Greenshift is our electronic scrapbook of useful resources and we're keeping most of it fairly impersonal but for those that are interested this is where we're going to share what we're doing ourselves to put everything into practice. (See also our Forest Garden and Green Refurb pages)

The name has been inspired by a visit to the Da Vinci Inventions exhibition - what a man! As well as being an artist he was a scientist, inventor, sculptor, musician, mathematician, engineer, architect, philosopher and much more. He was also a pioneer of biomimicry as many of his inventions were inspired by his close observation of the natural world:

"Though human ingenuity may make various inventions which, by the help of various machines answering the same end, it will never devise any inventions more beautiful nor more simple, nor more to the purpose than Nature does; because in her inventions nothing is wanting, and nothing is superfluous."

He was a vegetarian, advocated non-attachment to material things, was fascinated by interconnection and was continually striving towards wholeness. We think trying to apply the seven Da Vincian Principles will be a great help in moving towards a more sustainable lifestyle :

Curiosità - an insatiably curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning

Dimonstrazione - a commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence and a willingness to learn from mistakes

Sensazione - the continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as the means to enliven experience

Sfumato (literally "Going up in Smoke") - a willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox and uncertainty

Arte/Scienza - the development of the balance between science and art, logic and imagination. "Whole-brain" thinking

Corporalita - the cultivation of grace, ambidexterity, fitness, and poise

Connessione - a recognition of and appreciation for the interconnection of all things and phenomena. Systems thinking

(from How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci by Michael Gelb)

A tall order but it will be fun to try.

5th January 2012 New Beginnings

We're not making any New Year's resolutions this year as we've decided winter is the worst time of year to put yourself under extra stress - we'll save the challenges for the Spring! However, it's a good time to look back and consider whether we met our targets. Last year's big plans to remortgage in order to finance a major green refurb didn't materialise, partly because we're interested in the residential mini-CHP systems which are still undergoing trials so we're hoping our ancient boiler can hold out a little longer. We're really glad that we did get around to re-insulating the loft as that's made a huge difference keeping the house much warmer through the winter. We were pleased with our first metered water bill which showed we were using an average 56 L/person a day compared to the average 150 L, saving £164/yr. This was achieved by following simple life-style changes: short showers rather than baths, turning off the tap while brushing teeth, measuring out water for kettle, using watering can filled from water butt rather than hose in the garden etc.

The first challenge for the coming year is learning to embrace the extra time and energy I'm going to have now that my Mum is being professionally cared for after 10 long years of trying to juggle being her carer with family-life and work. We've agreed I need some time to rebuild my health and think through new opportunities so I'm going to get stuck into some healing activities for the next few weeks.

21st December Festive Greetings!

Wishing everyone a very happy and relaxing holiday time. We're having a simple, thrifty Christmas with as many home-made and recycled presents as possible (though that doesn't go down well with teenage boys so there are some exceptions!).

I've made my Mum some slippers from one of her old felted cardigans and a small linen shoulder bag from a jacket pocket. Our old artificial Christmas tree was starting to fall apart after 18 years of use so we decided to replace with a garden obelisk draped in greenery and lights. Takes up much less space, looks really effective when it's all lit up and we can grow beans up it in the summer!

We had a fun Christmas crafting session making decorations, great to catch up with everyone. I used some scrap ribbons and felt to make this little reindeer wreath

15th November Catching Up

Apologies for such a long silence, we haven't been inactive (far from it!) but have been concentrating on the Greenshift Twitter feed. We didn't expect to take to Twitter but have found it's a really effective way of keeping up with latest developments and making links with interesting people.

We've been having a very busy time as my Mum's health took a turn for the worse and she had to move into a residential home, so lots of arrangments to make and excess belongings to find homes for. Hopefully the worst is over now and life can start to get back to some semblance of normality.

I've made a couple of new crafting buddies which has been a good form of relaxation - always more fun swapping ideas than working on your own. We're making some crafts for a Xmas Bazaar at the moment. I'm going to use up my left over bits of felt on some of these lavender sleep cuddlies - so cute! I've been turning the sweater cuffs into little felt cupcake pin cushions.

I felted an old cherry red mohair cardigan and made a pair of slippers for my friend Katie who's been a real rock through some hard times. I oversewed the seams with forest green wool and embroidered a motif. She has tiny size 4 feet so they look suitably elfin and festive!

