Natural Medley: June 2016

22 June 2016

A couple of unschooling adventures

We have been enjoying some unschooling adventures lately.

Firstly we visited the train museum with our local homeschooling group.

Here is Mr Actor in front of the largest steam engine in the Southern Hemisphere and the fourth largest in the world from memory. He is always moving and balancing and parkouring when he is well!

This the interior of the diesel engine section. Very dark and claustrophobic but my brilliant camera managed wonderfully. This is a V12 engine with 2000horse power. Very impressive to my engine mad kids!

Mr Artist in his usual playful mood...grossing us all out!

The second adventure was a long weekend at Heartwoods our bush property.

It's always a special day when there is water in our leaky dam. Winter, our water dog, was in her element.

There was even water in the bath tub in the goat paddock (so called because it is a small fenced area...we don't have goats) which is unheard of.

Mr Artist has a passion for all things WW2 and has decided to build an Anderson Shelter at Heartwoods. He spent the entire weekend digging in the rain. He wouldn't accept any help. The wet conditions were ideal for digging.

And ideal for sinking as Mr Actor discovered!

Hope you enjoyed our wet winter adventures.

Til next time, keep on creating!

Love,

Jazzy Jack

16 June 2016

Simplifying and Centring

Greetings my friends!

I wanted to touch base and explain what is happening in my life currently.

I have been simplifying.

I'm not sure where it actually started, but there are so many blog posts and youtube channels spouting simplicity and minimalism these days. I thought it might help me get some clarity in my life.

So I started with my wardrobe. I have removed all red, orange and purple because they were making me feel overcooked and put them in a bin under the bed. Then I removed all duplicates in my wardrobe. So I only have one grey blazer etc.

This has lightened up the space considerably, and I now am left with naturals and neutrals. White, black, grey, cream, brown, green, blue seem to be the way my brain wants to dress. I find simple styles that layer, with texture, line, beautiful cut, lovely fabrics are the simplest.

I still have all my fun stuff under the bed if I need an infusion, but lately I need calm. This has all totally surprised Bushy as I have been the colour lover from way back. I have an extreme personality with opposite sides and styles, so who knows I'll probably reverse all this in the future...hence the bins under the bed!

Next area to simplify has been my diet.

I am currently eating a raw food vegan diet!

I'm not sure how long I can keep it up as I still have to prepare my family's meals and preparing two different meals is not my idea of fun. Maybe in the future we will settle on cooked vegan with lots of whole foods.

But I am noticing a distinct increase in energy levels, and it is interesting to sample foods here and there after a clean fruit and vegies diet. You really notice the salt, sugar and fat!

I've only been on it for a couple of weeks and will continue for at least a month before making further changes. I want to see what it can offer my aging body!

I have also been reducing my online interactions, taking myself off old email lists which no longer interest me. Trying to eventually reduce the outside stimulation and voices to make me centre into myself and find my own voice.

Unfortunately this has meant less action on my blog. I hope you will bear with me as I sort through this internal time.

I'm starting a love myself project, where I really step through my own goals and accomplishments and I feel gratitude for myself which leads to love.

This is a huge area for me because I have always felt lacking and unworthy, even though people constantly tell me how talented I am. So I am paring back the outside voices to listen to my own loving voice.

Along with loving myself is the whole realm of loving my body.

I am taking time each day to have long walks, doing yoga stretches, and also introducing meditation times as well. I have a plan to start weights, but haven't nailed that one yet!

It's been very interesting that as I chip away at the things and practices and people that don't serve me 100%, (not that they are repugnant, but just not quite right), I find I hear more clearly that little voice inside that is my own.

My mantra at this time is:

keep it simple

I am writing all this out to help me see it in its entirety, and I publish it in case it helps others to read.

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Sooo Bushy and I went on a date on Sunday to the National Arboretum where he has a research site. It is an amazing place with plans for 100 forests and 100 gardens. It's early days yet as they only opened it a few years ago. We are fascinated by the kinetic scupltures they have installed recently.