Posts filed under 'Memes'
Good people, lend me your vote…. (oh go on)
Now, given the recent scarcity of posts, it’s probably a bit cheeky to ask you to pop over here to vote for me….but, as I know you’re all such lovely people, I’ll ask anyhow!
5 comments October 7, 2009
Happiness is…
Thanks very much for Compostwoman for tagging me for a Tree of Happiness Award!
The rules of this award are:
1. Link to the person who gave the award to you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. List six things that make you happy.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog
6. Let the person who awarded you, know when your entry is up.
So here are my six:
My nearest and dearest - I don’t think this needs much elaborating on. I love them and being with them makes me happy.
Making things - Whether it’s a crocheted cardigan, a few jars of jam, or a handmade card, I love to create. It gives me a great sense of satisfaction. I can feel proud of the finished article plus the process of making is often soothing and relaxing. After a hard day’s work, I love to curl up on the sofa with a glass of wine, a crochet hook and some yarn and ‘listen again’ to Women’s Hour. Bliss. Often when I’m not making something, I’m reading about making things, ogling the gorgeous FOs on Ravelry or planning my next project.
Good Food – I enjoy food on many levels – obviously I like eating it (often to the detriment of my waistline) but I also really enjoy growing it, preparing it, cooking it, reading about it and even just looking at it! Food can be beautiful as well as tasty – think brightly coloured squashes, marbled borlotti beans or a beautifully alien-looking Romanesco cauli ….. mmmmmm!
A Good Night’s Sleep – that might sound lame but as someone who regularly suffers from severe insomnia, I’ve really learned to appreciate it when I do sleep. When I’ve slept well, the world seems a much brighter place and I feel capable of anything!
The Countryside – I love to be outside – it gives me a great sense of wellbeing, of connectedness with nature and makes me feel more like me. I think it’s easy to get caught up in your daily routines but being outdoors, surrounded by beauty, makes me stop and simply be. I love all sorts of landscapes and natural places but, above all, I love the ‘small places’ of the world – the bubbling brooks, the dappled woodlands or the mossy dells.
Books – When I was younger (and took myself far too seriously), I used to read a lot of highbrow literary fiction. These days, however, I prefer a healthy dose of escapism! I like historical fiction most of all and enjoy the work of Phillippa Gregory, Rose Tremain and Kate Mosse. I also get a lot of pleasure from non-fiction books – particularly craft related books that teach skills. Most of my crafts I have learned from books so thank you books!
I tag…
1 comment December 3, 2008
Green Meme 1
I’ve been tagged – first time too so I’m rather excited. Thanks very much to Chicken Betty for the tagging! Anyhow, here goes…
The Guidelines:
1. Link to Green Meme Bloggers
2.Link to whoever tagged you
3.Include meme number
4.Include these guidelines in your post
5.Answer questions (erm – that bit’s quite important)
6.Tag 3 other green bloggers.
1. Name two motivations for being green:
1. I love the outdoors and have a deep respect and admiration for nature in general. That’s a big motivator as I wouldn’t want my lifestyle to result in the destruction of nature or the environment on any level.
2. My daughter – I want her to grow up on a healthy, happy planet.
2. Name 2 eco-unfriendly items you refuse to give up
1. My toilet! My husband is very keen on constructing a composting toilet. I’m far less keen on the idea!
2. Make-up – I look truly horrendous without it. I consider it my public duty to wear it so that I don’t terrify small children.
3. Are you at peace with, or do you feel guilty about no.2?
Not guilty about the toilet thing at the moment as circumstances (thankfully) mean we couldn’t build a composting toilet where we live anyhow. If we ever get our smallholding though, it’ll be a different story…..
Quite guilty about the make-up. I am trying to find ‘greener’ brands though and have switched to Sante for foundation and Faith in Nature for hair products.
4. What are you willing to change but feel unable to/stuck with/unsure how to go about it?
I would love to keep chickens (for the eggs) and sheep (for the wool) but don’t have the room to do so. I’d also love to be able to generate our own electricity somehow but don’t know if it’s possible in our current house.
5. Do you know your carbon footprint for your home? If so, is it larger/smaller than your national average?
We had our footprint calculated at CAT a couple of years ago. I can’t remember the exact figure but I know we were quite a bit below the national average – however, we still have a long, long way to go until we’re what I’d consider truly sustainable.
6.What’s eco-frustrating and/or eco-fantastic about where you live?
Eco frustrating:
A lack of like-minded people. I’m sure there must be some out there but I’m yet to meet very many of them!
Eco fantastic:
The market – we have a wonderful market here which is held three times a week with extra Farmer’s Markets (every other week) and craft fairs. It makes buying locally and seasonally much easier.
The recycling scheme – much better than previous places I’ve lived. This week they’ve just started food waste collection which I think is a fantastic idea, particularly for people without gardens.
Car-free – due to the small size of the town, it’s really easy to live car-free as everything is within walking distance!
7. Do you eat local/organic/vegetarian/forage/grow you own?
Yes, I try to buy food that is both seasonal and local and the market is great for this. However, I’m far from perfect and do buy bananas (fairtrade ones) for the baby and oranges for the husband. I don’t always buy organic – it really depends on the item and what else is available. I’d choose a non-organic locally grown apple over an organic apple flown over from New Zealand for instance. However, there are some items that I think it’s really important to buy organic – although not a food, cotton springs to mind – really due to the farmers welfare more than anything else – I’ve written about this before though so I won’t start ranting now.
I’m not a vegetarian – I sometimes think I should be and have tried (and failed) in the past. I just like my meat too much. I do try to limit the amount of meat we have though – both for environmental and economic reasons – and will only buy good quality meat that I know has been farmed in an ethical and humane way. Usually we eat meat 2 – 3 times per week, fish once or twice and the rest of our meals are vegetarian.
I love a good forage, particularly when it gives me an excuse to get my preserving pan out. The one thing I don’t forage for is mushrooms though – I’m too afraid of poisoning us all!
Yep, we grow veg in the back garden – although not as much as I’d like due to limited space. We’re about to buy a polytunnel so we can increase the range of what we grow – we have big plans for next year 
8. What do you personally find the most challenging in being green?
Being different – if I’m honest, I don’t really like to stand out from the crowd – I’m a conformist at heart and don’t like being labeled ‘weird’ or ‘a hippy’ because of my lifestyle choices. Due to this, I find I don’t talk about my lifestyle much to people who I know have very different values and that does make me sad. Its a big part of my life and I don’t like having to hide who I am in order to fit in. On the positive side though, being ‘green’ is becoming much more mainstream these days.
9. Do you have a green confession?
Tesco – or, as it’s (un)fondly known in our house, ‘the evil Tesco’. Prior to moving here, I managed to steer clear of ‘the evil’ as I have a strong dislike for their business practices (which are often unethical and very ‘ungreen’) – a dislike I would regularly expound on to family and friends. However, moving has made me a hypocrite. Tesco is now the only supermarket within walking distance and, although I manage to get most of my food from the market and butchers, for things like tinned goods, sadly ‘the evil’ really is my only choice. But oh how I hate going in there!
10. Do you have the support of family and/or friends?
My husband is incredibly supportive and, if I’m honest, is often the prime mover in our green endeavors. My parents find some of our choices strange but patiently listen to my rants. Oh, and my sister thinks I’m just plain mad.
Anyhow, the bloggers whose answers I’d love to read are:
and that’s that!
5 comments November 23, 2008