30th August Recharging

We've had a lovely break in Dorset in this little Hobbit House, beautiful countryside views and only a couple of miles from the sea.

We loved all the natural wood and it was wonderful to live really simply for a week, walking during the day and playing board games in the evening.

We visited Abbotsbury Sub-tropical gardens where I came across this peaceful Buddha statue which really made me want to sit and meditate with it!

I've booked for an Action for Happiness evening led by Matthieu Ricard, the Buddhist monk who has been dubbed by scientists as 'the happiest person in the world' so hoping to pick up some inspiring tips from him.

6th August Learning Through Doing

In case any readers are in the West Sussex area, I thought I'd put a quick shout out for my friend Bilal's permaculture project. He's currently retro-fitting his house and is welcoming people interested in natural building techniques to come along and help out. Last weekend the volunteers had some muddy fun constructing a cob wall. Keep an eye on his blog if you are interested in future working parties.

Our garden is still producing like mad, our main problem is remembering to pick things in time. Some of the broccolli plants were perfect last week but we failed to harvest them and now they are all flowering (yellow and white in picture below). Still they're very attractive! Our apple trees are producing a really good crop this year, I'll have to read up on preserving methods and also do some baking for the freezer as I don't want to waste any more crops. It's a shame that the C&C produce swapping didn't take off as it would really come in handy now.

Does anyone recognise this plant, it has lovely pale violet flowers with a white centre which open in the sun? The seeds were in an unidentified envelope from a seed-swap so we planted them in Spring out of curiosity and they've turned into giant plants!

29th July People Powered Change

We seem to be living in extraordinary times with the fall-out from the News International phone-hacking scandal. Hopefully we've witnessed a demonstration of what can achieved by people uniting together - sufficient companies withdrawing their advertising from the News of the World was enough to close a profitable 168 year old tabloid, though if it's just going to be replaced with the Sun on Sunday it's something of a hollow victory! It's been good to watch Government ministers being held to account and let's hope some genuine change emerges from it but it's important not to be complacent. They appeared to listen to the public outcry over the plans for the NHS and the Forests Sell-off but I'm still getting emails from 38 Degrees saying that the same threats are still there and that changes can be slipped through in the small print once public attention is elsewhere. So the message is stay vigilant!

We're finally coming to the end of our bulk packages of fairtrade/eco products. I ordered a mixture of basics such as tea, coffee, sugar, pasta, noodles and washing up liquid hoping to kick-start a co-operative buying scheme within 'Connect & Create'. The prices worked out much cheaper than supermarkets and it also saved on a lot of packaging but disappointingly we didn't get a single order. On the plus side it's saved us some money but I don't think the boys will be able to face any more pasta and noodles for a while! I've decided to take a break from group-work and concentrate on our personal greenshifting, our main aim at the moment is to eat as local, organic and where possible home-grown as we can. We're picking some lovely courgettes, broccolli, onions, tomatoes, apples and cucumbers from the garden and have found some delicious local cherries and plums so I think we're all going to enjoy this challenge!

30th June Chill-out time

I've been having fun knitting a Noro scarf, not very seasonal but I'd been itching to have a go since finding the pattern on Jared Flood's blog so when I tracked down some discounted Noro Silk Garden yarn I couldn't resist. Really quick and easy to knit and you get such beautiful combinations of colours. There's a wide variety of palette's available, I alternated shade 211 with 84 and 8.

Any other vegetarian/vegans out there looking for alternatives to fish oil for their Omega 3? We were recommended to try the V Pure website which offers an algae-based supplement which is rich in EPA and DHA. We've just ordered a batch and it arrived very promptly so we're pleased with their service so far.

Life is quite stressful at the moment with one thing and another so we're trying to make some time to relax every day - one of our favourite exercises is Energy Yoga with Lama Surya Das, really good for letting everything go and recharging your energy.

24th May Tea and Aromatherapy

I've been devoting some time to the garden as it was a getting rather neglected after I injured my back earlier in the year. Little and often is definitely best because as soon as you give the weeds an inch they quickly take over but I'm gradually getting clear of them and have got this year's annual crops well established now. It's lovely to be sharing the garden with so much wildlife - lots of birds, bees, butterflies, frogs and multifarious insects to keep me company!

We've been really pleased with our loft insulation, we tend to have our heating switched off this time of year but there's been a few bitterly cold days which helped us notice how much warmer the house stayed - definitely a good investment.

