redback spider

Saving the Planet one rally at a time!

| poppypeach

So last week I went to my first rally in Australia – it was so good as it was an organised kids rally known as the Strike for Climate Change. The (high school) kids were encouraged to take a day off school to go to the city and get out in the streets to say to the Government stop, look, listen this is our planet and you are screwing it up. The numbers according to the Climate Rally Facebook page was around 30,000 people in Melbourne. I had such a fun time making the signs and the kids made theirs too as soon as they got home after their morning tea at school. The signs were very creative and it was such a wonderful energy to be out in the streets with little kids in strollers, kids at primary school to kids in high school! We as humans need to keep this energy going and tell the governments to stick the coal back in the ground – it is time to rise up and take notice of what is happening around the world. No use sticking your head in the sand and selling off our country for piece meal resources because I know when it is election day this year I will not be voting for the current political party – they have given me many reasons not to vote for them!

As we were coming back home on the train with the kids I took them down Hosier Lane in the city for a bit of street art inspiration!

Oh and I wanted to share some insights about how I like to save the planet:

  • Reduce, reuse and recycle – OK we hear this all the time but the idea is to reduce the amount of stuff we consume. My focus is on food, so each week I plan our meals and make sure I keep the leftovers for lunch. For the last three months I have been living very minimally out of two suitcases and using stuff that was given to me in my storage from 12 years ago and it works.
  • I have discovered some basic essentials to live; here is what I have been using in the kitchen… I love our economical fridge at 490 Kilowatts a year, our gas stove, glasses, teacups, a crockery set, rice cooker, cast iron pan, Nutribullet (great for the fruit you buy in bulk), toaster, soda stream (from my friend) and kettle. I don’t have a saucepan as I use the rice cooker to cook pasta, rice, quinoa, couscous and boiled eggs (who knew!), cutlery and of course food items to your liking.
  • Recycle – Think about your rubbish and recycle what you can – even recycling bread bags and lightweight plastic at the supermarket. Nearly everything has a number on it for recycling which makes it easy. For extra textile scraps I use it to stuff pillows and for rags.
  • Food – I like to support local food suppliers and Ceres Fair Food is my favourite as I can get everything that a vegetarian would love! Their selection includes pantry items as well as local fruit, vegetables and eggs – it is so good to support the local farmers and community jobs. Of course I will go to the supermarket to get extras like ice blocks for the kids and sustainably sourced seafood
  • Clothing – Now being here and living out of the supplies I bought with me from our move from California in my two suitcases have been expanded by going to the second hand shop and buying jeans or t-shirts and up cycling to create something unique to you. Obviously sewing skills are necessary so I plan to do some classes with the local community in the future. Now my quirky wardrobe has been expanded to included a few more mid season pieces for Autumn.
  • Home decoration – Well to add some life to our house I have screen printed (it helped that I had some screen printing supplies in my stash of crafting supplies!) some denim to make very durable pillows for the couch and I used my excess fabric from sewing to make a patchwork pillow. This week I wanted to make a crystal hanging so I crocheted a piece of wood from the garage to make a wall hanging for some hooks that were looking bare. All you need is a bit of imagination and some bits and bobs hanging around the house and some creative energy.
  • Getting around – as my hubby is not too keen to get a car at the moment I have registered for Car Next Door so I can borrow neighbours cars to get around. So it is possible but most likely costly in the long run to hire cars and take taxis when the public transport is not working in your favour. I am getting a lot of exercise walking everywhere. To get into the city or to friends places there is the train and tram. I am patiently awaiting the arrival of my beloved bicycle so I can get to the gym quicker! I was pretty impressed on the cross trainer the other day when I increased the resistance and it said I saved 19 minutes energy to power on a 4.9 kilometre walk/run.

It has been an interesting with being back home for nearly three months and living this minimalist lifestyle has taught me you don’t need too much stuff to get by day to day if you have family and friends to help you get organised. Next thing I need to deal with is all the stuff that is coming here by ship, yikes!

Check out the video of the death of this spider when she came down too close for comfort the other day!

Oh and the Redback spider came down from her web the other day and is now toast!

A venomous friend

| poppypeach

It has been one month back home in Australia already and the time has flown by. This relocating business has really been intense! I have completed my draft for my last assignment which is two lesson plans for Teaching Science and Technology, so now to proofing and getting it submitted while the kids are at school so I can enjoy some free time. Nope, the kids are still at home on school holidays as the school has two pupil free days and the kids are back on the 31st! Sounds like I am counting down and yes I am as the time is coming that I will really lose my shit as this solo parenting this is getting stale!

I have had to get up early and take morning walks around the neighbourhood to keep my mind in a sane state of being and my Qi Gong really helps but not having one minutes peace is really starting to grate on me. Even when I try to get them to bed early they are still chatting, god help me when school starts and I have to get them out the door in the morning?!?

As I am walking around these gorgeous streets of my hood full of so many homes with character, I am taking pictures of how I imagine our garden to be when our remodel is underway. The succulent garden above is just superb as an addition to the streetscape outside someone’s house, the little rocks super easy to care for but not so good for scratching chickens in the garden? I have fallen in love with the princess gum tree as we need to choose a tree for our garden as part of the plan, the flowers on the tree are stunning. Hopefully, it will work out though at 6 metres tall it may be too big? We will see – I am so excited about the remodel and being back at the house is really making me think how amazing it will be when it is finally done.

We have a little venomous friend out the front of our house – she is a Redback Spider – here she is with her little woolly ball egg sac fully of 250 spiderlings. She is a very protective mama of her little spiderlings and we see her come in and out of her hiding spot about 8 feet above us in the eaves of the front of the house. One day she will die (they can live for up to 2 years) but for now, I am respecting her space and letting her be, the Redback will bite if disturbed but otherwise they live in peace and we can leave her alone. I was a bit concerned about the spiderlings so I contacted the Melbourne Museum and they said the spiderlings take to the wind on little threads of silk and find other places to make webs and survive – that is if they survive. It is funny when I first saw her I wanted to kill her but now I am protesting for her life and the kids were trying to buy bug spray at the supermarket today, thing is you can kill this one but there are more spiders out in the garden and around the house so they will always be there. At least we can observe her and see what she gets up to in her little safe haven – catching other insects for us while she is up there.