Simplifying Life

ceridwen

Hi mary

Well - perhaps maybe - if I can find the info about that massage.

Got my "feel good" factor right now - a couple of good bearhugs from some male friends of mine this morning - it helps! Hoping another one comes round this afternoon if I'm lucky for a visit - and that will be me well sorted for the Hugs Factor this weekend
(Hester - don't get all excited - I DO only mean hugs:D :rotfl: )

mary43

ceridwen - can't beat a good hug to make you feel better.........thats another thing we could all do with giving and receiving on a more regular basis I think.
Trouble is a lot of people see it as being 'not the norm'...........I feel sorry for them I really do. In giving a hug you receive it at the same time and they really don't know what they're missing do they.

Well...............been upstairs -only went to fetch some washing down- and started rooting through a pile of clothes up there that have half filled a bin bag already and thats without starting on the wardrobe !!!! (or OH's stuff -he's as bad as me.................lol)
Having made a start, it'll make it easier to carry on tomorrow.
There's a load of stuff in a built in cupboard in our room........most of it is my sons I think.............I could really use that cupboard for coats and shoes but where on earth do I put all his 'stuff' ??? Loft isn't really that good for storage as its hard to get at ...........think I might have to ring him about it when I find out whats there.
Still, a start has been made...........and this time I mean to be really thorough
(she says............wondering if this is possible)

groatie_queen

hello everyone, I'm sorry to have been absent for a while but have surfaced again from a bout of not being well. Good to be feeling better, and I'm due to start a 2 year course of treatment soon which will be exacting but ultimately beneficial. So that's all positive.

Having pensioned off the tumble drier last month, I spent some birthday money on a Remoska so I now don't have to use my main oven. The Remoska uses 470w and the oven 2.5kw

So far I've cooked a chicken (jointed it) and baked bread in the Remoska, both came out brilliantly. It also means I won't have to clean the main oven, a horrible job even when in the best of health!

There was an article in yesterday's Scotsman newspaper which is the first I've seen by a newspaper journalist asking what happens post peak oil. It ran alongside articles about the supply difficulties in Scotland and N England caused by the Grangemouth refinery shutdown.

He mentioned the Transition Handbook, so maybe more people will wake up to the need to simplify as much as possible and to prepare for different times. There are varying opinions when this will be, but the way I look at it, petrol/fuel/energy saved today is more for tomorrow.

Well done mary, with your continuing work in the house. When I'm feeling more energetic I'll have another go at decluttering.

GQ

ceridwen

Hi groatie queen

Good to hear from you again - been wondering how you are. Thats some major health problem you have there! - glad theres a chink of daylight showing on it.

Interested to hear that comment re the Remoska - I know about them, but hadnt realised how little electric they use compared to conventional cooker and that they can be used to cook bread in. Could you tell us a bit more about it please - particularly the baking bread in it bit (as most weeks I cook 2 full-size loaves in the oven) and how much they cost (thinks....maybe Christmas present I want if I'm lucky?)

PS; Had a thought:idea: - if you have the time, it would be nice if you put a bit re Remoska use on a comment over on my blog (I aint fussy - it could go on as a comment after my latest "post":D ).

I'm glad the Transition Town Movement message is getting through - for decades it has been a real uphill slog to try and get messages over about how things will be in the not-too-distant future and we all need to adapt. Some dedicated people have kept plugging away for decades trying to inform us all. Some (in which I include myself) have known - but been telling ourselves that surely the majority of people are right and that life will carry on pretty much as normal and that we must surely be wrong in what we see, as otherwise other people would be worried too - and they havent been. Most people seem to have lived in total blissful ignorance (If ignorance is bless tis folly to be wise;) ).

At least now the communal blinkers are off and darn nearly everyone now sees what is happening. Thats a start.

Charis

Good to see you back Groatie I hope all goes well with your treatment. Thanks to both you and Ceridwen for giving me a solution to something that has been bugging me for days. I recently read a little quote from Satish Kumar, quoting Ghandi, where he reminds us that the problems we face cannot be solved for ourselves without considering everyone else.

'because we are not isolated beings. If we remove ourselves from the world, we are pretending that we can follow our own individual enlightenment and let the rest of the world go to hell, so to speak.'

It is not enough to buy five acres and be self sufficient. We need to be mindful of those who, for whatever reason cannot do the same. Now we are simple living converts we need to be active in the political sphere as well as the garden.

Thanks for the pointer to an alternative. The Transition Town Movement.

Steve-o

thriftlady wrote: »

The other thing OH and I have been thinking about is getting rid of the TV -well not the actual set as we love watching DVDs but the TV reception. We've already given Sky the push. I believe you can do this, I remember reading about it on this board some time ago. I'm not sure how you go about it, but I think the TV licensing people have to come and check you can't recieve a signal.

