really round the world

I haven't had a moment today to do a blog entry.....and this evening I'm beavering away making our website....I'm getting the hang of it almost enough to enjoy the process......so for now I'll leave you with an interview I have just done for Rolf Pott's travel website, Vagabonding. While I'm at it, I could recommend his book by the same name - I read it a couple of weeks ago committed the almost-unforgiveable sin ~ underlining lots of it! You can purchase it from GoodBooks for only two thirds of the cost that it is at other stores....and their profits go to Oxfam. WIN-WIN-WIN


Now before you go and read the interivew (if you want to!), I can update the plans...we have a more definite time frame than when I did the interview....we won't be leaving here till August. January will see us no further away than camping at the beach up north. And, SADLY, it looks like Africa is off the itinerary for the moment too. We have done some pricing and it's looking too much.
That's all part of the process.....dream some dreams and see what you can do!

of clothes and comfort

I've been enjoying reading Kelsey's blog * Where Am I Wearing? * over the past couple of weeks. He's an American travelling the globe in a quest to find out about the places where his clothes are made. This post in particular was a goodie. What you buy and who you buy it from and how much you pay is certainly not simple.

But the more I find out about fair trade, the more I realise it can make a difference.

That's one of the reasons I have started making our clothes. Especially if I can refashion something found at a thrift store or use second-hand material. Sometimes things are perfect just the way they are in the store - like T3's gorgeous little crocheted-with-lots-of-love-I'm-sure vest.

When I am making things myself, I am much more aware of the amount of effort that goes into them and I am more likely to choose fewer items that work well together than fall into the trap of buying lots of things because they are cheap.

Then.....because I am buying less, and if possible getting it second-hand, I have more money to be able to go to Trade Aid and other such stores and make purchases based on justice rather than the dollar - the K-Mart equivalent may be cheaper, but it is less likely to be ethical.

And doesn't she look just as happy as if she was wearing a brand new exclusive designer piece?

And it's not just me on this soapbox! Father Bear brought home some Oxfam and Trade Aid Literature yesterday. Here are some quotes:

* Half the world's population (2.8 billion) live on less than US$2 a day. 1.1 billion live on less than US$1 a day.

* Poor countries account for 0.4% of global trade. Their share has halved since 1980.

* If Africa, East Asia, South Asia and Latin America each increased their share of world exports by just 1%, the gains could lift 128 million people out of poverty.

* If these regions increased their share of world exports by 5%, they would generate US$350 billion - seven times as much as they receive in aid.

Something's not quite right. Are we in the developed world willing to forgo some comforts to see justice come to the rest of the world?

surfie chick

surfie chick....that's so not me.

Beaches would be good if it weren't for the sand and the salt!

surfie chick....that's beach babe Kate

And now that the SUNNY BAY where she lives is more windy than sunny, she needs a new beach fashion accessory (as if her GORGEOUS hair isn't enough )...a chunky hat.



It might be more chunky that she expected, but if you want chocolate and pink, you gotta take what the shop has! Hope you don't mind the pink on top Katie - I ran out of brown and don't have the car to go buy you another brown ball! However, if you really don't like it, I'm happy to redo that little bit - wouldn't take long. In fact the whole hat didn't take long. YAY for chunky wool!

You know what I like about this hat?
It represents friendship and fair trade!
You see, Kate is making me a necklace.
There'll be no conflict diamonds in it (there'll be no diamonds at all - heehee).
There'll be no unjustly-mined-gold (in fact, no gold at all either).

I will have a special piece

made with love

by a dear friend,

who sparkles in my life.

Thanks Kate - it was a great idea!

warms both heart and body

I've been knitting up winter woolies for ER (11 mo).


These pants which you may have seen before to go over her cloth nappies now have a poncho and hat to match. I made up the poncho pattern as I went along and so it's not perfect - if I did it again (which I probably won't, because it was dead boring knitting round and round and round in circles), I would increase more slowly to give the shoulders some shaping rather than just being *boofy*. But it looks fine on and will fit her for years to come!!!!


