The First Time

We donned Bee suits and examined our Hive for the first time this weekend. We've read and googled and read some more but nothing can quite prepare for the reality of so many bee's. It was fascinating and we spent time just watching the behaviour of our little friends (because anyone who shares their honey with me must be called a friend, no?). 

  Josh is highly allergic to stings and was a bit nervous so he had overalls over his suits and taped the wrists and ankles, and I didn't even think until we had finished how hot it must have been with all those layers on!

  We had already taken off 18 kg when the Hive was moved here so this was more about making sure they have enough food for the winter and applying treatment for Varroa. We still managed to get 3 large glass jars worth to add to our own winter stores but the real treat came from including the children, they were so excited and got a swipe of honey each straight from the frame. Lucky things!!

Our version of a mindful meaningful Easter Part 1

While I'm waiting for my new card reader (because recipes and family posts with no pictures would be lame). I thought you might be interested to know how we choose to celebrate Easter. This time of year in the southern Hemisphere is tricky because traditionally we would be looking forward to spring, new life, getting the garden ready, sewing seeds, basically all the things that Easter time represents for those of us who aren't traditional Christians.

I've split it into two posts as it would be rather long and for Part One I am going to share some ideas for gifts (if that's part of your celebration). We choose to do a wee gift basket purely for the joy of it. We use Easter as a time to embrace and welcome the change in seasons. In the Northern Hemisphere winter brings with it the promise of Christmas, St Nicholas day, New years and so on but here in New Zealand it can be (dare I say it?) depressing, with only cold and rain to look forward to. So Easter for us is just an excuse to indulge our children a little with some magic, mystery and a gift or two. We like to keep them handmade, NZ made or in keeping with our personal lifestyle choices (i.e: no dvd's or processed foods, nature inspired and so on).

Here a some lovely handmade gifts, we have a few of these and we will have another one of the Forager bags soon for Aria's birthday. I would much rather pay someone personally for their time and effort than a big business or corporation.

 1. Kids Forager Bag 2. Knitted Pixies 3. Scribble book 4. Bunny Girl

Books are a timeless addition to the home and I always include one in any gift! This year they will be getting a book, a handmade wooden animal by their dad, something crafty and (hopefully) some homemade chocolate because I just cant find any chocolate that is 'Eastery' and without sugar or other 'sweetener's like Malitol? If you know of any please share! Or if you make it, I could pay you so I don't have to find the time haha!

I absolutely love anything by Elsa Beskow and Jan Brett. Mommies say Shh is real favourite here too!

Flower or vegetable seeds are a great gift! You can get these ones here. My 1 year old loves wooden pegs, so a pack of these and pot is all she needs! You can get these ones online here, or I think they are cheaper at Mitre 10. And another lovely idea is a thrifted or handmade Apron with a recipe that you can make together.

In part two I will talk about our traditions and how we celebrate Easter time. Do you do Easter in your home?

Really Very Awesome

I'm feeling happy today, not for any particular reason, nothing profound happened I just had a thought today while I was pushing my baby in the pushchair to get her to sleep (Yes I know, bad habit).

Anyway... I was thinking about how I'm going to be 30 in a few months and I realised something quite special.

I like myself!

I like what I'm doing!

I like where I'm going!

And I LOVE who I'm doing it with!!

But also grateful, that I have the wisdom to know how lucky I am to feel this way, and it's ok wonderful to sit with that contentment and not feel guilty or boring.

I was talking to my 7 year old about this feeling and she described it as 'really very awesome' hence the blog title!

I hope your blessed to feel the same way about your journey too.

( And if you don't, then I hope you love yourself enough to make a change soon x )

Happy Monday!

Mild kid friendly Chickpea and Lentil Curry

Gotta love another Curry Recipe!!

My kids actually love curry and its such a versatile staple to have in your weekly meal plan, my slowcooker has saved my life on many occasion! O.k slightly melodramatic but after a full on day with four kids, not having to cook makes me very, very happy.  I always cook it on a Monday because its the day before food shopping and I get to use up any wrinkly veg. So here is the basic recipe and you can switch it up to suit your family.

Feeds 4 littlies and 2 adults.

Mild Chickpea and Lentil Slowcooker Curry 

 

 

Ingredients

3 tsp Ghee
I large Onion
2 Cloves Garlic
1 tbsp Tomato Paste
1 flat tbsp Cumin
1 flat tbsp Garam Masala
1 tbsp Turmeric
2 tsp Mixed Herbs, Fresh or dried
splash of Balsamic Vinegar
Pink Himalayan Salt
Black pepper
1/2 Cup Red Lentils
1 Tin or 400g soaked Chickpeas (and precooked if cooking on stovetop)
400g Passata
470ml Chicken Stock
1 Courgette Diced
1 large Carrot Diced
Handful of Chopped Brocolli
1/2 Cup Frozen Peas
1 Cup Fresh or frozen Green Beans


This recipe can be cooked in a slowcooker or on the stovetop.

Place Ghee in pot or slowcooker, sauté onions until soft.

