Being eco is not for the busy!

I am sure that being eco is for people with lots of time! I hate to say it but for me it is kinda true. Life got really manic at one point and work was busy busy busy. It was at this time that I found that I was just getting through. It was quicker and easier to go to the supermarket for the household shopping. Can you believe it! As sad as it is it really is true. I simply didn't have the time or the inclination after a hard days work to then spend the time going round lots of little independent shops. As for the garden, well I pretty much gave up and am sorry to say that all the salad has gone to seed.

That is just how it is. I can't say that I am happy about it or enjoyed it per se but equally I think it was kind of important to be this way to appreciate how hard it is for working families. The convenience and time saving just simply takes precedent.

I even found that cooking went out the window. We went out to eat or got take aways. We were actually spending the money we were making at work on feeding our selves because we didn't have time to make healthy cheap food. It is insane when you look at it like that. We were basically working to buy the things that we couldn't do because we were at work.

And you know what, the more money I made the more I spent. The more I wanted to spend too. When I don't have so much it is not a case of can't spend it is a case of not really being bothered as I get my feel good factor from the cooking, gardening and craft activities.

It really is all very nuts!

A different approach to Fathers Day

I am very mindful at the moment of the importance of shopping locally, supporting independent traders, buying something unique, something that is not mass produced and that everyone has (this really hit home to me when I was shopping in Italy at a well known home furnishing store, that they had exactly the same products as back home in Blighty. Homes all over Europe could be furnished with exactly the same stuff, aghhhh!). It was with this in mind and with Father’s Day fast approaching that I started to rack the brain as to what to get for our Dad’s. Now the Mum’s are fairly easy to buy for but the Dad’s...not so much! In their 60s, not wanting just “stuff”, having most things they need and want it starts to rule out quite a lot of options.

OK so the list so far to cover for Father’s Day present:

·         Not mass produced

·         Handmade where possible

·         Unique

·         Locally sourced

·         Not just “stuff”

·         Something useful and not just clutter

What to get? Where to go?

Of course Crafty Monkey in St Neots covers all of these points and what’s more, it is an activity for me to do so not only is it a present for Dad but also a lovely leisure activity for me to enjoy knowing that I have created something with love to pass on.

I decided to paint a mug. He loves tea and of course uses mugs. He loves his Morgan cars so I thought what a nice gift a personalised hand painted mug would be, with the all important Morgan logo design on the front and a bit of text so everyone else in the household knows whose cup this is so hands off!

So I started with my white mug. No scratch that, I in fact started by searching the internet for the Morgan logo, downloaded it and printed it out to the size that I wanted. I then took my mug, and laid carbon paper over the top and traced my design onto the mug. I’m sorry, I had to do this, there was no way that I could paint it free hand. It may be seen by some as cheating but not to me. I knew it would look better that way.

Once the design was on, I then began to paint. Blimey it was intricate. Of course you need three coats of the paint so it will be really bold and some where around coat two I wondered why on Earth I had chosen such an intricate design and I am sure I, at times, forgot where I was at! I painted the mug at the Thursday night adults session which was really nice and relaxing so intricacy and fine lines were not a problem.

After I painted the design, I used the end of a rounded brush, dipped in paint to create nice dots all over the mug. I just thought this finished it off a bit nicer than leaving it plain white. I also used the black writer pen to write “Dad’s Mug” on the side.

I can’t wait to see the glazed result.

I really enjoyed painting the mug and I know he will like it, not just for what it is but for the appreciation of the time and thoughtfulness that went into its creation. It is not just another mug bought from a supermarket and I am sure the tea will taste all the much nicer for it.

my new little business

In keeping with my principles I have created a little side line which I would like to introduce to you...

 

Mrs Brimbles - A little bit of curiosity mixed with a love of life, of whimsy, eco, shopping from small independent traders and a bit of up-cycle to boot!

So what will I be doing? I will be making and selling things. Lots of lovely things that I have made and up-cycled.  First in my repertoire is these lovely Soy Wax candles.....

WHY SOY WAX?

1. Soy wax in kinder to the environment as it not made from petroleum as the usual paraffin candles are.
2. Soy candles can last almost 50% longer than their paraffin cousins
3. Soy wax melts evenly and can burn evenly all the way down – it produces a larger melted wax pool around the wick
4. Soy wax can be cleaned up with soap and water
5. Soy wax does not produce as much soot so you won’t get any of those dark patches on the ceiling and you are not inhaling it either!
6. Soy wax burns at a lower temperature which means that the fragrance lingers and does not get burnt away as fast.
7. People have even been known to rub the wax on their skin as a moisturiser (Mrs Brimbles does not sell candles for this purpose so does not recommend it on this basis)

So most of my jars and containers for the candles are upcycled as are the materials I used to embellish them with.

