Unexpected success : )

This was my last failed attempt at the Spiral Scrubby, before I finally succeeded. It wasn't working out, but instead of scrapping it, I tied off  the ends & it became a funky bracelet :D

One of the things I really love about crocheting is that, often when something doesn't work out, you don't really fail, you just end up with something else instead :p

Crocheted 'Spiral Scrubby' practical & pretty :3 (((I actually made this one from a pattern (& a video) >_>

This thing took me so long to figure out, I'm not sure if it's because I'm new to crocheting, or cause I'm just a little loose in the head... Doesn't really matter cause after days of trying to work this thing out, I have finally succeeded ': )

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Here it is, the spiral scrubby...

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Top view, I included a little plaited strap.

This is the underside.

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Here are some useful links that have helped me, in case anyone else would like to have a try at crocheting...

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Basics part 1

Basics part 2

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The spiral scrubby:

Pattern

Video

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&

A handy website for crocheting : )

Eco friendly washing experiment featuring soapnuts! :D (((I've never been so excited to wash my clothes ':p

We were already buying the most eco friendly washing powder I could find to do our laundry, but I wanted to try something even better : ) A little while back I ordered some soapnuts, they arrived a week or 2 ago & I've been testing them out :D

This is the very first load, all ready to go out, I was pretty exited to test these things & see the result [: )

Here's a close up of what I used. In the parcel are a few soapnuts, some fresh lavender from the garden & a chunk of lemon peel. Next to that in the little cup is 1.5 tsp of bi carb soda, which is a great all round cleaner, I plan to test it out on the loo very soon >___>

We are both impressed with the results, the clothes look & smell really nice (even my filthy socks!) ':D
I reused the the same parcel to do the next load & it worked just as well. The parcel is all dried out now & ready to do a couple more washes :3
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I've been pretty impressed with the soapnuts so far, I need to do some more testing, but for laundry at least, they work really well : )
I'm going to do some more testing & update you all on how they perform in other areas, in the mean time, you can try a 50g sample kit for yourself if you're interested, it's less than $10 including shipping (within Australia)
The one concern I have about this product (which is NOT so eco friendly) is that they grow in the Himalayas 0_0 That means an awful lot of transport to get them to the customer, so I'm going to investigate the possibility of growing these trees myself, I love the idea of growing my own soap :D Of course that will take time, trees surely don't grow overnight >_> Until I am able to source them more locally, ordering in bulk seems to be the best solution. One of the larger packs should easily last a full year (if not more)


I'm hoping that this post will inspire us all to think more carefully about what we wash down the drain, always remember that it all goes somewhere, the more natural & gentle the products we use the less harm we will do to eco systems & creatures on this planet.
An interesting thought to keep in mind is, there is no new water on earth, what we have now is all there is, & all there ever will be, we must take care of it! (I heard this on a science documentary about planets not long ago, it was a simple but amazing thing to realise .___.)

My very first crocheted item (((I'm calling it a wrist snuggly :3

Well this is about THE MOST simple thing you could possibly crochet (maybe other than a plain square...) Basically it's a rectangle with the ends joined ': ) It's made using the most basic crochet stitch, which I believe is just called a 'single stitch'.
Considering it's the first thing I've ever made using yarn I'm feeling pretty happy with it, but looking around online there are some really amazing (& beautiful) crocheted creations out there, I think it's time to learn some new stitches :p


Here's a quick pic-

It TOTALLY works by the way, my right wrist is so much warmer than my left one 'XD


I used 10 chains for the width & single crocheted until it was just long enough to go around my wrist, then I threaded yarn (like shoelaces) & tied it on at the back.

This is the back side, I've just been wrapping the loose yarn around & it's been holding in place well all day : )

My first patch of crochet (((Small step for man, giant honking leap for me [: I

Not too long ago I decided to check out crochet.

Many people seem to be into this super craft so I thought I'd take a look myself.

I found that crochet seemed to be easier, quicker, & more forgiving than knitting, it sounded perfect for me! I'm not great at knitting, & I don't seem to have the patience for it (yet) either, so crochet could well be the answer to all these problems :D

I watched a video or 3 or youtube, & set off to find a crochet hook of my own. However all the op-shops I went to had piles upon piles of knitting needles, but no crochet hooks... I was feeling a little deflated when I tried the 3rd (& final) place, before I was going to admit defeat & pay retail for a brand new one. I asked the little old lady behind the counter & she happily pulled out a tin filled with crochet hooks! :D She even gave me a quick demonstration, then some random joined in & began showing me her technique (which was apparently European...) It was all great fun & I picked up the most basic stitch pretty easily : )

In the end I got 3 crochet hooks & a few yarn balls for $2 *o* Can't complain about that :p (Damn I love op shops <3)

So after all that, I messed around a bit & I think I have the hang of the first stitch \^o^/

I have a bit more investigating & practice to do, & very soon I'm going to make a scarf!