I've been reading 'Mindful Knitting' by Tara Jon Manning which is about integrating knitting and meditation - a good reminder about how you can bring mindful attention to whatever you're doing. One of the patterns was an aromatherapy tea cosy with internal pockets for sachets of flax seed and aromatic healing herbs to insulate and release scents as the tea brews. One problem is that we all like different flavours of tea so tend to use the tea bag in cup method rather than a tea pot, but I do have a little one person tea pot so I scaled down the pattern and knitted a cosy for that and had enough yarn left to knit an expandable string bag. It's nice to introduce a little more ceremony into my tea drinking, helps me to stop and savour rather than drink on the run!

The other item in my trio of makes is a re-usable sandwich wrapper made from wipe-clean laminated fabric, neatly contains the sandwich and opens out to give you a small mat to catch crumbs (pattern from 'Sewing Green' by Betz White). When I get enough spare time I'm planning to go into production and make a small batch for Fusion. They've offered to sell craft work from our Connect & Create group which is proving mutually beneficial as it attracts people to the cafe and provides an outlet for us 'hobby crafters'. Making connections and creating opportunities - just what we hoped for!

27th April Space Clearing

Our loft insulation is being installed today so we've been working hard over the last few weeks clearing everything from the loft. So much stuff! The boxes completely took over the lounge and conservatory but we've been gradually re-homing things through charity shops and Freecycle. It was probably good to be overwhelmed as it made us much more ruthless. There's some items you tend to hang on to because they're associated with happy memories but we decided the memories will remain without physically holding on to things and it's been a pleasure to see how delighted some of the new owners have been. I think there's a proverb somewhere along the lines of 'everything you own snatches at your time' and more space and more time are getting increasingly appealing! We're in awe of Richard and Michelle (see below) who manage to fit all their belongings into the back of a van, we're a very long way off that but hopefully can resist accumulating new things to fill the space we're creating. Next step will be to give the house a really thorough top to bottom clean and shift the energy with some sound therapy - the didjeridu's excellent for that as it makes the whole house vibrate!

16th April Open Source

We're pretty passionate about helping to make useful resources freely available, so are excited to have a small part in supporting Richard, Michelle and baby Grace in their project to bring a free 72 hour Permaculture Design Course to the world. This way of funding shared resources through small donations seems a very good approach and we're really looking forward to following their journey.

Have had fun completing another felt hat, this time using Cascade Pastaza wool in Mauve Heather and Ruby and using the left-over felt scraps to make a spray of roses.

5th April Busy, busy

Lots on the do at the moment as more people have got involved with the Connect & Create group so we've been able to get other meet-ups underway. We've launched a Google group so that people can share ideas, experiences and information, unfortunately I think most people are a little shy about participating at the moment but I really hope it takes off as there's so much we can all learn from each other. Our other mammoth job is clearing our loft as we've finally arranged to upgrade our loft insulation. To qualify for the grant you're only allowed a maximum of 20% of the area boarded (fair enough as the whole point is for the insulation to be as effective as possible) so most of what we take down will have to be re-homed somewhere else. I think we'll probably wonder why on earth we've kept most it! The firm we're using are Downs Energy who impressed us with their knowledge and attitude and who recommended the best solution for our needs rather than the most expensive. I'm about to start work on another felt hat, a beret design this time, and have joined Ravelry which is a free networking site for knitters and crocheters. Can really recommend joining, whether you're a novice or expert, as there's so many inspiring ideas and people willing to encourage and help you along.

15th March Creating

This week will be our fifth 'Crafty Conversation' and I've been learning such a lot from being able to spend time with creative people who inspire me with what they're making and are very generous in sharing their know-how. It's encouraged me to get started on some of the projects I'd been too nervous to begin, such as my felt hat below. I knitted it from a pattern by the amazing Lisa Cruse, then 'fulled' it in the washing machine (probably shrank slightly too much but it's all a learning curve), it's now in the garden drying off and being 'blocked' into shape by a plate balanced on top of a basin which is on top of an overturned cake stand. Next job will be adding some decoration, probably some felt flowers. Will post up once completed! (The wool I used is Cascade 220 Shire 2445 from Pavi yarns ).

First attempt - I've attached with a brooch clasp so I can take it off and ring the changes with some other ideas. I made the felt from merino wool tops which is fun as you can combine different shades to create interesting effects. I started with a layer of maroon, then covered with a layer of cerise (laid in opposite direction) then added an edge of cherry red. I cut a 1 x 10 inch strip which coils up to form the inside of the flower and stitched it to a shaped base to keep in place.