I had a tiny bit of the wool left over so paired it with some velour-y feeling synthetic to make a cute wee hat which fits a newborn-sized-doll right through to MissT3.
YAY for s--t--r--e--t--c--h--y 2x2 rib.


Anybody want it?


These pants are my most favourite ever! Picking up a gazillion stitches to make the ruffles was absolutely not my favourite, but the end result was worth it. And she'll be able to wear them all winter as long pants and then next summer as capris. The hat above matches these pants too.

They make me think of portabellopixie on needles!

Some of this knitting has been done in public - at the playground, with friends, at a cafe, at the library. I love the sociability that knitting in public entails - invariably someone comes over and comments. They reminisce about how they used to knit for their children, they might sadly inform me these same kids don't want knitted items for the grandchildren, they extol the virtues of making things with your own hands, they tell me about how they would unravel sweaters after they'd been worn by all the family and then make something new, they tell me about knitting socks for the servicemen, they confide they would NEVER have the patience to knit anything, they share their frustrations at trying to learn and never mastering the art, they explain to me that it's really too expensive to knit. I don't put a price on it. Yes, it might cost as much or only a little less than a sweater from a shop, but there's something special about making something yourself. Plus there's the advantage of knowing that no slave labour was used in its manufacture. And I've never had anyone stop to chat with me and share their stories when I've been shopping in a mall the way they do when they plonk down on the park bench beside me!

This is not about charity, it's about justice

Here's part of Bono's award-acceptance speech (which award? I'm not sure! But it's a great sermon!)

True religion will not let us fall asleep in the comfort of our freedom. Love thy neighbour is not a piece of advice - it’s a command. And that means….that in the global village we’re gonna have to start loving a whole lot more people…..Where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die.

So that bit wasn't the sermon, that was just Bono getting warmed up. Then he (in his own words) "climbs into the pulpit for just one moment":

God has a special place for the poor. The poor are where God lives. God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is where the opportunity is lost and lives are shattered. God is with the mother who has infected her child with a virus that will take both their lives. God is under the rubble in the cries we hear during war time. God, my friends, is with the poor. And God is with us if we are with them. This is not a burden, this is an adventure and don’t let anyone tell you it cannot be done. We can be the generation that ends extreme poverty.

I keep wondering about this, wondering what the answers are. It's constantly mulling around in the back of my mind. But my actions betray a stronger interest in what to feed myself today or what to clothe my children with this winter.

the 39-piece wardrobe

I read somewhere recently (can't remember where sorry) about someone who limited their entire wardrobe to 100 pieces. I've also been reading about the 100-mile wardrobe where you try to buy all your clothes from places within 100 miles of where you live (just like the 100-mile food thing)....and while I'm not quite ready to make that jump, I warm to the concept (in fact I like the idea of MAKING *all* my own stuff, but I'm not quite there yet either).
We are thinking of travelling a bit round the world in the next few years. And that means taking only what can fit in a backpack. Having already travelled with Far Too Much Stuff and barely been able to stagger through London from one lamp post to the next, we will take far less next time. If we were only going for a few months, we'd stick with a couple of pairs of pants, three tshirts and a sweatshirt each......but I'm hoping we'll be gone for much longer than that and so we will take more. But when I itemised everything I thought we'd need, I was surprised to find it only came to 39 pieces.

