A bird

Not much more to say except only we can create the change we want to see. 

Happy and bright days to you all and power to you creating a green paradise in your space xxxxxx

Goodbye Boys...

The sad part of hatching and raising chickens is passing our dear roosters on. My little girl has cared for these babies from egg to adult and she has been broken hearted to hand them over. We thankfully have given them to our dear friends who will potentially give them the best life ever! They have gone to a farm with some sweet hens and plenty of space. However the tears have been flowing thick and fast from my sweet girl who makes them chicken bliss balls, they ride on her boot as she walks through the pen and she talks and tends to them endlessly. She named them 'Blue' and 'Lara' and they to her were 'her babies'. In some way I see how these gentle lessons of loss prepare my babies for the bigger world. Raising, loving and caring for animals teaches such vital life lessons and reminds us how interconnected we all are. So although we miss Blue and Lara I am so grateful for the lessons they have taught us and I hope they have a life of long, happy chicken scratching days.

Happy days dear friends and hope you are all well...xxx

Winter Around The Home

Winter is here.

Outside is crisp, calm and chilly.

The inside is warm, busy and smelling of baking, garlic and soups.

My chickens seem a little uneasy with the cold, they always do. I am not sure if that is a combination of being spoilt and fortunate or if it is a natural chicken state of mind in winter? However my beautiful little girl cares for them endlessly, she takes their needs very seriously and tends to those.

Bursts of winter colour are present and my natives seem to be thriving with the cold chill. This is great to see as the sweet visiting birds still come and depend on what we have to offer here and I love offering an annual delight for all species. 

Life is busy, busy keeping it simple.  But I find this so important and that focus does not shift. I could not imagine my life any other way.

I hope you are all well and enjoying to seasons plentiful gifts and colours where ever you are in the world.

Warmth to you all xxxx

The Winner is...

And the winner is....

Drum roll

Kirsty@BowerbirdBlue

Congratulations and Ange from Elfin Trail shall be in contact with you.

Healing and Warmth

This week I felt like we welcomed winter here, the cold nights and super chilly mornings and then the sniffles and cold comes to the ones I love. I have my two boys home unwell (my big boy and my little boy). So with one adult and one child patient I have been getting to work of remedying their sniffles, fevers and sore throats.

There is something so rewarding in the chance to pour love and healing into these precious people I call my family. I have been making fresh organic green juices, tickled with warming ginger. Then soups, broths, poultices, manuka honey teas and hot baths to heal.

My little man has had a rough few days but it reminds me no matter the buzz and pull of life can stop so I can pour my love, remedies and warmth into the ones most precious to me. After all life will keep going but we are allowed to slow down to heal...

Happy days to you and whatever season you are embracing, may it be nourishing to you and yours...xx

A Wonderful Giveaway For you...

JUST TO LET YOU KNOW: We’ve extended the deadline for entries to Friday 24 May – so don’t dilly-dally….enter now!

The beautiful Ange from Elfin Trail has a wonderful giveaway on here at the moment. Elfin trail is generously giving a $50 voucher away to a lucky person.  Elfin trail has such wonderful treasures to captivate a child's imagination and allows the child to experience nature's wonders through play.

As a parent of young children I feel the constant pull to keep my children free from the rapid growth of commercial influence and allow my babies time to be young. Children have an amazing ability to see the beauty in everything, if we nurture this natural play then we allow them to slow from the fast pace of the world, giving them vital lessons for life.

We here in our home have a few of Elfin Trails beautiful treasures and my children get lost in play with these. I watch my sweet girls tending to her faerie garden for hours, lost in a wonderful world of small delights. It is so precious to watch.

I spoke with the lovely Ange and this what she had to say about her journey...

1. How long has it been that you have been making these beautiful treasures for children? and why did you start this magical range?

I’ve always loved making things but when my children started attending a Steiner kindergarten a decade ago I fell in love with the craft. That’s when I began delving into the world of natural toys, dolls and imaginative playthings, inspired by Mother Nature and elementals like faeries and gnomes. After years of making things for my children, my friend’s children and my children’s school, I started my business Elfin Trail two years ago.

2. I love how all of your items evoke imagination and keep the child deeply rooted to the earth, this makes your items so unique and individual. Was this your intention?

Absolutely! I’m passionate about childhood, protecting that fleetingly precious time of wonder, imagination and play. I find it heartbreaking - the current culture of rushing kids through childhood - educating them faster, filling their time with adult-directed, scheduled activities, bombarding them with marketing messages and adult concepts and facilitating hour after hour in front of a growing range of screens. In my own small way I’m trying to remind people that imaginative play is profoundly important to children.

3. If you could encourage something for the children of today what would it be?

If our children have any chance of saving this planet for our grandchildren, they’ll need to love nature. To love nature you have to spend time in it: touching, feeling, smelling, watching, exploring, experiencing it. It’s incumbent on us as adults to give our children time and space and freedom to experience nature everyday. Let them take risks, let them climb trees and get dirty and build forts and play with sticks and rocks. Hang out at beaches, go for bush walks, stroll in parks, go on picnics and camping trips. Watch sunsets, roll down grassy hills, build dams in creeks. Have backyards that invite play and pottering and building and gardening (and, yes! Making faerie gardens!) and have long lazy days at home that allow plenty of time for children to develop their own play.

To enter the $50 Elfin Trail Voucher giveaway all you need to do is:

1.     Visit www.elfintrail.com and sign up to their newsletter, AND

2.     Leave a comment on this Mindfully Green blog post.

Plus all Bloggers who share this competition on their site will receive an extra entry in the draw.

The winner will be selected randomly from the Mindfully Green blog posts. The competition opens at 9.00am EST on Thursday 2 May and closes at 7.00pm on Thursday 16^th May 2013. The voucher is redeemable for products from Elfin Trail and not transferable for cash. The total value of the voucher is $50 to include any postage costs. Gift voucher is valid until 16^th August 2013. Winner will be notified via email and posted on www.elfintrail.com and www.mindfullygreen.com.au . Entry is open to both Australian and overseas residents. 

Good Luck!

Autumn In A Bowl...

When you open the pantry and fridge at the end of the week (or month or how often you shop) its seems to offer very few options. With only a few things, but yet they are foods and foods that go to waste unless used. So I make a mission of both teaching others how we can use these but also how I make sure I put these things to use in my own home.

The other day with these last few ingredients I took the opportunity to make a yummy soup and here is the recipe. You could change the vegetables and use what you have but here is how I did it.

Autumn In A Bowl Soup

1 yellow carrot

1 orange carrot

2 potatoes

1 zucchini

2 celery stalks

1 sweet potato

1 onion

3 garlic cloves

1 bunch of thyme

1 tin of organic tomatoes

1 tin or dried organic chickpeas 

4 Tablespoons of organic Worcestershire sauce

Brown all veggies in a pot and then cover in water, sea salt and pepper and allow them the simmer.

Add tin tomatoes and allow to simmer further until vegetables are soft.

Add chickpeas and cook for a further fifteen minutes.

I served it with a good sprinkle of chilli flakes and a dollop of bio-dynamic natural yoghurt.

This is no chefs recipe but something so delicious, nutritious and reduces food waste.

Food waste is a huge problem today and one as a planet we really cannot afford. 

Give it a try next time you have some left over veg and unloved last bits in your fridge and why not get the whole family involved!