The Zero Waste Family

I recently saw a television spot on the Zero Waste Family from the US. Miss Ballerina was watching mindless TV over the summer break (some chat show called The View) and I had been tuning it out until I heard them mention this segment. Boy, we all think we are doing OK until we see people like this! They have only one jar of rubbish PER YEAR!  They must have very understanding shopkeepers as she mentioned even the supermarket pack her purchases in her containers for her. But, have I ever tried this myself - have I ever asked? You never know what may be possible if you don't ask.

My buggaboo at the moment is milk. I am not milking Izzy at the moment and milk in plastic containers makes me crazy.
When we lived in Melbourne (long ago), we used to be able to buy Elgaar Farm milk but not any more.



I see all those plastic bottles and I go into a mindspin! Recycling just is not good enough for me. I just cannot see a way around it though.

I used to buy Kialla products, also not available here. They came in fabric bags which I could then turn into placemats and other items. There is probably a health food shop in Warrnambool (and I saw the one in Apollo Bay stocked it!) but then the food miles debate enters into it. Is it worth the petrol use?!



Quite frankly, I am not sure if watching the Zero Waste Family made me motivated or made me feel a failure. I guess it is the is the glass half empty or half full. I find caring about these issues can become a minefield in my brain. I read a book a while ago (can't remember the title) where the author states that she almost wishes she could go back to a time where she didn't know about peak oil, climate change, the food crisis, so she could just go out and buy a latte in a throwaway cup without feeling guilty about it. But we cannot go back now - we must move forward and do our best, even if sometimes we feel our best is not making any difference.

Today's Adventures

After our visit to Otway Dinosaurs, Whirlwind wanted to set up a dinosaur land. It has changed a few times over the last day.

We made our weather tree for the year yesterday; it looks very lonely with only two leaves! And both of them are grey for cloudy weather!

Not much done in the schoolroom today. We had to drive to Warrnambool this afternoon as Miss Ballerina popped a bracket off her braces and a trip to the orthodontist was in order. Two hour round trip for a quick visit!

Just a cute kitten photo to finish the day. I wonder if they will still sleep together like this when they are grown.

Craft Tuesday

I do so love knitting and today, thanks to the wonderful blog of Waldorf Mama, I have found the greatest new knitting patterns. And they even come from my neck of the woods! I am talking about Georgie Hallam. I am wanting to start on the Milo vest for all three boys straight away!

I have finished the elf hat for Cuddlepie.

It is amazing how long the instructions 'tie a loose overhand knot' took to perfect. I must have made a hundred knots (or it felt like it!) before I was happy with this particular knot.

I was very excited a few days ago to win a grab bag of yarn from a gorgeous eBay seller. I would love nearly all her yarn to come and live at my house!
This is what I received:

A beautiful bamboo/merino mix from EasyKnits.

A very colourful merino from the Indie Dyer called Autumn. I think a scarf/wrap of some kind for this.

And my favourite, an alpaca/silk mix from Jenny Cook in the UK. I could touch this one forever - it is SO soft!

Sometimes yarns are just so beautiful in the skeins that I don't want to commit them to any particular project. I just like to touch and look at them as is. I was thinking maybe a cardigan/jacket of some sort in cream with this used as a frilly border of some sort. I will have to search through my Rowan magazines for something.

And this is the beginning of the ugly yarn being knitted into pants for Cuddlepie. It is definitely growing on me!

The Sun Egg

Our story for today was The Sun Egg by Elsa Beskow.

We had some oranges so decided to see if we could suck any juice out of them using a straw. As you can from the look on Legoman's face, it was not as easy as the story suggested!

Our Weekend Away

We have had a busy few days!

On Friday, we left bright and early to get to Adventure Park in Geelong for the annual Not Back To School party for Rockpool Homeschool. I was debating not going this year as it is a LONG way (takes us about 3 hours). But as I was getting supplies ready to start the new school year, Legoman, very excitedly, said 'that means we will be going to Adventure Park soon! How many days is it?' How could we let him down after that?! This was our third year and it is well worth the trip as they love it so much.
Whirlwind was strangely reticent this year and it took him a while to want to get wet, but once he was, he went mad!

The boys think the pirate slides are the best!

After the day at Adventure Park, hubby had to pick up a work car in Geelong. So we dropped him off and the boys and I headed to Apollo Bay for a weekend away. Hubby headed for home to see what the girls had been up to!

I LOVE Apollo Bay! I have always wanted to live there, up in the hills somewhere.

We had a lovely time away. Only made it to the beach on Saturday - we had planned to go on Sunday as well but it was cold and very windy.

On Sunday morning we headed to Otway Dinosaurs. The boys loved this.

I still love Apollo Bay!