 I always have these pantry staples to hand, that way this kind of meal can be thrown together even when I'm out of homemade stock or uncooked chickpeas!

Add Garlic, chickpeas, lentils, spices, seasoning and herbs

Give it a good 'ole mix and add tomato puree (which I had run out of)

Add whatever vegetables you have, I usually like to add pumpkin too!

Next throw in your stock, this can easily be substituted for veg stock. Bring to the boil.

Add in your Passata, again this can be substituted for diced tomatoes but the end results will be less thick. Add your splash of balsamic vinegar and slowcook for 6 hours or simmer for 20 minutes.

 10 minutes before serving add in any frozen vegetables such as green beans and peas. These green beans are from my garden. Its a great way to keep them fresh and reduce waste!

 

And serve! We like it with white rice or roasted brocolli and couscous. A simple coleslaw and some brown rice is also delicious. Often we add a dash of raw cream or my homemade yoghurt on the top too.

Nurture You Project week 5

I really want to start making a little effort with my appearance. I'm nearing the big 3-0 and can go days without even looking in a mirror. Dont get me wrong, I dont want to become overly preoccupied with what I look like, but I'm fed up with avoiding the camera, or squirming at the photo's I do end up in. I also want my girls to understand thats its ok for mum to take a little time for herself in the mornings.

So, I've splashed out on some makeup!! I haven't bought any for ages because I want anything that I put on my skin to be natural but natural/organic cosmetics can be very expensive. Wel, I scored the Inika eyeshadow on clearance for $5!! Awesome!! And the mascara and eyeliner are from Honeybee Gardens, I included them in my latest iherb order and they are really affordable.

I haven't actually used any of it yet but I absolutely intend to.......tomorrow!

In other news, I was feeling the need for a new crystal, so I popped in my local shop and was drawn to the beautiful white stone in the picture. Its an Amphibole Quartz also know as Angel Phantom Quartz. I hadn't heard of it before, but I'm really loving its energy.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Wet and Windy

It's been a bit of a struggle of late with all this sunshine. I know that sounds crazy but when you have four young children, burning sunshine isn't fun. So today when we got up and it was cloudy and raining we jumped at the chance to get out and explore. We decided to take a walk through the woodland at Rabbit Island. It smelled beautiful in there, of pine and Eucalyptus. We found an Emperor moth cocoon cocoon, looked at all the different fungi and plants and gathered ferns for a diorama in progress at home. In the end we all looked like drowned rats, but we had a lovely morning, thoroughly energized from the exercise and cleansed by the rain.

Nurture you project Week ummm #4

Umm Yep so there's no week 2 & 3 but rest assured I have been making changes and making myself a priority. We have just been so busy with renovation work (Thankfully an awesome friend sent her hubby over to help mine rip out the ceiling of the bathroom instead of me otherwise it probably would have ended in a divorce!) and finalising details for my course ... throw in a few kids and some homeschooling into the mix and there hasn't been a nanosecond spare.

So, I have been accepted into the Naturopathic college of NZ which is amazing news! After a lot of thought I have changed over to a Diploma in Nutritional Science but will start with a certificate in Anatomy & Physiology. Something about becoming a Naturopath wasn't sitting right and I realised it was because I primarily use food not supplements to heal myself and my family. This is something that everyone can do no matter what your financial situation is, when you visit a Naturopath (as wonderful and knowledgeable as they are) you are usually given a list of supplements that will fix the problem but these are very expensive and not many people have that sort of disposable income. I believe we should be concentrating on using food to prevent illness and I feel passionate about sharing that knowledge with others . So my hope is to become a Holistic Nutritionist. Just thinking about it makes me really happy and that's how I know I've made the right choice.

Source

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm so excited about this new path I'm taking. It will be hard a challenge, but it's a subject that is so integrated into my life already, I know we will make this work!!

So onto my project!! A few changes I have made in the last few weeks are;

Going to bed at 11pm.

This may be late for some, but for me this is early!! I aim to eventually be in bed at around 10:30 to be asleep by 11pm. Lack of sleep I think is a major contributor to my gallbladder and liver issues. our bodies heal and replenish when we sleep and between 11pm- 3am is when the liver and gallbladder repairs itself. So if your not asleep, this obviously can't happen!

Another thing I have restarted is;

Applying Magnesium Oil topically every day.

So many of us are deficient in Magnesium. I started using it before I got pregnant with Layla to help with morning sickness and then just.... stopped. So I have started to use it again every day, and it feels good to know I'm paying attention to my own wellbeing for a change. It is something I feel we should all be using but if Magnesium Oil isn't in your budget right now then Epsom salt baths are a great alternative. My husband doesn't like feel of it on his skin so I have to run after him and be a stealth ninja about it but I know he'll thank me for it eventually :)

This is the brand I use

And lastly I have been getting up extra early, around 5:30 instead of 6:30, to make sure I have enough time to get my oil pulling done and just have 5 minutes to myself. I love seeing the sun come up, and being ready to welcome my babies with a happy face and a hug when they wake up.



So all in all a very successful fortnight I think. I will definitely be more organised from now on. How have you nourished and nurtured yourself this week?