There’s a change in the air ….

There's a change in the air. A change in the way we view food, where it comes from and the health of the animal and the impact that food has on our lives. More than ever we want to look after our home, our planet, our budget and our health and we want to live a life of sustainability that embraces all these factors. Changing habits, from mob based actions to habits that nourish us and choices that sustain the world that we want to create, is the key. I grew up with the typical 1950's diet of the day. White bread and butter, mutton every which way five nights a week, the veggies boiled and boiled and plenty of mashed potato (sorry Mum but that's how it was!). Chicken only on special occasions and casseroles in winter served with rice (1 cup serves 4). Salad consisted of a sliced tomato, a piece of cheese, some iceberg lettuce, some tinned beetroot to accompany the cold meats. All served with buttered bread. Breakfast was porridge in winter, Weet-bix in summer (we loved to get the Weet-bix cards and absolutely not allowed to open the next box until the last Week-bix was eaten in the old box). I have a memory of my father sitting on a stool cooking toast in the open door of the Aga … we got an electric toaster when we gave up the generator and got the electricity hooked up. Mum cooked lovely slices and cakes (all white sugar) and lots of apples and oranges. 

Today, our diet is multi-cultural in nature. We still have the chops/sausages and veggies a few times a week but we also have curries and stir-frys and the amount of fruit and veggies we eat is amazing. I have gradually, through reading, realised that a lot of the food that we were eating was making us fat. In my home, sugar and processed foods and white bread/rice/flour have gradually been replaced with brown alternatives where palatable, and we have all but stopped eating sugar. Evolution happens incredibly slowly. We don't have the triggers in place to indicate when we are full when we eat sugar. As a result we eat far more than we really require and we're doing it from a really young age. Obesity is a massive epidemic in Australia and the developed nations and sugar and processed foods are the reason. I am making every effort to change our diet to reflect this. Also, I just want to eat real food. Food that is made on a farm, not by a chemist. Food that I have grown, or by locals and know that no chemicals have been used in its production. I want my family to be as healthy as possible so that we can get the most out of life. 

Mum was a product of her generation, as I am. She was a child of the depression and thrift was the order of the day. Many of the embedded habits that I grew up with I highly value and have willingly passed onto my children. I can’t bare waste and I love to make do. I have a complicated relationship with my desire for abundance. I don’t desire the feeling of scarcity but it is my friend. It is what I know and my desire for abundance was born from this.  Even when I have all the abundance that I desire I know that a small part of me will want to make do in some part of my life, purely from habit.

There is a change in the air. My family's diet is reflecting this change and in so many other parts of my life there is a shift happening.

I can viscerally feel change coming … and it's coming fast.

I can taste next year ....

Sometimes I simply lie in bed at night, or in the morning when I first wake up and just dream about next year. I walk in the garden and walk through the house in my dream and it is just as I imagine it to be. I am sitting outside on my new garden bench having a coffee under my new pergola. I can look up and see the blue of the wisteria flowers falling from the beams and look down at the dappled sunlight making patterns on the pavers. I have a matching bench on the verandah with bright cussions and a lovely black pot with reeds below the dragonfly wall art. It all looks so lovely.

Dreams are very powerful tools to help us get to where we want to go. Never underestimate the power of dreams, they are our subconcious hard at work making our desires come true. If you are excited about something and put all your desire and enthusiasm into it then the universe will knock itself out showing you how to make it happen. Your job is to be in alignment with what you want. Believe in it and it will manifest (Thanks Abraham).

If you want a happy life, then paint a picture and affirm that 'All is Well' and watch things change.  Watch you change! and watch others change around you.

Life is really simple, people tend to make it so complicated.  It doesn't have to be.
If you choose a life with passion and purpose and joy and enthusiasm and love - then life is easy!


... ... ... This is how the world works.

... ... ... ... ... ...  This is how my world works and its a wonderful world!!







  

15 Minutes ... ... ...

It is said that you can do anything that you don't like for 15 minutes.

