Hoarding is hard to stop!!!

Wow, am I having a hard time?!

My house has 4 bedrooms and as I am only me I only use one. That leaves 3 rooms not being used.....well they are being used......to store 'stuff'. I am a hoarder and it is out of control! I had put aside Monday to start cleaning out those rooms and so procrastinating I sat down at the computer to check out some blogs. Magdalena form Anglican, Plain wrote a timely piece on Hoarding and Waste which really which really kicked me into gear!



It is so hard to do. I know that due to the up coming energy crisis that the world as we know it will change, no one can say for sure how it will change and I think that's why I'm finding it so hard. My fear is if the prices of things rise then things like fabric and clothing could well become out of reach of most of us. With this in mind do I throw out/donate all those clothes that no longer fit?. The fabric could be restyled or used to mend and patch clothes (as a sewer I would possibly be able to barter this skill and use of fabric in return for grain, meat etc.) but do I have room to store this fabric on the chance that this will be the way it works out?



I want to use the 2 front rooms as an office and workshop space for my soap making which will only leave the small bedroom as a storage area. As I have mentioned previously I like to keep a stock pile of food so most of it will be stored in that room, leaving space at a premium. As you can see from the top picture, which is one of the front rooms, what I have in there currently is not stored in a neat or tidy way.....in fact I may have just stood at the door and thrown stuff in there.

So that's where I'm at, trying to throw things away to help simplify my life and my home but struggling. I have a huge fear of 'being without'. I have some books that I have 2 and 3 copies of, they are incredible useful books that will come in handy but I know I only need one copy. My fear is what if I give the second copy away and then something happens to the copy I have...then I have no copies. I know it is irrational but it is a real fear that I need to deal with.....maybe I'm just destined to live in a house full of useless 'stuff' Arrgghhhh!!!! Help!

Ready for a ride????

Well I have had sometime to do some serious thinking in the last few days and I have had a brainwave! It was not so much my brain wave but a dear friend pointed out to me that the blog is my opportunity to be me, no one telling me what I can post about and I make the rules. I can't believe I had to have it pointed out lol. Sooooo, what next?
The answer is ME.
I don't mean that in a narcissistic way but I will be posting the things that I do, like, enjoy and things that bring happiness into my life.
Those of you who have read the blog for a while will know a bit about me but if you have just come across my blog I will give you a bit of an out line. I am in my mid thirties (I can't believe I just wrote that!) I live in a tiny remote town in the far side of the Wimmera on what I call a micro farm! One acre with 3 turkeys, 20-30 chooks, 3 ducks, 2 sheep, 2 adorable cats and 200 goldfish. Kitty and Harry, the cats, live inside with me to protect the native wildlife.
I work two days a week in the big town down the road and the other days I make and sell my handmade soaps. I also fill my days with tending my vegie garden which is up the back of my block nestled in and around my orchard of 15 3 year old fruit trees. I am in the process of fencing this area off from the rest of the back yard as I have big plans for it.
I also fill my days by baking bread and cooking from scratch (most of the time) Developing my new native garden and working where I can in my community.
I have produced a community newsletter and I want to continue working on this as I believe it is an important part of the community.
I also enjoy sewing and I will explore many projects I am working on here on the blog so maybe we can help keep each other motivated!
As I mentioned earlier I sell my handmade soaps online here and I will be adding further to the shop with the other things I create here. Things like head wraps, hand dyed scarves, cloth pads and other handy things.
Gosh I am really excited so lets get this party started!

Watch your P's and Q's

My Granny always said to us that we should watch our P's and Q's. I thought for a long time she was saying Peas and Corn lol. Anyway, I had this fabric laying around for ages and I thought I would make a dress for my niece.

I found the pattern online here but unfortunately I forgot to add the seam allowance and now it would suite a 3month old hehehe! It's fully reversible. I think I might whip up a flash matching nappy cover tomorrow! No I didn't get the bread made!

My Knitting Machine arrived!

2 HOURS!

Well here is the little soaker I whipped up this morning. I couldn't work out how to cast off so I unhooked it from the machine and sewed around the top with the sewing machine!

I folded the top over and sewed around to encase the elastic.

I'm sure I will be able to create more artist things when I get around to reading the instructions lol.

Look what I made!

I love to sew but all the soap has really taken away from my sewing time. I have been cruising some new blogs lately and noticed cloth nappies. They are so cute! I couldn't resist giving one a go. I used a free pattern called Ottobre it was sooo easy. I needed better elastic but I think it turned out OK for a first go. Not bad for a mornings work!

I have a great stash of funky and fun patchwork fabrics to pick from but I went with vintage tractors....I wonder why????? Can't wait to try some more, just need to find a baby to try them out on!