4th March Making Progress

I've been valiantly knitting squares for my blanket since November so decided it was time for a small break and to try my hand at some things which are quicker to complete. Had a go at this snood pattern today and other than sewing it up had completed it in a couple of hours. Chunky wool and big needles are GREAT - knits up so quickly. (No sooner had I finished than Henry asked me to make him one for his Duke of Edinburgh expedition as he thinks it would be as warm but less heavy than a scarf. Annoyingly I found it took just over one ball of wool, but if I knit a couple of rows less there should be just enough. It's always a thrill when your children actually want you to make something for them!)

28th February Connect & Create

I have to admit to feeling rather cynical about 'The Big Society', partly because it seems like an ideological commandeering of already well established volunteer community work by giving it a brand name instead of financially supporting its development. Added to the uncomfortable suspicion that it's all a 'Big Wheeze' on the part of Messrs Cameron and Clegg to replace professional, joined-up, accountable, public services with inadequately-funded DIY alternatives.

However, I've recently been reading Tessy Britton's 'Thriving too' blog which is introducing me to a different perspective. If considered apolitically, the Big Society aim of empowering communities and giving them greater control over their environment could offer positive and radical possibilites for change:

"Oli Barrett wrote back in January: 

"Politicians cannot change a country.  Not really change it.  Teachers, business people, parents, community leaders, social entrepreneurs, retired people and everyone currently watching and listening as the politicians get the blame.  That’s who can and should make the changes.  We’re sleepwalking into a bleak decade if we carry on projecting the wrong expectations onto the wrong people." 

Big Society should be about citizens ‘taking back’  their agency… not politicians trying to ‘give it back’. That would be like saying "here, let me give you your autonomy".  We have that already!"

Tessy sees it as "an act of rebellion ... not conformity. Only this time round it isn’t against the establishment, it’s against the pessimists, blamers and social critics."

That's encouraged me to keep a more open mind and has inspired our Connect & Create initiative, which is about providing regular spaces for people to come together to pool their talents and energy and see what emerges. Fortunately some lovely, creative, can-do friends seem to like the idea and a local organic café has been happy to host our initial 'Crafty Conversation' meet-ups. We'll have to see what evolves but an important objective is simply for people to feel that taking part is enjoyable and beneficial. But while I'm keen to join the ranks of the 'militant optimists', I'm still very concerned that the current public service cuts are too fast and too deep making it unrealistic for local groups to be in a position to provide services and just who is going to fill that gap? Hard times ahead ...

2nd February To do, or not to do?

We've been feeling overwhelmed with all the things we need to be getting on with so I was grateful when a friend introduced me to the concept of making a 'not-to-do-list' which includes all the activities, habits, clutter, unproductive thinking and perhaps people (though that seems a little harsh!) which are preventing you from making progress and choosing to release them so that you can move on. It's easier said than done but good for building awareness of what's holding you back. I've been building up a price book* to keep a track of the cost per unit we spend on different grocery items to make it easier to compare between shops (helpful if, like me, you have a poor memory for figures!). As we want to continue buying local, organic, fairtrade and eco-friendly, I'm going to try to make these more affordable by buying in bulk containers where possible which will have the added benefit of cutting down on wasteful packaging.

* I've been asked for more details of my price book. The linked article runs through various recording systems but I'm choosing to use 5" x 3" index cards with A-Z dividers, stored in a slim wallet which can slip in my bag. Each item has its own card and you write down the date, shop, brand, price, quantity and unit price. If you find a cheaper price, or the price changes, you record it on a new line. You can collect the info from till receipts - it's taking some time to start with but should get easier.

19th January Measuring up

We're still feeling so fragile after our bout of flu at Christmas that we haven't had the energy to really get started on our plans for this year but I'm making an effort to get a recording system in place so we can monitor our progress in different areas. Not something I enjoy (to put it mildly!) but from past experience the discipline does help keep you on track when you're trying to make changes. We're going to have to make some significant savings in order to finance higher mortgage payments when we go ahead with our green refurb - so hopefully it will help us identify where we can cut back. It's going to be quite daunting spending so much money when our instinct has always been to save and pay off the mortgage so we're going to make sure we spend it as wisely as possible. I'm starting to research the different options available, the Sustainable Energy Academy is a great source of inspiration and we're hoping to make some visits to some local Eco-house open days in the next few months. In the meantime I'm looking forward to a felt slipper making evening with some friends, I'm planning to try this 'knit then felt' pattern which looks fun. After that I'm going to have to stop making slippers as I've made too many!