01. skirt
02. skirt
03. trousers
04. trousers
05. jeans (heavy and slowdrying, but I love them!)
06. short-sleeved buttoned shirt
07. short-sleeved buttoned shirt
08. short-sleeved t-shirt
09. short-sleeved t-shirt
10. long-sleeved buttoned shirt
11. long-sleeved t-shirt
12. long-sleeved t-shirt
13. fleece vest
14. handknit woollen cardigan
15. fleece jacket
16. rain jacket
17. undies
18. undies
19. undies
20. undies
21. undies
22. undies
23. bra
24. bra
25. bra
26. handknit socks
27. handknit socks
28. handknit socks
29. ankle length sports socks
30.thermal skivvy
31. thermal skivvy
32. thermal long johns
33. handknit winter hat
34. handknit mittens
35. sunhat
36. togs
37. crocs
38. sandals
39. leather hiking boots

Today I packed it all into my pack and discovered it only weighed 12kg (including sleeping bag, towel etc). I could carry that on the road....especially as I would actually be wearing some of the clothes!
This is very encouraging because I have been wondering how we would manage the little kids' gear....now I know I can fit two little kids' clothes in my pack (they'll carry their own sleeping bag, toiletries and eating utensils) and I'll have both hands free.

So the next step was to work out if what I have chosen is a sustainable mix. So I went through my wardrobe and set aside the items I want to take away and then just worked with what was left and tried to pare it down to the above list to use this winter. I had to make some substitutions (I have lots of skirts and only one pair of trousers), but I've essentially ended up with what's on that list....minus the thermals and hat coz it doesn't get cold enough here...plus a denim jacket, corduroy jacket and full length woolen coat, any of which can take the place of the as-yet-unbought-goretex jacket while we're still here. I don't have my hiking boots yet, but I've got a pair of brown suede boots....as well as my pink No Sweat hi-tops, a pair of fancy sandals I only ever wear to weddings, running shoes, "nice shoes" and a pair of slippers, none of which would come on the road. Falling into this category are also PJs and a dressing gown! Even still, my item count remains below 50. (I am guilty of holding on to a little pile of "just in case" things until I'm convinced that what I have is plenty).

As an aside, I find it intriguing that I should consider having 50 items of clothing to be "limited". To many people in the world it would be an inconceivable extravagance to have so many things. I am reminded of Jesus telling us to give away our second coat if we've got two......my extra gear is off to the op shop....and hopefully the just-in-case items will make their way there too soon.

some things make me angry

and this is one of them

A small Canadian company with no experience in mining decides to take over a village in Romania and blast the place with dynamite, leaving cyanide polluting the air and waterways, with total disregard to the wishes of the approximately 2000 inhabitants, who are in the process of being relocated to an uninhabitable valley with no water. For goodness sake, these guys are subsistence farmers, they need water and arable land. Oh, and did I mention they are doing this illegally?

And why? For Money. Well, gold, to be precise, but ultimately it's greed. The churches and cemeteries, cultural and archaeological treasures, natural features are all of no worth. Five mountains will be blasted away. A massive dam containing the toxic waste will be constructed. All for the sake of money.

Well, it might not. There is huge resistance and I am hopeful for the people of this region that Rosia Montana will remain. I hope the young lad who bought some mountain bikes and is trying to set up a tourist venture offering mountain biking tours is successful. I'd like to think the people attempting to engage in agro-tourism will attract people to see their villages, which are essentially a live working museum - these people are living exactly as their forefathers lived 200 years ago.

Of course I am aware that this may be of absolutely no interest to anyone reading my blog, but just in case someone wants to know more, you can go to Rosia Montana itself and to no dirty gold and here is a detailed analysis of the situation including some hopeful alternatives for the people of the region, and a simple outline by Friends of the Earth, and this link takes you to a site devoted to "changing public policy and mining practices to ensure the health of individuals, communities and ecosystems in Canada and around the world".

Some old prophets had some sage advice:
"Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor" ~Zechariah 7:9-10

"What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" ~Micah 6:8

two husbands and a little brown dress

I came across this gal last year and fell in love with her absolute wacky devotion to an idea!!!! She wore ONE dress for a whole entire complete year...that's ONE dress, one little brown dress.....every single day. I'm not about to go and throw away all my clothes, but I am always thinking about

how little do we need?
how do we reflect ourselves through our clothes
rather than being what someone in Paris decided
three seasons ago
that we should be this year?
how can we be modest AND modern?
how can we support small businesses instead of sweatshops?
how can we be producers instead of just consumers?

