops bought from Sylph. Loving brooches at the moment. Loving heart shapes at the moment. That wall of wool tops in all the colors of the rainbow on the back wall at Sylph is inspiring. The wooden toadstool furniture makes we want to take tea and biscuits. I want to live in the felted fairy and gnome houses that are displayed here and there. Last night we wet felted. Used pre-felted backing, terraline and flywire to make the magic happen. Works so much quicker and easier on the wrists than the scree I have been using. I love new and better ways of doing things that make said thing easier and quicker. Me thinks time should be valued alongside other things on the 'essentials' list. The essential amount of time spent on doing something well, no more and no less. We also drank minty tea. We also ate chocolate cupcakes. And another crafter and I worked out we went to primary school together. Also time well spent. When I got home, my lovely lover said he thought expenditure on hobbies and passions was certainly an essential for us, I heartily agreed and we drank to that. Cheers.

rainy red boots

So much lovely rain today. It is definitely on my 'essentials' list. Helping the green manure seeds to sprout. Softening the first layer of dirt in the bed we dug over yesterday. Filling up the little bath we have out back for the birds. Washing the dirt from the car. All that. We watched the rain fall from the back door for a spell. When it eased we got rugged up and headed outside. Alice jumped straight into a puddle in the hand-me-down-from-jem boots she's recently grown into. Absolutely delightful. I was delighted that the boots now fit her and I was delighted that she jumped straight into a puddle. Rain kept us close to home so my only expenditure was a sunday morning swim at the pool. A lazy kilometre while rain fell. Best $4.40 I have spent since not spending it.

the universal list according to joy

When the universe is on side, the op-shop delivers. So they say. When my intent to buy less was being formed, I found this little gem in the bookcase of my local op-shop.

Joy's list to help her survive and grow is thus:


'Gasoline' on the list gives away where it's published, and I wonder if this is an accurate reflection of standard consumption in the U.S of A? Something tells me yes. It got me thinking about the space, or even massive gorge, between need and want. At what point does acquiring the necessities for life become over-consumption? And is it over-consumption if you acquire things/stuff/needs/wants second-hand or as a non-monetary exchange and the like? For me, it's that creative pursuit of attainment, regardless of need or want, that is part of the joy of holding some thing in my hand. 'Heading up to the shops', even though J can now ride up there with us on his second-hand treadly from nanna, is the least inspiring option.

A pal of mine is renovating a house in Darwin. Recently, he got himself an entire kitchen on freecycle and drove it up on the back of his converted-to-biodiesel ute from Melbourne to install himself. Now that's inspiring. Go PT-B!

From finding a pink hardcover on the shelf at the sally army to finding a kitchen on the web, share with me your latest inspiring find, folks.