13th January Big Relief

We've had a worrying few days as my elder brother lives in Brisbane which has been hit by devastating floods and we'd been unable to get through to him. Thankfully he phoned yesterday to say they'd managed to leave the city in time and were staying with family out of the danger area. They'd also had enough warning to move most of their stuff upstairs and put up sandbags before they left and as the peak has been lower than feared the flood waters might not even reach their home. It was a great relief to know they were all ok but with all the destruction I'm sure it will be quite a while before life is back to normal. Extreme weather is likely to be more common as climate change progresses so cultivating resilience is going to be vital for all of us.

1st January 2011 Happy New Year

I can't remember starting a new year with quite so many grim predictions in the papers, with everything in the country seemingly at breaking point. Coincidentally, I reached the conclusion of 'Awakening to the Sacred' by Lama Surya Das which ends with a poem by William Stafford:

YES

It could happen any time, tornado,
earthquake, Armageddon. It could happen.
Or sunshine, love, salvation.

It could, you know. That's why we wake
and look out - no guarantees
in this life.

But some bonuses, like morning,
like right now, like noon,
like evening.

So I think that's going to form the basis of my resolution for the year - being prepared to embrace whatever comes up but more importantly being open to the joy of where I am right now in the present moment. Best wishes to all for the coming year!

22nd December Festive Greetings!

Hoping you all have a very happy, relaxing, recuperative holiday time. We're relieved that we're celebrating at home and not having to brave the icy conditions but wish safe travelling for all those making journeys. I'm sewing like crazy as the boys suddenly got excited by the idea of bean bag chairs and decided they'd like one each with matching foot stools - not sure how I'm going to find the time with all the other preparations but will give it my best shot. This is the pattern I'm using if anyone fancies having a go and I've bought some gorgeous burgundy and golden brown velvet material which even the boys are happy with - will add a photo when they're finished. It's given us a good laugh as the bag containing the polystyrene balls split when we were filling the first liner so all these tiny statically charged balls cascaded out and bounced all round the room (we're going to be still finding them for months to come!).

Managed to finish the bean bags in time for the big day but the foot stools will have to wait.

15th December Simple

We usually have a fairly simple Christmas and this year with so many charities being affected by the Coalition cuts we thought we'd go further and donate most of the money we'd planned to spend to good causes. So lots of our presents are going to be second-hand, home-made or edible. I made a good start last week making a felted lap-top cover

and a couple of pairs of felt slippers made from old sweaters (pattern from Sewing Green by Betz White)

and some fleecy hot water bottle covers. This week I'm going to attempt a bean bag chair - will post up the results if successful.

6th December Big Freeze

Brrr!! We were hoping to keep our winter heating bills low but hadn't anticipated it happening in the form of our boiler breaking down during the coldest spell of the year. Lots of people were in the same boat so we ended up spending 5 days at 7°C before our repair man finally came and restored some blissful warmth to the house. Certainly wasn't pleasant but we did find we quickly learned to adapt - staying together in one room to share body warmth, wearing lots of layers (you feel pretty silly wearing a woolly hat indoors but it stops you losing heat!), baking cakes to warm the house and keep spirits up and it's amazing how effective hot water bottles can be. One benefit of being cooped up indoors was that I had extra time for some productive crafting - I'll post later about my various makes. It also helped us to decide that we need to replace the boiler next year as it's over 16 years old and living on borrowed time. We're going to use the opportunity to remortgage and give the house a full green refurb to make as energy efficient as we can afford - lots to think about!

8th November Change is as good as a rest

We'd love to make more progress on working on our creative skills but it can be difficult to find the time as Mike has a 12 hour day during the week and weekends just disappear. However he's just had a couple of days off so while it was very tempting to relax we got stuck into redecorating the kitchen. We really miss having my Dad's guidance but it was actually quite therapeutic and satisfying and I think we did a good job (well Mike did all the hard bits!). I'm trying my hand at learning to knit and have found a great book 'Purls of Wisdom' by Jenny Lord to help. Clear diagrams and very friendly - like a having a friend sitting by you giving you a pep talk and reassuring you that it's easier than it looks. I've decided to start by knitting squares for a blanket which will give me the chance to experiment with colours and stitch patterns before trying to tackle something more complicated. My Mum is a fantastic knitter and has always made whatever we needed for the children but I want to be able to do it for myself. Casting on and knit and purl are all quite straightforward - it's following a pattern that's a bit daunting but one step at a time!