It seems to me that Little Brown Dress Gal thinks similarly...and after her little brown dress project she moved on to another. She's only wearing things that she has made herself. Yes, right down to her undies and swimming togs, shoes and backpack.
I find this to be truly inspirational. But I don't intend becoming a cult member and following this guru! Although I'm not actually far away - I have made undies this year, I've made bags, I haven't needed to wear my store-bought swimming togs coz I haven't been swimming (not all summer, how sad is that!), and I've made myself some new clothes (in brown, what's more):

The pants are a blast from the past. I made my first pair with Suzie way back in the early nineties in Poland. Although I haven't worn them for a few years I haven't thrown them away and they remain the most comfortable pants I've ever worn. I guess making them now was (apart from being a nostalgia trip and a desire to be comfy) a bit of a statement about wearing what I want and not what is on the racks in the shops! I'm like that.

And see my sandals? I've looked at them very carefully! A piece of timber, some non-slip stuff on the bottom and some leather straps rivetted on the sides. *I could make that* And I just might when these eventually die - coz these have been the most comfortable shoes apart from the pair I had custom-made and wore almost every day for nearly 15 years before a strap broke. The custom-made shoes might have cost $100 (an awful lot of money twenty years ago when you could buy shoes for $10), but over 15 years that works out at less than $7 a year for a wonderfully-made perfect fit that was crafted locally from leather. When I need to replace my boots I'll be going here and hoping that they bring out a range of shoes like my old ones too.

Now one of the things I like about the internet is that you can always find someone who is just as crazy as you are - or even more so. I'm not alone in my thinking. I discovered someone else was already talking about this! If you want to see what they had to say, go here or in Search of Ethical Gladrags.
And My Friend Who Is Very Like Me yesterday chatted about why she doesn't really like the mall, which is all a continuation on the same theme. I could have written her last two paragraphs! But I didn't, so I won't get criticised for saying something so extreme (heehee) - after all, I'm only putting a link to it;-) And I have a Husband Who Is Very Like Hers too! Uncanny.

plasticFANTASTIC?????

Have you noticed that little ticker I've got in my sidebar?

Can you believe that many plastic bags have been consumed this year? What happens to them? Where do they go? Well, if you click on the ticker it'll take you to a site that has pictures of where some of them end up - polluting the earth.

I first started thinking about plastic bags when I lived in Poland back in the early nineties. You had to buy them. They didn't come free. Just like everyone else, we bought a wicker basket and used that for doing our shopping. Almost twenty years later that same basket is going strong, and it's never broken spilling its contents onto the ground, and when it eventually does die, it can go into the compost and help my grandchildren's veges grow!
(there she is on the left)


Sometimes it used to be a bit of a squeeze to get a week's worth of food from the market into the basket...and now with another eight mouths to feed, it's impossible. So I've made a whole lot of bags, which we take when we go out. They are a talking point and I can spread the word a wee bit.

At first my kids weren't too sure. But they have noticed the ticker. They cannot even imagine how bit the number has got to now - it's much bigger than a million;-)
We worked out what our little effort can do.....if we were to get six bags at the grocery store and another four at the vege shop, then another couple later in the week for more fruit and a couple from the butcher and then three or four more for gifts or clothing or books or other random purchases we might make and one or two from the dairy....that's potentially twenty bags a week. About a thousand bags a year. And we're only one family.
So now my kids have joined me on the crusade to use reusable sustainable natural bags. Our favourites are the ones we make from clothing that has been worn out, but I'd really like to buy one of these recycled juice bags that I've seen at Trade Aid. At first I was put off by the $30 price tag - but if we stopped buying plastic bags at 10c a bag (not to mention the hidden costs of disposal and the longterm nightmare they present), we would save $100 a year and could instead put our money towards supporting some families in the Philippines who are getting a fair wage for making these. WIN-WIN

anti-anti

I was talking with someone yesterday about how when you make choices that are not mainstream you are often labelled in terms of what you are NOT, rather than who you ARE.

