Love in front seat.......

Yesterday I went into Tiaro to post some mail. When I parked and got out of the car I happened to look up into the cab of a truck pulling into the car park behind me. I noticed that the lady was sitting in the middle beside the man driving. It caught my attention because no one does that anymore - do they? When I saw her get out of the cab I saw that there was actually an empty seat beside the window and that she well and truly chose to sit beside her husband / partner while they drove. I thought it spoke volumes of love and friendship between two people. I can't do that in our car with Mick - there is no middle seat.

I am reading a book on Zen at the moment. "Everyday Zen: Love and Work" by Charlotte Joko Beck. I picked this book up so long ago from a second hand shop somewhere and it has sat on my shelf since then. I have not read a book for a while and then the other night I just stood in front of the bookshelf and this book called to me. So time to read it and see what is in there for me to learn.

I have been thinking today about what I read last night. One thing that has stuck with me is the notion that as I am meditating and I get thoughts coming through is to think "I am having a thought about.....". For example when the thought flits through my mind that the car needs new tyres or that such and such doesn't like me or that I wonder how I will pay this or that bill or find the time to do this or that chore, I actually label it as a thought and say to myself  "I am having a thought about such and such." I have only been doing this sparodically over the past few days and WOW is all I can say. The minute I acknowledge the thought and label it as a thought and not actual reality it just feels so different. I will talk more as I progress more through the book.

I have been progressing with trying a new recipe every day for the year. I have missed a day or two here and there but generally I have really expanded into trying new things but more than anything I really like finding recipes to use up and preserve what is currently available without using the freezer if possible. I will add them to the recipe pages on here. Spicy Mango Chutney is a great one and I have made this twice in the past week using up the excess mangoes available here at the moment.

I am picking cucumbers every day and each day for the next week I have set aside a new cucumber recipe/salad to make. I will share them as I go through them.

 

Basket of mangoes - it has been such a good season this year.

I was fortunate enough to be given a whole heap of gladioli bulbs. I have planted them out into the garden - all in one spot and hopefully I will be able to post some photos later in the year when they all come up and give me some gorgeous blooms to look at.

I was also fortunate enough to be given some Luffa seeds. I planted them all out and I am taking photos of my journey growing Luffas but a sneak peek above is the yellow flowers. I was sent these seeds by a lovely blogger along with a dried Luffa. I wrote all her details down and then over the past year have lost them. I so want to share these photos and my progress with you so if you are reading this and you were the person who kindly shared these seeds with me please make contact.

And an actual Luffa starting to get bigger - looks like a cucumber. I really have no idea what to do - just reading up on the net when I have a question but this is all trial and error and photos are a great diary.

We pulled all the pups of the AGAVE plants out the front garden. Give it a few months and all of this baby plants will be able to be planted out into the garden. There is a banana sucker in there as well.

A side view of my vegetable garden - it is going to be extended asap. I am picking cucumbers every day and button squash and have have beans coming on. I am really enjoying learning to garden and the thril of picking food I can eat that I have grown myself.

You do not need to have met someone.......

‎'Strictly defined, self-sufficiency is a way of living in which no support or aid of any kind is required from outside sources...yet self-sufficiency as it is understood today today has a broader and more forgiving meaning. It is about becoming more independent and resourceful, about being able to do things for ourselves - not everything, but as much as we feel comfortable with. It is a means of taking responsibility for ourselves, doing things the way we want them done and determining the end result.' -  The Self-Sufficiency Bible by Simon Dawson.



This quote was posted on Grass Roots facebook page. The question put out there was -

What do you think? Do you agree that this is the modern self-sufficiency, a more flexible approach than, say, in the 1970s?

One of the comments left by a reader is below -

"I am all for self-reliance / sufficiency but the more I learn the more I realise it is communities that need to be self sufficient. It's not easy or even advantageous for each individual to try to totally look after their needs...but within a like community or group of neighbours / people then we really get traction"

My comment was then -

"And I will add that to get a community working together seems to be a very hard uphill battle in many cases.  I couldn't have worded it better than Amber above..."

I thought this was a very timely quote for me to read.  I am currently weighing up what to do about our Bauple Simple Living Group. It is still a very small group with very few regular members. It does not seem to have direction in the sense of aims, goals and agenda we wish to achieve as a group. I don't blame anyone else for this - just a learning curve really. So what to do? How do we make it useful in this community?  How do we use it to glue folks together in some way, to get some cohesiveness in this community of Bauple. I am really not sure but I do know that it is desperately needed. I will let you know how it goes. Let me know what you think?

I follow a blog called Lessons From The Monk I Married. You can find the link in the list to the side as well. I have been following this blog for well over a year  and something that has happened often is that when faced with a choice about my attitude I often think of Katherine. Her writing is uplifting and honest. Somehow she calms me and settles me without having even met me. I find this incredible. I truly thought about it the other day and realised that I don't always get to be around uplifting people in person each day but it is just like she is there sometimes. Do you have blogs that you follow that feel the same way to you? Below is a comment I left for her after she visited my blog and commented on one of my posts.

"Katherine - Thanks for passing by and reading. I am inspired by you so often and I have never met you - actually I haven't even read your book yet. I was thinking only yesterday how positive you are. You lift me up without even knowing me and I am sure you do this with so many others as well. More on this in my next blog post. Cheers, Wendy"

Another blog that I follow and have been for so very long is called Down To Earth and written by Rhonda. It is a very popular blog and it is the other blog that grounds me. I have never met Rhonda and as so many people comment I usually do not leave anything on there but it is truly inspirational. She writes about everday life. Real living. The simple things in life. How to hang out washing, fold cloths, make a loaf of bread and just how to simply be grateful and find enjoyment and satisfaction in your own home. It is brilliant.

Love this wall in a little coffee shop in Bunderberg. I forgot to write the name of it down but next time I go up there I will call in and see what they have written on their sign now and get the name of the place.

I really like this little notepad that my sister gave me for Christmas. I am using it to write daily in - it is recording things that I am doing differently. I am trying to make sure there is at least one thing a day written in there - some days there is more. Depends whether I spend more or less of my day focusing on the current moment - on living in the now. Because the more I do that the more I notice things and have some reaction time to change how I actually choose to react or deal with something I have noticed. Goodness me that was hard to put into words.

I have added a few new recipes to my SALAD page to the side. The most yummiest Orange Salad with Red Onion and Black Olives. mmmmmmmmmm

And also a Cucumber Salad - very boring name - not a boring salad dressing though.

I am making a salad every day at the moment with cucumbers because I am picking lovely fresh lebanese cucumbers every day. I am so enjoying this gardening thing...

Today is valentines day and I have prepared a lovely three course meal for my husband. Three brand new recipes. I will share tomorrow  with you.  I have made a bit of an effort this year and I plan on having a lovely romantic evening with my man.

This is our cat - Jimmy Beam - so cute and funny....