10th October Celebration Day

As we were blessed with such beautiful sunny weather we decided to spend most of the day working on our forest garden but I also had a short craft session, repairing clothes and making Mike's Kindle cover.

It's made from the sleeve of an old cardigan which was felted by hot-wash (taper one end to form the flap, fold and overstitch the side seams, cut a button hole in the flap and sew a button underneath to secure).

We had a look at how we are progressing towards our 10:10 target: gas and electricity usage were down by 8%, car mileage was down by over 10% and waste was down by over 10%. We haven't kept exact figures but we're convinced our food miles are down well over 10% - growing our own food has made a huge difference to the way we eat as we plan meals around our produce and you can't get lower food mileage than that! So the challenge is on to try to keep the utility bills low over the winter but overall we're pleased as we'd already made the easy and affordable energy efficiency changes in previous years. Perhaps the secret to avoiding 'green fatigue' is that the changes we're making are genuinely life-enhancing, they're either saving us money, improving our health, or enhancing our skills and creativity. We want to avoid obsessive carbon-counting as that could soon take the joy out of life but hopefully we can keep gently moving towards simpler living.

16th September DIY

Very proud of Mike as he managed to successfully re-felt our ancient shed giving it some extra years of life. We're having to learn to get to grips with DIY having been terribly spoilt for years by my phenomenal Dad who re-wired, re-plumbed and re-decorated our home, built a conservatory and summerhouse, laid patios and driveways as well as servicing our car and crafting beautiful wooden furniture for us. He's deeply missed but left us with the legacy that you can do whatever you put your heart and mind into. He was most definitely Da Vincian by nature!

Henry has just won a bike from a 'Get Cycling' promotion so we're looking forward to getting out on some family cycle rides. We're planning one as part of our Celebration Day - supporting the 350 Campaign's Action Day on 10/10/10. We're following it with a morning working on our forest garden, a home-grown feast, an energy efficiency blitz on the house, then brain-storming 350 ways to live more sustainably and finishing with some Energy Yoga and meditation. We've been really enjoying learning the Tibetan Dzogchen practice, including Dream Yoga, early days but fascinating and we're already feeling the benefits.

2nd September Summer Time

The summer holidays are always good at getting us back into simpler living. We had a lovely walking holiday in Devon, filling a basket with produce from the garden before we went which provided the basis for all our meals for the week. Mike's commissioned a felting project - he's ordered a Kindle but wasn't so keen on the rather expensive leather covers (£30-50!) so I'm going to see what I can devise with some of my bits of felt. I've got some nice thick pieces which should give good protection. Waiting for Kindle to arrive at the moment but if it works out ok I'll post up the instructions. Biggest shock over the holidays was the Coalition's announcement of plans to sell off nature reserves and slash spending on conservation and environmental protection. They've also axed several important environmental bodies, such as the Sustainable Development Commission, and reduced grants for electric cars and low-carbon buildings. And this from the Government aiming to be 'the greenest ever'? Disillusioned doesn't come close.

4th August Hello Again!

Apologies for another long gap, unfortunately we've had the sadness of a family bereavement and then the frustration of a dead computer but are finally getting back into the swing of things. It's a good time for thrifty living as there's plenty to eat in the garden - just slightly challenging to find ways of keeping the abundant courgettes, onions and chard interesting! We've frozen batches of courgette, pepper, mushroom and onion in tomato sauce as it gives a good base for a variety of meals. We've devised a great recipe for spicy potato, mozzarella and chard tart, which has olive oil pastry and is so delicious I don't mind how often I have it. On a crafty note, I've been having adventures with felt - first by hot-washing old jumpers and then trying my hand at wet-felting with wool tops. Brilliant fun, like painting with fabric, and very forgiving to beginners like me. I now have a great big bag of beautiful felt to make something useful from so watch this space .... I'm trying to minimise the new clothes we buy so have been looking to see what I could do with the some of the existing clothes that I was failing to wear. One dress had a too-tight bodice so I cut that off and used the material to make a waist band, put in a new zip and now have a lovely skirt. Another full length skirt was too dressy so I shortened it to knee-length. It's very liberating when you throw off the fear of making mistakes and just have a go!