I am pondering this as my beautiful garden is full of weeds and all the shrubs which normally look beautiful at this time of year are untrimmed from winter and valiantly putting forward new growth despite my lack of care. A whole term of school (10 weeks) were spent treading water with work mid-week and the weekends spent in Sydney watching our son play rugby and little maintenance was achieved on Moronga. The following school holidays were spent helping Simon on the place and a wonderul visit to see Mum in Brisbane. No worries ... I am now implementing the 15 minute rule!

For the last 3 days I have spent far more than 15 minutes in the garden (with my little poddy lamb, unnamed as yet and of course Claude, my Labrador) at my side. Once the weeds are gone Simon can bring me some hay and I'll put some sheep manure on the beds and cover them up! We are expecting a frost this weekend so I haven't started on the vegie garden as yet. Next trip to Dubbo on the 3rd November I'll pick up some punnets. I truly love my vegie garden as I love to cook with the freshest of produce and its great just ducking outside and picking dinner! Once everything is back to normal I am going to try to spend 15 mins every day in the garden. Keeping on top of things is easy when you start from finished!

After having so many weekends away it is amazing that we are spending the entire month at home! 

How I love being at home!

Great news! I have paid the second last education bill on my Visa. Every weekly direct debit that goes in from now on is working towards my Cheese Room and Home Butchery Centre. Simon thinks that I do everything with smoke and mirrors! How true!

On the cheese front - I have started doing some serious research ... there are so many clever people on the internet. I want to start to add some of these to my blogsite as well so that I have their advice at hand. Another thing to learn.

Once again ... just enjoying it all!

I love the word village ...

The word village is one of my favourite words. It conjures up wonderful feelings of inclusion. Life lived at a more leasurely pace, witnessed by people who genuinly care with the edges blurred between family and friends.

When we holidayed in France in 2008 I fell in love with the french villages, particularly the way they utilised their landscape to create wonderful food ... slow food permiculture they call it now ... I just call it beautiful food in a beautiful setting where the desire to create delicious farmstead food is created from produce grown within cooee of the farm gate. Where home and family intertwine with the environment and culture is shared in a simple meal after a hard day working in the vines.

We were there in September, when harvest was in full tilt and seemingly everywhere we looked there was abundance. Every fence (hedgerow) sheltered animals that they later cooked into wonderful casseroles with berries made into pies and each season would bring a different delight. Each region had its own personality and this was particularly evident in the cooking with variations literally from village to village. It was a wonderful experience and one that gave me enormous insight into the world that I want to create.

"Moronga" has been my home for 24 years now and I can't think of a better place to begin this adventure. The house is large and we haven't done much to it in the last 15 years. The cattle yards and sheep yards and really all the infrastructure has had no love or money spent on it for years and whilst I wouldn't call it neglected ... it's easy to see where the money has not been spent. We have lovingly put our two children through boarding school and I can say with passion that if we have been able to do it … then anybody can.  It has simply required planning .. scheming .. scraping and generally going without for a really long time but now we are almost there. Our eldest son is in Year 12 and the last bill has arrived to be paid. It has been a roller-coaster of wonderful experiences and we have been so thankful that we have been able to achieve one of our biggest goals which is to give both our children a good start in life ... however ... now it's our turn and I'm loving building the picture of what the next 30 years of our lives will look like.  Its thrilling to me that I can choose my future and make it happen.

All is well in my world.

One day at a time ...

Young people are constantly asked what they want to do with the rest of their lives. Most of them don’t have a single clue; and that’s just fine. A lot of older people don’t either. Our passions and pursuits are always evolving. Life really is a journey and each day is a precious step on that road. I promise that things that inspired you in your 20's won't be taking up a lot of your time in your 80's.  

The decisions that we are making daily are not life-long decisions but they are directional. The very act of being and how we react with others and think about ourselves affects every part of our lives.

If we were to replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts as often as we think them ... replace criticism with love, replace frustration with loving action then over time we would truly make the life that we want and in the process effect change.

Every decision creates a future we will have and one that we won't.

In fact ... every thought creates our life. 

As Louise Hay quoted, "Change doesn't have to be shocking, like diving into a cold pool" ... it is the daily acts of being ourselves and how we exist in our world that creates our fabulous life.

