Finding joy in the everyday

" Despite more process, privilege and possessions than ever before, we are worried all the time.  The more we have the more we worry. Why, because we have more to lose. We use up much of our lives trying to insulate ourselves against insecurities, We worker harder, buy more, accumulate, set aside, save, hoard, buy locks and security systems and maximise insurance — and much of this activity is driven by worry, anxiety and a relentless discontent " from Contentment: The Secret of a Lasting Calm by Richard Swenson And money makes us more anxiety than almost anything else.  A new study shows two million Australians are experiencing high financial stress which prevents them from coping in difficult situations, for example, in paying unexpected expenses such as a big mobile phone bill or the fridge breaking down.  One in two adults have limited to no savings. Household finances lead to more arguments in marriage than almost anything else and it leads to divorce....

Who hand washes their clothes?  Do you chuck everything into the machine and hope for the best? I hand wash my good clothes — why:  1. It makes clothes last longer as its much more gentle than a machine. 2. It stops stretching particular with t-shirts and jumpers. 3. Removing stains is easier as you can target the spot directly. 4. Energy efficient as it saves using a washing machine for a small load which also in turn saves water. 3. Drip dying requires less ironing. And its a bit of work out so its good for one's health — and its fun to play in water!! Every afternoon when I get home from work I place my work clothes in this bowl and hand wash.  I do love splashing about in water and hand washing gives me that excuse to have a play!!! I never get my clothes very dirty so they do not need an extensive wash, its more about removing the sweatiness and freshening them up. It might sound mad, but I find hand washing quite re...

I LOVE mushrooms and so do my family. But I do know people who don't like them and I find this very strange!! Life without mushrooms sounds rather dull to me. As you know, I love facts and figures so I couldn't go past some information on the humble mushroom ( source ):  * A 100g serving of mushrooms contains more dietary fibre (2.5g) than 100g of celery (1.8g) or a slice of whole-wheat bread (2.0g). * Mushrooms contain more protein than most vegetables.They are excellent for vegetarians and vegans (which is why I buy them for my son). * Mushrooms are low in kilojoules: 100g of raw mushrooms contains just 100 kilojoules. * Ancient Egyptians believed that mushrooms grew by magic, because of the way they could appear overnight. * Mushrooms are one of the few natural sources of vitamin D, which is essential for healthy bones and teeth. Amazing fungi! * Mushrooms are a great source of B-vitamins: it contains Thiamin (which controls the release of en...

  Whatever your hand finds to do, do  it  with your might  ~ Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whether you live in a house, unit, apartment, condo, tent, caravan, cabin, houseboat or tree house — you will have chores that need to be done. You can't avoid them — well you can, but it will make your environment pretty unpleasant in no time flat. Whether we like it or not, household chores need to be done and we can't escape the drudgery of it.  Even today in 2016, most chores falls to the lady of the house even though women around the world  are in constant battle to get their menfolk to help (it can be one of the major points of tension in a marriage).  Some say that housework is solely a woman job and we shouldn't even be asking men to assist. I look at it slightly differently, whilst women are managers of their homes — everyone in the household contributes to the mess, therefore it would be nice if everyone helped in some small way.  It is a great way...

Last week I wrote about the Danish concept of Hygge  ( LINK to blogpost ) — creating a welcoming, cosy home environment where those that enter feel embraced, a sense of belonging and togetherness.  We all want homes that are like this and whilst doing research into hygge I came across a blog that gave tips on how to create "hygge" in our homes which I thought I would share: (sourced from: " Decor8 ") I love the ideas listed below and agree with them. I have written my own additional comments in red. What do you think - would these suggestions make your house and home more hygge — more cosy? I think whatever we do in our homes, it should be done with love and care and for the right reasons — not to impress others who visit but to make our homes welcoming to whoever steps over the threshold. 1. Make interior design important to you and your family:  This means considering what you have and decorate with intention and style. Not all Danish homes look...

Paintings by Kathy Anderson “The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love color the most.” (artist, John Ruskin) Dear blogging friends,  Do you love colour? Do you surround yourself with colour? Is your home full of bright and cheery colour? I am a huge fan of colour — it isn't unusual to see me in bright orange or red (I wore a bright red dress to work on Tuesday) and my house is full of colour. When you are feeling down, it is hard to continue feeling down when surrounded by colour. Colour really does brighten up any day.  Colour is so important that marketers and designers spending huge dollars $$$$ getting it just right. Certainly colours make us happy and others make us sad. Some colours make us spend more and certainly colours remind us of Christmas or spring. They know which colours make us feel good about ourselves and those that make us sad.  Modern homes (check out any real-estate catalogue) lacks colour. They ...

Dear friends,  I love houses full of books and I thought these ideas for book cases were great and didn't take up heaps of space.   Sadly I have stopped buying as many book as I have run out of space and have no where else to store books (my house isn't that big). I now tend to borrow from the library (who runs an excellent service where  I live) which has resulted in significant savings as books are not cheap!  So whilst I don't need any more bookcases and I'm not buying any books — I still like to look at book cases and dream of having them in my home!! What is your ideal way of storing books? You too can dream along with me and enjoy (I hope) these interesting designs.  Enjoy xx source Of course you could just leave them in piles on the floor as they look just as good!! *****

Do you use table clothes these days? Are they in or are they out of fashion? My mother always had a table-cloth on the table, it was common practice when I was growing up in the 1970s. We used it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. These days many people do not use them at mealtime instead using place mats or nothing at all. My mother had quite a collection of table-clothes, I think I own one. According to Your tablecloth.com (who have written the history far better than I could): The earliest proof of the existence of tablecloths, is drawn from the work of a poet named Martial who died c.103 AD who mentioned them in his writing, so tablecloths are believed to have come into use in Europe in the first century AD. Prior to this high-ranking Roman households are thought to have possessed tables that were exquisitely carved and therefore too ornate and beautiful to be covered by cloth!  By looking at early artwork that still survives, it appears that the very fir...

Whilst I haven't always been a fan of wallpaper, some of the modern papers are just AMAZING.  The colours look so vibrant and the designs are gorgeous. At least these modern wall-papers won't kill you!  The famous William Morris wall-papers of the late 1800s were beautiful and every fashionable home had them, but sadly some of the colours were made from arsenic (green in particular) and when the wall-paper were located in the bedrooms (which were  often damp as they didn't have the wonderful central heating we have today) and the windows were closed (particularly in winter) the arsenic vapours would either make the person sick or could even lead to death, particularly children. Fortunately the modern wall-papers (including the William Morris reproductions) are all arsenic free so you can sleep soundly. Look at the ones above, I would love to have some of these in my home, especially the ones with the delicate butterflies. These are almost works of art. The ...

I have just learned that the pink bathroom is making a revival  returning to the popular colour of the 1950s. What do you think?   Would you like a pink bathroom? Or do you already have a pink bathroom? Pink bathrooms were VERY popular in the 1950s, it was considered the in-look — the must have! The one everyone wanted.  Millions of pink bathrooms were built in the USA and Australia but it didn't last, by the 1960's it all started to fade as bathroom designs altered.  Not only were pink bathrooms popular, some ladies also liked pink kitchens too - now, that would be too much for me. What do you think? Whilst I don't like every sort of pink bathroom, I do think the examples above and below. Both are tasteful, feminine and not too "pretty" — one does need to consider the males who might use these rooms too. Whilst I was doing "research" into pink bathrooms (to save you all the time) I discovered a blog called ...