1st July Bargains

The recent austerity Budget is going to hit us pretty hard but at least it's focussing our minds on thrifty green living. We're going to continue buying fair-trade and organic as we think it's more important than ever to support them so will have to find our economies in other areas. Good resolutions to consume less were put to the test by the closing down sale of one of our local bookshop which invited customers to fill a bag with whatever they wanted for £10 - a book-lovers dream which we couldn't resist!

I came away with Soil Association's 'Stuffed - positive action to prevent a global food crisis', Robert Llewellyn's 'Sold Out - how I survived a year of not shopping', Donnachadh McCarthy's 'Easy Eco Auditing', Craig Sam's 'The little food book', 'Bedfordshire Clangers and Lardy Cake - Traditional Foods from the South and the South East' and Aine McAteer's 'Recipes to Nurture' and my son, who's going to be studying English A level, managed to fill a bulging bag with poetry books and classic novels. Having flicked through mine, they look like a great collection and putting some of the advice into practice should substantially reduce our footprint so I don't feel too guilty.

18th June Theory of Anyway

Apologies for such a long gap, I've been struggling with some health problems and it's been depressing to see the devastating environmental consequences of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. I've been trying to reconnect with my sense of purpose and build up some energy and enthusiasm. Reading 'GreenSpirit: Path to a New Consciousness' has been helpful especially the 'Theory of Anyway' chapter.

"As citizens of this planet, 95 percent of what is needed to resolve the coming crisis in energy depletion, or climate change or whatever, is what we should do anyway. Which is why we call this 'The Theory of Anyway'. Living more simply, more frugally, using less, leaving reserves for others, reconnecting with our food and our community, these are things we should all be doing because they are the right thing to do on so many levels. That they also have the potential to save our lives is merely a side benefit (a big one though). "

Another chapter outlines the 'Fourfold Way' to assist creative expression, health and adaption to change:

• The Way of the Warrior - show up, choose to be present
• The Way of the Healer - pay attention to what has heart and meaning
• The Way of the Visionary - tell the truth without blame or judgment
• The Way of the Teacher - be open, rather than attached, to the outcome

Combining these four rules produces a simple formula applicable to all situations which should help you to let go fully into a sense of trust.

3rd - 16th May Interesting Times

Nobody thought before the election that we'd end up with a coalition between opposite ends of the political spectrum but, despite all the attempts to ridicule and undermine it, I think it could be an exciting opportunity. They've certainly made a good start by putting aside ideologies and agreeing on the most important common priorities, particularly the intention to become the 'greenest government ever'. They're thinking long term and displaying mutual respect, in public at least, so I am wishing them safe tides and strong winds in their sails!

I was very silly and managed to injure my back which has put me out of action for a bit but getting better so hopefully it will be all systems go next week.

26th April - 2nd May The Other Superpower

It can be isolating when you feel like you're swimming against the tide so I found it very empowering to watch this Paul Hawken's Bioneer talk . He describes the diversity of individuals, groups and communities working towards social and environmental justice as 'humanity's immune response to resist and heal political disease, economic infection and ecological corruption caused by ideologies'. He terms it 'the other Superpower', identifying a minimum of 130,000 different organisations which form an un-named, grassroots, non-violent, non-ideological, global movement which doesn't seek power but instead seeks to dismantle the corrupt dominating power systems. He recognises the challenging times ahead but believes we can choose how we respond to them, removing the obstacles one by one. It left me feeling that while we each have a different role to play we're increasingly being drawn together by a galvanizing, irresistible force - the earth seeking to heal itself.

19th - 25th April Grounded

Another force of nature is dominating the news with silicate dust clouds from Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull crater keeping many European planes on the ground. Your heart goes out to people who have been stranded abroad but there has a been a positive side as many returning passengers have spoken of the "adventure", "challenge" and surprising joys of their return trips, in some cases rediscovering a pleasure in travel that is missing from airport terminals. People have had the opportunity to enjoy clear, blue, quiet skies and it's also made us think more about food security and the danger of being reliant on air-freighted produce. More than anything people have just carried on and found alternative means to do things which hopefully may continue when the planes take to the air again.

Recycling has become a whole lot easier for us this week as our 'blue-topped' recycling bin has been delivered. It's brilliant - you can put in corrugated card, junk mail, tetra-packs, directories, plastic bottles, foil, newspaper, glass bottles and jars and cans and aerosols. We're going to redirect the time and effort it will save us into trying to get closer to zero-waste.