In the mean time, here is a pic of my first crochet patch!

So far I am finding crochet to be easier than knitting. It's quicker (for me anyway) & pretty easy to fix mistakes : ) Hopefully I don't run into any problems, but thus far I'm super impressed with it [:D

If you've never tried, why not give it a go yourself : )

I'll add some helpful links asap... but for now I must sleep...

A new way to do old chores : )

Today is Sunday, & Sunday is the day the bin needs to be taken down to the bottom of the driveway, usually this means a 5-10 minute walk dragging the bin/s along behind (when it's especially hot or cold, this pretty much sucks) but not any more! :D

Ta-da! Recently my partner Eli & I bought this Toyota Hilux :D So far we're super happy with it. It's pretty cool, like driving a wee truck, it's easily the biggest car either of us have ever owned, but still really fuel efficient : )

Kuchipatchi (the tamagotchi) is totally excited to get going :p

Eli did a super job getting the bin all tied down using his fancy knot tying skills while I took a bunch of photos c:

Our driveway is hazardous, but it's not so bad as this photo makes it look 'XD WHOOOSH~

Down at the bottom of the driveway Eli sorted out the bin while I took more photos (I'm so helpful >_>)
We'll still walk the bins down sometimes, but it's good to have the option not to have to : )


We're looking forward to using the ute to scavenge firewood, move house, & sometime in the future gather materials to build our very own house :D Woo~

No soap, shampoo or conditioner (((Progress report...

So it's been (roughly) a week since I stopped using soap, shampoo & conditioner, an I thought I'd quickly share the ups & downs of the experience.


Ups so far...
My skin seems to be doing very well, it has gotten a bit oily a few times (mostly just my face a little) but I swear overall it looks clearer & feels smoother. I've noticed less spots & blemishes too.
I feel happy that I'm not washing anything harmful down the drain, no toxic ingredients, fragrances, soap scum etc : )
I don't have to worry about accidentally ingesting gluten (many hair products contain wheat ingredients & I am very allergic 0_0) I can once again sing freely in the shower :p
Saving money :D Yes, definitely a big plus, over the course of a year you'd have to save a couple hundred dollars.
I know what I'm using, no more mystery ingredients or man-made concoctions, simple, natural & safe.


& the downs...
As mentioned above, my skin has gotten a little oily at times, it hasn't been as bad as I thought it might be, & nothing a quick rinse couldn't fix.
The most difficult thing has been my hair, that has gotten quite oily, I know it'll take a couple of weeks to adjust, in the mean time it doesn't really bother me, I just kinda hope people don't notice an think I'm all gross 'XD After I give it a good rinse with some lemon juice it's much better. I think this actually shows how much natural oil etc you're stripping away by using shampoo. I think (& hope) that left to it's own, natural devices my hair will balance itself out eventually c:


I do plan on trying out the soapnuts I bought once they arrive in the mail, till then it's just good old lemon juice & lavender, which is working really well so far : )

Here's a quick photo to give you a rough idea of what my skin & hair is looking like at the moment.
My skin is pretty clear (which is odd for this time of the month...) but as you can see my hair is looking pretty mussy (it IS due for a good rinsing tho)


I'll keep you all informed on how this works out, any questions, feel free to ask ^u^


(try your best to ignore the mighty pile of washing in the background '8p)

My dog likes to get rid of flies (((Update...

So the fly was still in our room right up until bedtime, it was buzzing around & ended up stuck inside my bamboo lamp (best lamp ever btw!) anyhow, it was spazzing out in there trying to get it's bearings I suppose, but it was making such a racket that Addi heard & came whizzing into the bedroom & straight over to the bedside table to investigate. She knew exactly what was going on, she tried her hardest to get at the fly...

but after all her efforts were unsuccessful, all she could do was sit & paw feebly at the table. Poor girl, it was not her day :p Next time Jiji <3

My dog likes to get rid of flies (((So do I ]: )

Today I accidentally let in this whopping fly, Addi seems to share my disdain for these icky insects...

There she goes desperately trying to catch the darn thing.

She was unsuccessful & turned to me for help. Unfortunately I had to head back to work, it's still in here, I can hear the bastard ]: I (She's at it again :p)
Actually both my dogs are bothered by flies. The best fly story I have is when a huge fly flew in through the front door an then flew over to the other glass sliding door (which was closed) my old, blind, semi-crazy shih tzu x named Akira proceeded to bolt in the general direction of the fly an within seconds had ended it, it was beautiful 'XD

Wild soapnuts. (((A suitable soap/shampoo/detergent alternative?