As my dream takes shape I realise that it is the joyful expression of everyday life and how I choose to live every minute of it that is most important.

What a Wonderful Life!

If I dreamt up the best life - then this would be it. If I put down on paper what I want that life to look like - then this would be it. A benchmark to refer back to as my life and plans unfold becoming closer and closer to my ideal, a mirror to every dream that I have ever had!

If this were my life ...

I look out the squeaky clean windows onto a beautiful garden. This garden is full of beautiful flowering shrubs and I love cutting them back each year and deciding what the latest is to put in and what flowers at what times and how it all blends together in harmony and brings me great joy. The lawn lends itself to the running, running, running of little feet and the sheltered benches to the sitting of the elderly. Beautiful sculptures add an artistic air.

My home is a rambling old farm house. It is filled with fun art, some of it my own and some purchased when I can't resist seeing the joy that someone else has in producing a beautiful piece of work. I love my home and I love to keep it clean and tidy and think up new things to put in it to bring joy to all who come here. My home breathes contentment and abundance and joy.

Music flows and I have an eclectic collection of CDs and DVDs. I shop regularly and occasionally shout myself new sheet music as I secretly love playing the piano. I really love shopping for clothes and I always find gorgeous things that suit me. I love to catch up with friends when shopping and occasionally either see a movie or have a facial, pedicure or manicure. I adore researching and finding new things to cook and producing meals and having lunches and dinners that bring my large group of family and friends together. I always have time for my friends and family and I think up the best activities and holidays to share with them. When I suggest something great I make it happen and everyone benefits. I have a great relationship with my husband and children and we continue to grow closer together.

I am in excellent health. My joints move freely and I am strong and slender. I love my body and it serves me well. I hope to live to a great age and be healthy throughout.

I love my animals and I thrive on producing offspring for sale and enjoy the whole process. I experiment producing different products that I can turn into delicious meals. I will literally try to grow anything, butcher anything and cook anything. I love my massive veggie garden which supplies our home with fresh produce and often give the excess away.

My investments are continually increasing and my portfolio is diverse. I get a great kick out of following the stock market and making sound investments that increase my bottome line continually. My home office is a vibrant desk area with a beautiful computer and filing cabinet where I make it all happen with ease and pleasure. This is my domain.

Every quarter I visit Brisbane. I love flying so I do this sometimes, from Dubbo, and hire a vehicle at the other end. I keep in contact with my side of the family and I love experiencing adventures with my sister. I love Brisbane shopping and adore the different clothes and shoe shops and catching up with Mum. She continues to be well and enjoying life. We often go out to dinner as an extended family. I actively strengthen the bonds with my Queensland family.

I love to travel and several times a year we will check out the latest options and throw ourselves in the deep end. We love to submerge ourselves in other cultures and also enjoy the occasional complete pampering that a luxury holiday provides. We occasionally cruise. We just do because I love being on the open ocean and going to day stop-overs and seeing new places and meeting new friends. Occasionally we will go on a dive holiday and pick some lovely destination and draw the kids and their friends to us. We always enjoy these experiences.

We have a steady stream of young people staying at the house. The children regularly visit and bring their friends with them. We often have Sunday lunch. Our outdoor dining area is elegant and beautiful and easy to maintain and we love to cook and eat alfresco. We have stong bonds with our district and neighbours. We love working the land, and being at home as a team. Working side-by-side with my husband is rewarding and not going out to work gives me the freedom to develop new ideas and increase the profitability of our ventures. Our aim is for our off-farm income to exceed our on-farm income. We are content in all our ventures.

All is well in my world.

MilkMaid@Mendooran

There are truly moments of inspiration that lift your spirit. Moments when you just know that what you are day-dreaming about can become reality. This inspiration has me totally driven and running with an idea that I have toyed with for some time but have finally given myself permission to accept. I know that I can't make this a reality without planning and that it won't happen overnight. But I now know that one day it will happen!

I know what I want and I know how to get it. I feel inspired. I feel the blood running through the veins of my body. I feel like I am on fire! I see a new life within an existing life. You can start again and keep living the same life in an extraordinary way. I see this for myself and for those around me. Let the planning begin!