Yup, that's right: http://tvlicensing.metafaq.com/templates/tvlicensing/main/answerPage?_mftvst:answerRef=%24http%3a%2f%2fapi.transversal.com%2fmfapi%2fobjectref%2fEntryStore%2fEntry%2fhttp%3a%2f%2fwww.metafaq.com%2fmfapi%2fMetafaq%2fClients%2ftvlicensing%2fModules%2flicensingInfo%2fTopics%2fgeneral%3a134832%3a4&_mftvst:moduleID=%24licensingInfo&_mftvst:topicID=%24&id=IKPT441SC6S3K69EH82PLEKKHM

Make sure that you don't mention watching recorded material though, or you'll still have to pay!

mary43

Groatie queen - good to see you back and hear that something positive is happening regards your health.
Have discussed petrol situation with OH and suggested he fills up the car -just in case - but he says no need to panic,least not yet and we seldom use it really except if he has to work (no chance of that till workshop re-built) and to visit Mum I use the bus -lot cheaper for a start.

charis - how right you are...........whatever we do affects other people, whether we're doing something for ourselves on a personal basis, or just changing our lifestyles. Hadn't thought about it before but my change of attitude (can't think of a beter word at the minute) towards my brother is bound to have a knock on effect somewhere along the line............I just hope its not a negative one but maybe thats up to me and how I deal with it to make sure it doesn't become so.

Well, I was going to clear out my wardrobe today expecting rain but the sun shone, blue skies, so ex foster girl and me went to the local boot fair. Bought two plants - can justify that as they'll add a touch of colour where its needed in the garden, plus a few odds and ends for christmas/birthday baskets. Nothing for me personally and I pay myself on the back for not coming home with a load of 'stuff' that I would wonder in future why I'd got it.
Just might get around to starting on my wardrobe later on..........somehow when the days initial plans get broken -even in a nice way - its hard to get back to doing what I'd set out to do.

Ex foster girl was full of praise for my newly de-cluttered little den/comp.room
There's still 'stuff' in here but its stuff I want, I can look at and it gives me pleasure. Thats no bad thing is it

ceridwen

Charis wrote: »

Good to see you back Groatie I hope all goes well with your treatment. Thanks to both you and Ceridwen for giving me a solution to something that has been bugging me for days. I recently read a little quote from Satish Kumar, quoting Ghandi, where he reminds us that the problems we face cannot be solved for ourselves without considering everyone else.

'because we are not isolated beings. If we remove ourselves from the world, we are pretending that we can follow our own individual enlightenment and let the rest of the world go to hell, so to speak.'

It is not enough to buy five acres and be self sufficient. We need to be mindful of those who, for whatever reason cannot do the same. Now we are simple living converts we need to be active in the political sphere as well as the garden.

Thanks for the pointer to an alternative. The Transition Town Movement.

Indeed....enquire within for the "The Future".

http://transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwork/Mulling

This is a list of towns/cities currently "mulling over" whether to become a Transition Town. I see, Charis, that your home area isnt listed yet....so methinks I can see something very constructive coming out of that event you told me about that is going to be held there. Launching pad for your area to get onto that list I reckon.:D

Rob Hopkins is one of the "prophets" for how it will be.

mary43

Plans to clear my exploding wardrobe are now shelved till tomorrow !
The weather was so nice, a friend came round with some plants from his garden..........climbing rose, shrub and a few other bits we have to find homes for.(think we know where they're going) and then surveyed the weeds -strictly speaking, wild flowers that become weeds if they grow where they're not wanted.
Unfortunately, I have a few like that..........dandelions in particular. Brilliant colour and its almost a shame to get rid of them but they're started to overgrow anything else,particularly in a few tubs I've got.
Don't mind in the wild life area..........anything goes down there and they could bloom away to their hearts content but no, they have to invade other spaces.......so a bit more clearing or a different kind.
Still, I have to admit, ex foster girls first remark this morning when we came back from the boot fair and went into the garden was 'what a lot of colour !'.........closer look it was mostly grape hyacinths, violas, few pale primroses and dandelions !!

Maybe I should leave then to live their life out and just enjoy them:o

Charis

This is a list of towns/cities currently "mulling over" whether to become a Transition Town. I see, Charis, that your home area isnt listed yet....so methinks I can see something very constructive coming out of that event you told me about that is going to be held there. Launching pad for your area to get onto that list I reckon.:D

There is a 'muller' lurking in my home town - I live about 15 miles from the event, over the county border, and our town is listed. I also registered myself as 'mulling' this morning. I still hope the event will be well attended. I am looking forward to it.

This has to be the way forward. We all sink or swim together. Not everyone can buy a few acres and pull up the drawbridge. Anyway it's no good having food, water and our own eco-friendly power supply but no medical provision, for example. Or no defences.

We need all these green things, but in the context of living in a society. I believe it can be done. It's up us to make it happen. It may be too late if we leave it to our children.