That's what I'm wondering at the moment...


Today I set out to find (really) eco alternatives to soap, shampoo & laundry detergent (aside from lemons & baking soda, or more conventional products available in health stores, which can get pricey 0_0) I thought this would be a long slow process, not so! I came across this site rather quickly. They are promoting & selling a special berry which they call 'soapnuts' :D They contain a natural kind of detergent & can be used as a multi-purpose cleaner. You can use them to make a washing liquid to use as a replacement for soap, shampoo etc, you can use them to wash dishes, & even do your laundry, plus they can be used several times, how fantastically awesome does that sound! XD
They are all natural, non-toxic & 100% biodegradable. These amazing berries are harvested from trees which grow wild in the Himalayas & can be purchased from a few stores around Australia, or (maybe more conveniently) online : ) There are various sized packs available, including a 50g sample pack which, including shipping (within Australia) works out to to be less than $10 (OMFG cheap! :o)


So all this sounds completely amazing, unbelievable even, well I'm gonna find out. I've ordered & paid for a sample pack & I'm going to test it for myself. Hopefully it will arrive this week, if not, they should arrive early next week. I'll post my findings once I've thoroughly tested them.
I'm so very excited ]8D


For more information head over to the website HERE, there's a video you can watch & a FAQ page.

If these things are as amazing as they sound I'm totally gonna look into growing my own soap trees! \ ^o^ /

Ja!

Downsizing, a step forward, not a step back (((Tiny houses, yay!

Ok, so this is a pretty extreme example, but of course you don't have to go this far. The basic idea is less stuff = more time = happy ':p


Check out this video-

(I swear my fiancee has a man-crush on the tiny house guy :p)


There's also the tiny house blog!
tinyhouseblog.com


Ja ne...

The rains :o (((I've rarely experienced so much water

It started raining yesterday afternoon, pretty much just as I was finishing up at work (lucky!) it even hailed a bit, which is also fairly uncommon. Well it pretty much hasn't let up since! This is the hardest, longest rain I can remember, it just keeps coming, it's still going right now, more than 12 hours later 0_0 I was woken up several times last night because the sound was so loud, it truly sounded just like a freaking waterfall [:D Of course our house started leaking so I was up & about searching for pots to sit under very drippy doorways etc.


Here are a couple of pics I took this morning at around 7am-

This is a positively giant bowl that was left outside yesterday afternoon, it was completely empty & has been filled entirely by the rain, that's a lot of water \ ^o^ /

Our back tank. It's about 5000 litres, & as you can see the water is just gushing out, what a waste! We need more storage capacity, very important here in Aus. We do have a bigger tank out front (about 20,000 litres) it's hard to get to though...

Close up of the gushy water, I love running water, it's not very common where I live. I love rain! XD

So here's a pic of some of the water drops from by bedroom door, Dad says it was happening cause the gutters were all blocked an the water was being diverted & ended up coming in via my bedroom :p

I also got out & about to run some errands, this is the creek that flows through my home town of St Andrews, it runs all the way thought Diamond Creek & Eltham too. It's usually this tiny piddly thing you could jump across, check it out after that rain :D

 Close up of a particularly hazardous part : )

The is my favourite, roadside waterfall FTW! It was actually still flowing on my way back home, which I was quite impressed with. I saw it on my way to town & had to pull over to get a photo.

Tour of a cob cottage (((One of the most adorable natural buildings I've seen :D

Cob is an adobe mix, which is basically made up of clay, sand water & straw, it is similar to the mix used to make mudbricks. Building using an adobe technique has many benefits, it provides great natural insulation against temperature & noise, it is fire & bug proof, it has good thermal mass, it's relatively low tech, & best of all it's completely natural & free from any harmful toxins!


To see a tour of a beautiful cob building check out this video-

Hope you all like it, if you're going to build a house (or have one built) maybe you might like to consider natural building techniques, & don't forget about passive solar design. Help yourself & help the planet all at the same time : )


My dream is to build & live in a small cob house one day <3
Anyone out there have their own eco dream house? I'd love to hear about it : )


Ja~

Some of my better (older) photos - Just for fun : ) (((Good times, good memories...

In no particular order...

