It’s raining sort of…
Drizzling
Grey skies
Soggy washing on the line
Wet washing languishing in basket
Dew drop beads of rain on washing line
Don’t accidentally knock the line, or
Big cold drops on your head

But….
Green grass
Mowed lawns
No more drooping plants
Now vibrant and crisp herbs appeased
Weeds a-growing abundantly
Happy not to get poisoned today,
in the space where hedge will grow…

Autumn has arrived much too quick!

Can you see me…

Here I am , a busy bee after the rain

A little bit of rain yet so many impressions…affecting the laundry, garden, and nature. Broaden it out and it’s endless as can be seen by some of the tag words I’ve used

Why is it raining, refreshing, washing, water, rain, save water, rain drops, Basil, Nasturtium, Lavender, vegetable garden, herbs, fresh herbs, bees, pollination , herb garden, grow your own vegetables, grow your own herbs.

So if there’s no bees then no honey and so the circle continues on…I don’t think I’ll ever think of a wet day in a stereotype way again!

This post started off as being a short poem …it grew from there.

To all, have a blessed day and try to find the best in maybe a grey sort of feeling day…in Sydney anyway…spring happenings to you all in the northern hemisphere.

From Alexa

Content written and photos belong to

http://www.Alexa-asimplelife.com

Home made

Inspiring …Inspired
Motivating …Motivated
Take it all in and ready to continue on…

Washing all done and packing all put away….

Isn’t that the best feeling after a weekend away.

We had to take linen and bedding, so took our trusty always pull out spare Doonas and not really matching sheets….pillow cases did sort of match though!

A good drive was had home from up the coast back to Sydney.

….It must be the rejuvenation of a refreshing break that gets one into into tidying up, and as seeing the temperature was really pleasant and it being not yet dark I piled sheets and quilt covers and towels etc in loads into that machine. All freshly laundered with a few drops of eucalyptus added to wash water the loads gradually filled the line as they got hung out in the fresh air…..hooray, now no washing to do in the morning…..isn’t that the best, especially for a Monday!

Such a simple thing to rejoice over.

Two more loads to go….but look at that young Lavender hedge in the night light!

My always on hand pre-wash that I use is as follows…

As you can see by the photo, I use my recycled and repurpose the Cloudy Ammonia bottles. I mark my empty bottle into thirds with permanent marker.

1/3 water…in first so you don’t get an overflow of bubbles …I’ve learnt the hard way and have found that if I don’t concentrate I tend to put liquids in the wrong order….ahhh

1/3 Cloudy Ammonia

1/3 Dish washing detergent…can be less…I’m going to try the Home Brand Laundry liquid for my next batch.

Sometimes if I have enough Eucalyptus I add about a small Half TEAspoon.

When I make a batch my measurements are not accurate. Also I make a few bottles at a time.

Home made Pre Wash Spray

So here’s to clean washing and not having to buy preWash Spray.

A little thing you say….but it’s the little things that can add up.

Anyway, have a good day all even if you have to do a spot of washing.

Find the simple joy in -

…clean fresh smelling washing
…fresh water and ready access to abundant supply
…that you are able to hang it in the breeze here in Australia
…thereby you save on power and stressing about the bill
…clothes not wearing out through having to use the dryer constantly
…having a huge variety of clothing etc in the first place
…reducing your Carbon footprint
…by “being green”
…and what else- can YOU think of more
…being thankful that we have the climate so we CAN choose to not use the dryer. Many climates and parts of the world do not have this luxury especially at this moment in their winter.

Just think, an everyday chore we do without thinking and sometimes groan about yet all of the above!

Till later
Alexa

Photographs and content belong to- http://www.Alexa-asimplelife.com

Also on Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/Alexaasimplelife

{Lightfoot at morgueFile free photos }

So a little chicken talk turned into a story, which goes to show how much is involved if one chooses to keep these feathered friends….

This is how I ended my last post, but on further reflection with a rested and refreshed mind there is so much more that can be gained from these memories and ideas.

As with everything in life we need to investigate, learn and prepare …and learn Spanish…shall we??

Life can be an adventure….

… I am thankful for the many different life happenings I have experienced from a young age, for they do teach us many, many things….how to care, to be thankful, to be patient, to try again, to understand others, to try new ways, to listen to the young also cause they can teach us a thing or two, not to judge-hard to do cause it’s in our nature, to make do, to re-use…and so the list goes on.

We don’t need an online education for the above. We have life skills….