So what do you think?

I have a facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/MrsBrimble and it would be great to see you over there!

Death of the Domestic Goddess

Whilst writing the blog post for my chutney and knitting and searching for info on Domestic Goddesses, I came across this article on the Daily Mail website. 

Death of the Domestic Goddess! Baking and sewing skills dying out as modern mothers claim they are too busy to learn - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2114842/Death-Domestic-Goddess-Traditional-baking-sewing-homemaking-skills-dying-new-mothers-busy-learn.html

Image credit: H Armstrong Roberts, Getty

I have for a while now thought that some of the old skills are dying out. For instance I am 31 and at school in Home Economics classes we were only taught to cook. That is fine but learning other domestic skills like sewing and knitting would have actually been quite useful. I am all for equal opportunities and learning new things and it was great to be able to do wood work at school but actually the pencil pot I made is just sitting gathering dust somewhere where as I would have no idea where to start with darning socks but it would be handy to know.

Are these skills dying out for a reason? Well quite frankly yes.  As sad as it is, it is easier and possibly cheaper (especially when you take hourly rate into account) to just go to the shops and buy a new pair of socks than it is to sit and darn them. It goes back to one of my other rants that people go to work to buy stuff so that they can go to work.

In fact I am going to let Tom from The Good Life say it (from series one episode one):

"You know that ‘it’ business I was talking about? I think I’ve defined what 'it' is. It’s breaking the cycle: Going to work to get money to translate into things which you use up which makes you go to work again etc etc; in other words, the norm. What we should be doing is working at the job of life itself!"

The same is true for say jam making. You can go to the supermarket and buy a jar of jam for the same price or less than you can the fruit to make it. That is before you factor other ingredients and time in. In the olden days people made jam and chutney from the stock or surplus they had grown thus making it cheaper or free and very economical and actually a necessary way of preserving your crop. That just isn’t the case anymore so making your own has become a nice hobby or leisure activity rather than a must have or a part of everyday life. 

I can totally emphasise with that though, I mean I am really lucky that I work from home so I am flexible over the hours I work. I can fit nice things into my day because I don’t have to waste two hours a day in a car and an hour for lunch sitting at my desk. I already therefore have three hours to play with that is without working in the evening and using the daylight hours when I am more energised for kneading bread dough. I can make time for chutney making or baking. I used to work full time in an office and had no inclination for pursuits of this sort when I came home. I wanted to do it for the nicety but was just too blooming knackered mentally and physically.

Am I trying to make a point? I guess so but I don’t know what the right answer is. I think you just need to do what is right for you and your circumstances, your budget etc.

You may also want to read "The Good Life Challenege" blog that is written by my friend Nicola. She has a take on this subject too.

http://thegoodlifechallenge.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/make-do-mend/

 

Knitting. A pleasure activity no longer a necessity

I am knitting. I have been knitting now since the end of January. You are probably thinking that I am going to show you a big photo of all of the things that I have made in that time. Wrong. I am going to show you a picture of what I am currently knitting and it is the same thing I have been knitting all this time. It's a scarf. A lovely long fluffy snuggly scarf. It has taken me ages because I am not a very good knitter. I only do about a row or two a night if that. I even have to get my Mum to cast on and she will have to cast off for me too. I have added stiches along the way and I don't even know how to do that. At least there is no holes in it yet though. The thing is I am doing it for the pleasure and the enjoyment.

The trouble is with knitting now it is merely a hobby thing rather than a neccessity to make clothes. As a child in the 80s, I was always wearing jumpers and cardigans that both my Mum and my Nan had made me. In the picture below I am wearing a jumper that my Nan had made me using squares of various colours from left over balls of wool from other projects. I used to love these jumpers, I really did.

It is even seen as being rather old fashioned to wear knitted clothes. Whilst that was all babies ever worn it is now seen as a bit old hat. With the vintage revival there is an increase in little cardigans appearing that are being teamed up with cute dresses although these are still manufactured rather than made yourself.

I just think it is a shame in a way that these things have died out but then jumpers are so cheap to buy in the shops now it makes sense for most people to just buy. The same with everything. Cheaper to buy it than make it yourself now. It has cost me nearly £25 in wool just to make a scarf. I did buy the wool from a fairly expensive craft shop though. It would be much cheaper to go to a chain fashion shop and buy a scarf. I wanted to make it so that when I wear it I feel like I have achieved and accomplished something. It helps me to appreciate what it takes to make something and not just take it for granted.

There is a knitting circle I have found out about and I am tempted to join but I am a little worried that I will be not just the youngest person there but also the least experienced.