Some fancy plant that grows at the boarding kennels I currently work at. Funnily enough the same plant grows at the previous boarding kennel I worked at... any link, or just funny coincidence?... If anyone knows what this plant is, don't hesitate to comment with the answer! :D I like how the 'flowers' are pretty much just purple leaves :p

Amazingly coloured branch I happened to notice on a walk once, there were a few like this, but this one had the best colours. I was utterly in awe of this natural gradient :o

This be my old dog Akira, I suppose he was younger in the photo, but he's turning 12 this year :o how time flies... also he's blind now. Anyway I caught him pulling this ridiculous face 'XD I had scrapped it originally, but stumbled onto it a while back an added the speech bubble (I have mad Photoshop skillz :p)

Addi (or more commonly Jiji-Bean)-(named well before I ever discovered The OKO Box where there are stories about a donkey named JuJu Bean) So anyway she's a cavoodle (cavalier x poodle) & the best dog EVER! She's super happy ALL THE TIME, friendly, cuddly & floppy, she flops & rolls all over the place, I love her sooo much. She is my bean <3

So one night while sitting in the dark soaking up some heat, I randomly decided to take a photo of my fire (I made it, it was mine >_>) but anyway, this is how the photo turned out, wha?... I took a few more, but they all had this purple funk going on, strange stuff. I love this photo as much as I love the memory of the comforting heat from the fire <3

Crazy reflections on our dam. I took this photo using a program on my phone, colours & contrast are way exaggerated, but I like the final effect, quite soothing... especially the way the rocks slowly disappear into the water ~(^3^)~

Probably the most spectacular beetle I have ever seen in Victoria 0_0 A friend of mine spotted this little fellow crossing the footpath on one of our walks. We called him something like, 'the spastic disco beetle'. Turns out it's actually a 'Botany Bay Diamond Weevil' & they're actually considered to be a bit of a pest as they feed on acacia trees & cause damage to plantations (their larvae can kill the trees by eating the roots) but then again, maybe that's what you get when you use monoculture! What a cool looking bug!

This adorable little frog jumped out of a plant I was watering one morning. He sat on the wall trying to blend in (damn fine job I say!) & I managed to snap a shot or two [:D Brilliant!

This be pumi-cat, the wee stray kitten we found starving to death out in our back shed, she was the runt & she needed help! Poor thing was all bones, & her face was so dirty! My sisters & I brought her in & cleaned her right up. We hand raised her with an eye dropper, it was the best thing when she first worked out that it was food, she went crazy an started sucking it down like mad! She got stronger & stronger, bigger & healthier. She was sick for ages, we had to clean her nose & eyes several times a day cause they were all snotty an gross D: She did make a full recovery though, see photo below!

Adult pumi-cat in all her glory, isn't she beautiful! [:D This is my most favourite photo of her : ) So after all the hard work, we found her a loving home (we're not really cat people) & she lives happily with them to this day. I should go for a visit again soon, I miss her, she was a freakin awesome kitty!

Pools of fresh rain that had collected on this fallen leaf. I thought it was one of the coolest things ever, I took a million photos, & here's one of them. It makes me happy every time I look at it [: ) They're like silver jewels, how. AWSOME!!! ]:D

Pretty tree bark on one of my most favourite trees : ) I love the light patterns, nature is the best \ ^o^ /

Lovely spring weather, a (double!) rainbow (OMG) & a mob of kangaroos happily feeding away on super green spring grass :D Looking at those hills makes me want to roll down them! I'd end up very soggy by the time I got to the bottom though : I Maybe if I had a waterproof canvas swag...

Some super cute kangaroos that were handing around out front of our house. The young lady in front is a new mommy! Joy! Her joey has spotted me peeping at them through the door 'XD What beautiful creatures, if you've ever seen a kangaroo jump clear over a fence you're a lucky one, I've never seen anything else so fluid & powerful.

I am a guinea pig... (((Experiments in being more environmentally friendly

Yep I'm gonna test a few things out, using myself of course :D
I know all of these things will have been done before, but I've never tried them, & I bet a whole heap of other people haven't either. SoI figure if I give it a go & publish some results maybe I can help people & informs them of what works & what's probably best avoided : )


#1. I'm going to try to find some successful (& simple) solutions instead of using store-bought shampoo, conditioner & soap, using a few natural ingredients to get clean sounds loads better than using some mysterious, heavily scented goo :p For the time being I'm trying out lemon juice & lavender, I'll inform everyone how this works out for me in a couple of weeks, will I be clean & huggable or will I stink & be exiled to the spare bedroom :o


#2. I'm switching to re-usable liners, instead of throw-away pads, I've ordered a couple of different types & I'll post info & reviews once I've tried them for myself. I've ordered products from wemoon & lunapads I'm so curious to see how effective they are compared with disposable pads & how feasible it is to wash them, which would be greatly helped by my next experiment...