Hand washing country style by jdurham at morgueFile.com

…As I stand here with my iPad on the kitchen bench looking out the back door and pretending to have a rural vista, I see blue sky, freshly washed laundry on the line, a green lawn of sorts edged with a newly established Lavender hedge atop a rock wall and I think …

What are life skills…let’s look it up on the internet with mr Google. The first item that comes up is this

noun
plural noun: life skills
1.
a skill that is necessary or desirable for full participation in everyday life.
“sharing with a sibling can help children learn important life skills”

So, returning to the scene at my back door, there are quite a few life skills even in the everyday taken for granted scene.

O.K…even my iPad, I had to learn how to use this tool and am still learning as there is so much new technology and older brains take longer to process and take it all in and grasp the concept. Yet a younger child who is using this new technology all the time is quick to grasp the workings and can show her grandma a thing or two without any fuss, but I have to remember for next time….practise, practise grandma.

{Monosodium at morgueFile.com}

Then there’s the laundry freshly washed. We do it all the time without thought except that we keep an eye on the weather, how full is the wash basket, what needs special stain treatment, hot wash or cold wash, washing sorted into light and darks, by country- just joking, fluffy away from darks, TISSUES OUT OF POCKETS, is all the dirty washing out of the children’s rooms, delicates washing, uniforms needed for the morning…quick quick. Yet give it to a child with no experience and see what happens.

Now a lawn needs some looking after. Depending on the time we have to spend and how fussy or particular we are there are many steps to learn. The real basic ones are that Lawns need water, especially in our hot Australian summers. They need to be cut and the edges done either by hand shears or an edger like a whipper snipper. Lawn trimmings need to be disposed of. Prickles in the lawn need to be poisoned off or pulled out so children can play on it with bare feet in summer. Then there’s the need to feed lawn if you have time. All these are learned skills through necessity so you can have a lawn of sorts. Ours gets cut and watered and has to survive. It still gives a space to enjoy, a buffer from neighbors and respite from the heat rather than having bare concrete.

{Kaparti Gabor at morgueFile.com}

My new lavender hedge needed lots of preparation to get to where it is now. Maybe over a year as I had the time,to research and to propagate and grow many cuttings from the main lavender bush. Over the years I’ve done gardening, learnt and observed from my mother since I was a child. It is something that is enjoyable and brings desirable results. The lavender hedge garden was at one time a mish mash of plants and creepers that were growing old and needed a replacement that was easy to take care of as we approach retirement.The old plants had to be dug out or poisoned and wait for the poison to work. Patience and energy and perseverance. It was hard but I got there!

So lots of life skills are part of the everyday, but at the beginning needed to be learnt, understood, practised, nurtured and just done cause they are part of what makes our life happen….and passed on!

{handl at morgueFile.com}

So what new skill have you had to learn or master, passed on or just worked at in a different way.

Make a hard job beautiful by looking forward.

Alexa

Thank you to morgueFile.com free photos

Refreshing water on grass (by Rollingroscoe)

Hallo

Word picture written on a Thursday 5th December 2013:-

Sights and sounds of summer yesterday…
A hot still blue sky
Cicadas chirping, um screeching
Missing the hiss of a sprinkler
….old fashioned sound from my youth …no water restrictions
….Children’s hysterical laughter as they run and play, chase and scream under the sprinkler’s rainbow

A summer day (By imelenchon)

Word picture written on Monday 16th December 2013:-

A new lavender hedge grown enough to proudly show off its plump flower buds….look at me, look at me,
Overcast skies and an occasional sprinkling of light rain but with a balmy temperature
…Hope you can enjoy a lovely moment today if only briefly
Love you dearest sister
Hugs and God Bless you and all yours

Sounds this summer morning Friday 10th January 2014
Listen…..What’s that screeching buzzing noise …. Ahh Cicadas. That’s what set the theme for this post.

Now at this very moment of writing….At it’s usual
time ..the amphibious water taxi flying l.o.w. and s.l.o.w. overhead on its way from base to Rose Bay close to Sydney Harbour.

What a fabulous job being able to fly over our beautiful Sydney Harbour and surrounds each day in nice weather. Then back again to base at 5pm. L.o.w. and s.l.o.w. A nostalgic sight. Always makes me think of the “Biggles” books our son read many, many moons ago.

Now the mundane everyday happenings which keep a household running smoothly. Give the veggie patch some water and put snail bait out for the pesky slugs getting to my lush young Basil plants. Check the new rocket seedlings. All looking good for tasty additions to salads. Oh, and those spring onions are shooting nicely where I planted the white onion bulb ends from bought spring onions / shallots.

Wash a woollen blanket for a quick dry today so I can sort out some spare linen and quilts and put away in space bags. Tidy cupboard. Yay!

…and so a day continues in its cycle. Heavy work, easy work, paper work, thinking work, planning work, finishing work. A balance and a harmony.

Hand washing country style by jdurham

Life can be a struggle sometimes don’t you think…and when it gets a bit too much find something beautiful in the day.

Alexa