June Better Living

We had another lovely night last at our Better Living Group meeting.

The thing that I like the most about the group is how much the individuals contribute themselves.

We are very lucky to have some wide and varied skills, what binds us together is a common interest,

"Living Better With Less"

Last month, two in the group picked up crocheting for the first time and when we met up this week they had already made a dishcloth and was using it. One lady continued with her crochet this month as I shared with her another pattern.  Last month another one of the group took up knitting for the first time and reported back that she had made a dolls blanket for her daughter and then took up crochet for the first time last night! 

As they practised away with their crochet last night we talked of winter and the food that was still available during the month. We talked about dried beans and when they are best to harvest and how to cook them. We heard from another in the group who had approached a vineyard who happened to have a lot of olive trees and asked them if they would sell them some olives for home. They were more than happy to let them pick 4kg and for $16 it was good value and they were gathering from their local area. 

We talked about roosters, their natures, habits and various methods of dispatch. One man in our group was telling us that a lot of people call him to collect their roosters as they don't want to "deal" with them themselves. He averages 2/week and he was telling us some methods to catch them as they have quite often gone rogue and wild. He is doing a wonderful thing as nothing makes me more cross than to see dumped roosters. We also talked of eggs and incubation and one of our group who has been self sufficient for years is a real wealth of knowledge about poultry and fowl of all kinds (and much more).

We learnt from another lady in our group how to make "no sew" blankets and it gave everyone ideas for "Little Athletics" blankets, blankets for school fetes and for gifts. Kicking myself I didn't take photos!

We talked about the irony of the modern patchwork quilt but also talked about the Depression and thriftiness of people with fabric and even how they would unpick cotton thread and wind it back onto spools.

We looked at some new soap examples and discussed recipes and calculators and the natural additives from the pantry or the garden for colouring the soap. We talked about the different kinds of fat and the storage of rendered fat.

....of raspberry canes, fencing gardens, mushroom growing, scrap buckets, preserving jar sizes, op shop finds, pillow slips, winter poultry ideas.......

And on and on, so much knowledge, sharing and ideas.

If you live in our area you are very welcome to join us on the last Thursday of every month but if you don't live near us, consider starting your own group. It costs nothing and you gain a LOT!

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There are still two kinds of soap left in the shop "Jubilee Jumble" unfortunately the Orange Blossom has sold out. 

Don't forget if you live in the local area, we also have our Bloggers' Catch up on Tues 3/7/12 see information in the side bar under events.