missing in action

Oops! I just realised it's Monday which means that a few days ago it was Friday which means that I missed my weekly 'simple living' post. We'll be back on track this week I promise!

I've been away in Sydney the past few days showing the latest Rabbit & the Duck wares at Life Instyle (that's our hexagon shaped stand above!). Four days of meeting stockists (both new and old), chatting to lovely stand holders and looking longingly at the Telegram paper goods stand that was directly opposite me.

Of course, fate decided that the day before I left to go to Sydney I would catch a rather unpleasant cold, so most of the show was spent in a bit of a haze. I also manage to lose my voice each time I get sick, which may have been a blessing in disguise because I cannot remember some of the things I said under the influence of cold medicine hehe.

In good news, I'm back in the studio today and feeling much better. I'm listening to the sound of the rain falling outside and am about to cook myself something delicious for breakfast before tackling the pile of emails that awaits me. I have lots of lovely new stockists to introduce you to over the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

Happy Monday x

simple living: yurt inspiration

A beautiful story of a man and his yurt.

Happy Friday xo

simple living: the art of doing nothing

Phew! It's Friday! Another busy week winds to an end. Normally the weekend is time to relax, but somehow or another I have ended up with an enormous list of things to do. And my list keeps getting longer - within the next 6 weeks I will go to Sydney, Ballarat and Adelaide for Rabbit & the Duck events! I'm already in 'will I get everything done - what do I actually need to get done - have I already forgotten to do something important (like order fabric so I can make things to sell hehe). Add to that a few social events and some other commitments and I'm wondering if my next day off will be in April sometime.

Amongst all the busy-ness I sometimes forget to remind myself that it's ok (and necessary!) to have time where I do nothing. To just sit still and allow the mind and the body to slow down. This is easier said than done for me - usually my mind is going a million miles an hour and taking 5 or 10 minutes time out is just long enough for the 'I should be doing something productive' thoughts to creep in. But they say practice makes perfect, so I'm going to give doing nothing a try every day and see what happens.

To read more on the art of doing nothing, click over here.

PS. I love doing nothing while I'm in the middle of the bush, or at the beach, or watching a beautiful sunrise. How about you? How do you practice doing nothing?

simple living: shop local

There's a lot of talk in the news right now about the ongoing price war between the two big supermarkets, Coles and Woolworths. First it was milk, and now they've gone to battle over fresh fruit and veggies, slashing many prices below cost in an effort to win a greater share of the fresh food market.

I won't go into too much detail here about the price war - for more information there is a good news article in today's newspaper that covers the topic. What I do want to talk about is why I am trying to move away from shopping in supermarkets, and some ideas that I am going to implement to help me achieve this.

So, why avoid the supermarket? For me, it is a combination of factors, such as a desire to support local businesses and growers, a desire to eat less processed and more fresh food, and wanting to cut down on the amount of packaging that comes with my food.

Over the past year or so I've been slowly cutting down on the amount of things I buy from the supermarket. Some things were easy - I am lucky to have a great local green grocer who also sells fresh bread, nice cheese, and many other tasty treats. But I still find myself popping in to the supermarket on a regular basis, and I feel it's time to get organised to break this habit.

First up, I'm going to write a list of all the things I currently buy from the supermarket. I'll divide my list into essentials and non-essentials. Essentials might include laundry detergent. Non-essentials might include snack foods. For all the essentials on my list, I am then going to research alternatives. Can I buy the product at the local health food or organic store? Can I make it myself? Can I buy it in bulk to save on packaging? Armed with this information I'm going to start some new routines, like doing one big shop each month for all my essentials, so that the only things I need to buy in between are perishables like milk, fruit and veggies.

I'd love to hear your ideas and actions for being more conscious about where you spend your grocery dollars : )

Happy weekend x