Seasonal Living :: September

Where we've been the last few days ::

Well, Eid took up a large chunk of the days, as did being ill (me), and being very, very hyperactive (them).

We've been slowly noticing the change in temperature, appreciating the sun when we have it, and sensing the shift that happens at this time of year :: the summer ends, the school year starts, friends drift back into old routines, and we spend just a little bit more time indoors.

We harvested our apples! Yes, as small as they are, they are perfectly formed and tastey, and are destined to become apple pie filling for the freezer to feed us through the winter.

But more than all that, I have been secretly working away at a new project that I am both eager and reticent to share (how about that for confliction?!).

Reticent due to being nervous; I have no idea how well this project will do, how well received it will be, if at all (the worse case scenario apart from troll baiting would just be being ignored), or whether it will 'work'. For a long time (years, even), I've given up at the first hurdle, happier to give up before I start. It's easier not to put yourself 'out there' than it is to open yourself up for criticism, isn't it? And I am all too aware of my inadequacies in practically everything I do in life. I know that the world is littered with truly amazing, creative, talented, artistic, resourceful people, and I do not count myself amongst them! So it is a little hard to stand up in the shadows of these great people and say, 'um I have an idea too'....

But I do. And it's more than an idea, really. It's my passion, my interest and my life. For a long, long while now our little family has walked this homeschooling, homesteading, seasonally-aware, conscious life. We may not have done it perfectly, and we may not have kept from meandering off the path once in a while, but what centres us as a family is this middle path we walk of treading on the earth as gently as possible, to inhibit our consumeristic traits, to live wholly and together mindfully in all that we do, and to use everything in life as a lesson, a chance to grow.

For years people have emailed me for help and advice (just in case you were wondering, I'm no expert or guru so please don't think I have a pedastal that I polish for just such an occasion) on everything I blog about - from homeschooling hows and why's, to worried mothers wondering how to 'do it all' (easy answer - you can't, and no one does), from requests for activities and ideas - it struck me a long time ago that there is a need for a meeting of minds for families like ours.

My perfect book/blog would include everything from homeschooling resources, homesteading information, tips and DIY tutorials, recipes, articles, ideas for living seasonally and living in balance with our environment. It would be crafty, and engage my need to make things. It would have patterns and tutorials. And it would be for the whole family of all ages, not just mamas with their toddlers.

But I could find nothing out there that did all this - nothing to recommend to people who emailed.

So, I decided to do it myself.

And that, my friends, is what this new project of mine is all about. In a nutshell I have been working on starting an e-zine (for download) that will attempt to do ALL of the above. It will engage our need to live seasonally, wholly, mindfully and resourcefully.

I have big dreams, but admit I start very small. Oh, and I'm starting late (uh, organisation? NOT me), but from small acorns mightly Oak trees grow, right?

Introducing 'Seasonal Living & Learning'.

For the next couple weeks I would like to talk a bit more about this project, introduce some people I've been working with, share a bit more about what will be in the first edition and at some point I envisage a give-away too!

But for now, please wander on over and see what you think.





Yours nervously,
D
xx




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