#3. I'm looking into human powered washing machines & spinners :D The trouble I'm finding so far is that the best ones I've seen, like the wonder wash are not available in Australia, & no one will ship them here : ( I'm having the same trouble with spinners & wringers, in fact the clothes wringers I've seen so far have been hugely expensive 0_0 So this problem is going to need some work, I feel pretty confident that between my fiancee & myself we should be able to come up with something... I'll keep you all posted on our progress ; )


#4 This is more of a general thing, I'm going to try my damn hardest to make my entire life more 'green' (eco, environmentally friendly, whatever you like to call it) An I mean every damn thing I do/buy. I'm taking a stand & I'll share any new ideas which work & hopefully, maybe more people will follow along & make some positive changes in their lives too ^___^


Wish me luck! X3

Photo round-up (((Various shots I've been too lazy to put up in the last few months

So basically I've had plenty to blog about, I just haven't... shame =___=
Moving on, here are those photos-

Funky spider I noticed on my car window one day when I was heading off down the driveway. I've never seen one like it, totally awesome little creature : ) I call him the 'lightning spider', looks like an electric type pokemon or something 8 }

A bunch of goodies from my local health food shop, Chocolate soy milk, Gluten free buns, GF chocolate & orange cookies, organic avocado, capsicum & asparagus, biodynamic basmati rice, stringy bark honey, & cashews, HOORAY! :D

A ladybug that decided to visit me while I was waiting for the car to get new tyres, it ended up taking 3 an a half hours @___@ I took a damn long walk with my Voodle that day >_>

Some very pretty blue flowers I saw during my previously mentioned super long walk with my Voodle Addi, there really wasn't much else to see in the suburbs, these flowers were the highlight ':3 These flowers were actually really high up & being a short-ass I had to stand on tip toe & life my camera up over my head to get this shot :p

This is my most recent photo, taken just this morning : ) This is some awesome orange fungi I spotted whilst we were searching for field mushrooms, unfortunately there aren't any yet, but I'll look again through the week, in the mean time no mushies for me : I

Some big ideas to consider... (((Changing our way of life to help ourselves, help the planet & ultimately animals & other people too

I've spent a few hours today reading my most favourite blog ***The OKO Box***


I really REALLY love this blog, I've learned so much about living more considerately, there are so many avenues of my life which I could improve upon & I might never have considered any of them if I had not found this blog.


So what I'm gonna do is throw up some links to some posts I really liked.
In no particular order...
- soy wax massage candles
- non toxic remodelling - So very important! 'Modern' housing frustrates me to no end, horrible toxic materials combined with ridiculous designs which have neither people or the planet in mind; building with natural materials & more in tune with nature is a HUGE step forward in my opinion, & something everyone should look into. Check out things like 'mud brick', 'Cob' & 'straw bale' houses, combined with 'passive solar design', 'thermal mass' & 'grey water systems' - I'll be posting more about these ideas soon...
- hemp slippers - I'm just a huge fan of slippers...
- menstruation the organic way - This post in particular had a pretty big impact on me & made so much sense, I'm gonna make the switch asap. Here are a couple of Australian stores which supply re-usable liners - wemoon & moonpads I'm sure there must be other stores out there, products like this can go a long way to help our health as well as the environment, so feel free to share any extra info you find : )
- what can you live without
- chemical free cleaning frenzy
aaand
- using the 'wonder wash' - What a seriously awesome idea! Get a bit of exercise & clean you're clothes quickly all the while saving water & electricity. I've often wondered about a washer that is somehow powered by a bike, & likewise a spinner to help drain some water before you hang them to dry, experiments that I will DEFINITELY try in the future :3


Many of the ideas within these posts support a thought I have had for a long while now,
"If you wouldn't/shouldn't put it in your mouth, perhaps you shouldn't be using it..."


Reading these posts has also helped me realise that I need to think more widely about how to live a more healthy 'green' life, not just recycling & avoiding plastic bags (although that's a start) but to consider even the often overlooked areas of my life, from the clothes I buy, to the sanitary products I use, etc etc. I have always tried to buy green, but now I wonder if I can go even further, like using lemon juice & bi carb to clean rather than buying any commercial cleaners at all, & using washable pads instead of horrible throw-away ones.

So I hope people find these ideas as brilliant & useful as I have.

Good luck if you're starting to make the switch to a more 'green' lifestyle ; )

Anatomy practice, kinda - Pissed off pilot/Combat trainee (((Tough angry women ftw

I say kinda because I didn't use any reference material, anyway I hope you all like her...