Weekends are always a reminder to me, as I hear people’s plans, or see the queue’s of cars roll into my local shopping centre. Sometimes I watch them, cup on tea in hand, the quiet hum coming from the radio in the kitchen. Eventually little feet gather around me and we chat about our upcoming two days. Inevitably there will be a hike, a session at our community garden (oh plants who are not looking so good, perk up!), we will make something depending on what is on sale, or what we need. One week it was blueberry jam, another week bug spray, another lip gloss - we will work quietly together in the kitchen, learning, loving, being. The weekend treat for Mama is the $1.70 fairtrade coffee, followed by chatting and laughter with the variety of independent store owners we will visit, asking about their week, leaving with hugs, “until next week” we say. The children will speak excitedly about what we will make – quinoa cheese casserole, barley soup, lentil smash, muffins, and smoothies all get a mention. We will hope there is something from the garden so we can enjoy the fruits of our labour. The bikes will be ridden, the volunteer hours at the farm contributed, another hike usually finds its way into the day. And the evenings will be met with candles lit, knitting love, and books, oh the books. We will be enthralled in the adventures and tactics of Junie B. Jones and the Little House on the Prairie girls. And as a special treat, we will cheer as we watch the tour de france, waving our flags, Mummy sipping a glass of wine a friend provided. As the weekend closes there will be new produce, handmade things and memories. We may not have money to buy a homestead or live off the grid, but I’ve learned you can build something grand on a shoestring.
It is a good life, a good life indeed!
I am so grateful that you are again posting on a regular basis. You always remind me of what’s important. Your life is just lovely. It seems to me that you have the things that really matter. Love, books, healthy food,, family, friends, a cup of coffee and time to sit and enjoy it!
This sounds like a lovely weekend – lot of time for family and other things that matter the most. I always appreciate your posts, and especially the reminders of what’s valuable and just how possible a good life is, even without a lot of money. I don’t make much, but I always find it reassuring to think about just how good we’ve got it – good family, food, friends, and quiet weekends of reading, talking, biking, cooking, baking, and most of all, resting. It’s a good life, this one.
We have gotten pretty good at living on less. We’re on BS3 (Dave Ramsey) and my goal is to save $25,000 by my 40th birthday next year. I spend a lot of time talking to the girls about what is worth spending money on and what isn’t. Blueberry still occasionally gets upset when she can’t have something she wants but not that often. (We also don’t usually have cable…only netflix…so they don’t see a lot of commercials and don’t know what they’re missing. Well, we did get cable back for the olympics but then I’ll cancel it again.) It’s nice not to have to worry so much about money or keeping up with the Jones’s. Glad you guys are having a great weekend!
I often find, the people who complain that they don’t have money, are the ones who (usually on welfare) squander it on gambling, alcohol consumption in pubs & bars (not your little wine tipple), fast crappy food and rental of big TV’s and lounge suites and computer games. They piss it up against the wall and complain. No amount of money is ever enough.
Someone like you uses every cent of your money to make life good, wholesome and worth living for yourself and your children. How much more healthy are you because you reap what you plant/sow at the allotment, choose to eat fresh, raw, organic foods, choose to be mindful of the $$’s you have, read books instead of buying plastic toys, cook together, work together? You are on the path to financial freedom – you cannot go wrong! You inspire me.
This really does sound like bliss to me. Such an inspiring post and I hope that one day when I have a family my life will be just as content and wonderful! Keep shining x
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