An American food and travel writer, a reformed shopper, now living a rural, "slow" non-consumerism life in the south of France with her French husband and daughter. Poorer than dirt, but living like kings from the riches of the earth.
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August 2007-August 2008 we did not purchase anything. Only food and that was severely limited to the farmers markets and the organic co-op store. This year, we are doing an all-out No Shopping School Year: September 1st thru June 15th, we will not buy anything, not even food. We will use what abundance we have: what we preserved this summer, our garden, foraging, bartering, trading, living off what mother nature gives us.
Why am I doing this?
I embarked on this slow life after seeing the waste from two peoples lives cut short. My husband's family halved in one month and we were left to sort through their closets, sell the car, and shake our heads at the material “stuff” that lived on longer than his grandmother’s precious words and his father's new lease on life as a first time grandfather.
I realized further that we needed to do some soul searching and rid ourselves of material obligations. In fact, now after a successful year of not shopping, we will probably make it part of our lives instead of just a stunt year. This year we will cut out food shopping as well and rely on foraging, what organic food we have in the freezer, fishing, our CSA basket and what we can grow in containers on our small patio.
I am having fun with it, discovering so much about myself and our planet along the way and hopefully inspiring my close circle of friends and readers to do the same. We are happier, more content with what we have and cherish each other and what nature give us without the constraints of money in our lives.
Also, I feel more grounded and in touch with "mamie" who lived through some tough times and I am discovering her world and past generations traditions along the way. I feel very blessed to have stumbled upon this through the slow year.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Lucky loves it when mummy gets packages in the mail. I received some more plants that I ordered for spring, 2 elderberry bushes (so I can make wine and jelly), a japanese red w
illow and a california lilac to remind me of home. I found a nice gardening site in Lille and ordered from them directly. She has good prices and only 80 centimes shipping for each additional item. Next, I'll get some white wysteria for my arbor. Spring is pushing forward here, my little seeds have cracked out of their brown pods and my little tiny dwarf irises from Amst'dam are blooming! Its really sunny, and we have our woodstove installed now and Benji loves playing with it all day adding wood. I will write about it on my food blog--since I used it to cook!!
garlic-breathWeekend Cat Blogging
Lucky loves it when mummy gets packages in the mail. I received some more plants that I ordered for spring, 2 elderberry bushes (so I can make wine and jelly), a japanese red w
illow and a california lilac to remind me of home. I found a nice gardening site in Lille and ordered from them directly. She has good prices and only 80 centimes shipping for each additional item. Next, I'll get some white wysteria for my arbor. Spring is pushing forward here, my little seeds have cracked out of their brown pods and my little tiny dwarf irises from Amst'dam are blooming! Its really sunny, and we have our woodstove installed now and Benji loves playing with it all day adding wood. I will write about it on my food blog--since I used it to cook!! garlic-breath
4 Comments:
I know where I would prefer to play ;)
Oh cute. I didn't realize you were part of a ring of weekend cat bloggers! Oh well I just copied you and I think I'll continue to do it just for fun.
I'm so excited about your poele! I bet you're happy and much warmer. Isn't fire nice in the winter? (and now you can make a pizza!)
What is it about cats and packing boxes? Or crumpled up paper or anything that isn't supposed to be a toy!
Very cute pic.
Cute! They love being incognito don't they?
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