anti-disposable nappies
anti-socialist state
anti-junk food
anti-schooling
anti-pesticides
anti-consumerism
anti-working mums
and we've had people ask if we're anti-contraception ;-)

In reality we choose as natural as possible whenever we can, including organic gardening and cloth nappying...we’re into Spirit-led learning…actually Spirit-led life which for some families will include mum working outside the home…we try to limit our consumption of the world’s resources in the name of justice for others…..we believe in personal responsibility....

Sure we don't use disposable nappies - but that's because cloth ones are great! They won't fill the world's landfill with plastics and chemicals that won't break down for years and years, they are soft and natural and breathable and they work!
Sure, we don't want excessive-government-intervention....let the government maintain justice and defend our nation.
OK so maybe I am anti-junk food! Why put poisons into your body? Wouldn't you rather develop a taste for food that is nutritious and builds up your cells rather than makes you sick?
Our kids don't go to school......that's because of the wonderful option we have for them to live life with us here at home and in our community.
Pesticides...this one is a work-in-progress. I'm still learning alternatives.
I'm a consumer. But I want to be a thoughtful consumer. I want to consider how my choices impact on others. And I want to be a creative producer aswell.
Anti-working-mums? hahaha Show me a mum who doesn't work! It's just a matter of *where* she gets to do it!
And as for the last one......what do you think? ;-)

Where's Wilberforce?

Earlier today a friend alerted me to the fact that there is currently more slavery in the world than at any time prior to this.



I had already read "No Logo" last year, which devotes a chapter to discussing the sweatshops of Asia. When I read that I determined not to buy sweatshop goods again. It truly was compelling reading.



However, there are two problems with this. One is finding out where goods are made and under what conditions. By shopping at Trade Aid you can be confident you are buying goods that shout JUSTICE....so I bought my bright pink high top boots there soon after reading "No Logo".



The other problem is that one family not buying slavery-made goods is not going to make much of a difference to anyone. Who knows what other things we can do?



Part of my decision to buy only "ethically" has meant I've turned to *making* some things. Here are some bags I've recycled out of the children's worn-out clothes. One of them has a slightly political statement on it (not that all shops in China are sweatshops, but a LOT of them are)






So where IS a modern Wilberforce?

Simply Starting

For the past six months people have been saying to me "why don't you start a blog?" and I have resisted! But for some reason (impulse probably), this afternoon I decided to have a little look to see just how tricky it would be....and it was dead simple! A friend had already given me the name - and I'm sure I'll allude to it from time to time - there were lots of templates to choose from (and although they were all modern funky ones instead of the crafty old look I'd have chosen, at least there was one BLUE one!) - there were instructions to follow....and now all I have to do is add my opinions - *THAT* won't be hard!!!!!

I'm actually going to use this blog as a space to record my day-to-day journey, to jog my memory when I finally get round to putting our photos in albums, and to keep my out-of-town friends up-to-date. Because a big part of me is thinking and experimenting, there are bound to be ramblings and photos too. And hopefully - as one friend has asked for - encouragement along the way.

Take a squiz at my full profile if you like and you'll get a taste for some of what I might write about in the future:

JESUS * dreams * growing-up * community * permaculture * self-sufficiency * homemaking * cloth nappies * Spirit-led-learning * organic food * being intentional * anti-consumerism * simplicity * contentment * natural products * radical authentic faith * other cultures * other languages * camping * hiking * travelling * recycling * history * financial freedom * creating * justice * poverty * Sabbath rest * celebrations * earth stewardship * knitting * sewing * refashioning * embroidery * photo albums * journals * hymn rewriting * fair trade * micro-enterprise * exercise * living *