12th - 18th April Blessings in the Breeze

I want to try to develop the healing aspects of our garden this year and thought a nice place to start would be to hang some Tibetan prayer flags to send out compassion and good intentions with the wind. One set is printed with traditional Buddhist symbols and the other was blank to enable you to add your own wishes. Very difficult to narrow it down to 15 - how would you choose between sending the gift of laughter or the gift of endurance? Decided it was best not to over-think but to trust my unconscious and accept the first ones that came into my head: loving kindness, peace, joy, spaciousness, wholeness, forgiveness, harmony, compassion, wisdom, creativity, resilience, discernment, abundance, gratitude and awareness. We're so bombarded in the media with examples of anger, intolerance, destruction, greed, ignorance and violence, so seeing them fluttering in the wind reminds me of my intention to promote the antithesis of all that.

29th March - 11th April Re-made

We've had another huge clearing out session as it was our turn to host the Re-made group and we needed to make some room to work in. It was a very enjoyable evening - everyone brought along sewing projects, some of which had been in cupboards for years. It's good to have the time and incentive to get creating and very exciting that there's lots of different skills that people are willing to share.

22nd - 28th March Too late?

Eminent Gaian scientist James Lovelock has been stirring up controversy with some recent interviews suggesting that we should enjoy life while we can as global warming has passed its tipping point and catastrophe is inevitable. He sees ethical living as a "deluded fantasy" and a "scam" because he feels "the inertia of humans is so huge that you can't really do anything meaningful". I think most climate scientists would agree that we can't stop the initial effects of climate change but tend to be more hopeful that we still have a chance of holding off the very worst things the climate could throw at us if we act together now. But is ethical living only worthwhile if you can guarantee a certain result? To me, a way of life where you wastefully consume and separate yourself from the consequences of your actions doesn't bring happiness and generally the more money and stuff people accumulate the less contented they seem to be. Whereas a life rooted in being conscious and compassionate brings its own rewards irrespective of the apparent outcome. If everything does fall apart then developing cooperation rather than competition will be vital for helping each other to survive and saving what we can. But I fully agree that we should enjoy life and appreciate the beauty of the earth all the more for its transience. Turning again to Joanna Macy:

An untrammeled love for life is like a raft, like a lifeboat—just to love it, just to love it. In The Book of Hours, Rilke says, “I just want a little more time, Just give me a little more time, because I am going to love the things as no one has thought to love them.” If nothing else happens in the workshops I teach, I feel it’s time well spent if we can get back to loving life; if we can see that the pain we feel for the world and our love for it are not separate, but that they are two sides of one coin.

On a personal level I've planted two more trees this week, an apple and a pear, reminding me of a favorite Martin Luther King Jr quote:

"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree."

15th - 21st March Action Stations

Spring has arrived and there's been a definite change in energy. Joanna Macy identifies three dimensions to 'The Great Turning', the shift towards a life-sustaining society: 1) direct action to slow the damage to Earth, 2) creating alternative institutions, 3) shift in consciousness. We need to engage with all three but I think perhaps we're drawn to focus on different elements at different times. I've found that the winter months have favored the slowing-down and introspection required for the inner transition of (3), but I now feel ready to make some progress with (1) and (2). I've made the most of the sunshine to sow some bee-friendly green manure in the garden and I'm getting together with friends to start up some local skill-sharing meet-ups. We've had our loft surveyed and found that we are eligible for a grant towards the costs of improving the insulation. The only challenge will be clearing out everything that's stored up there! They are small steps but preferable to being so paralysed by the scale of the problem that you end up doing nothing. To quote David Orr: "Hope is a verb with its sleeves rolled up"

8th - 14th March Hi Corona!

Couldn't resist including this amazing photo of the solar corona - revealed during a solar eclipse. It's a shell of hot gas, more than a million degrees celsius - 200 times hotter than the sun - which is whipped into gigantic whirls by the sun's magnetic fields. Occasionally, the Sun's surface erupts in a solar quake, a paroxysm of gigantic storms and flares which are sometimes powerful enough to eject vast blobs of corona gas into space at millions of miles per hour. An eruption hit the Earth square on in 1859, generating a brilliant aurora in the night sky and shorting out much of the world's telegraph system. Some scientists predict another vast corona eruption in the summer of 2012. If this were to hit Earth it could leave millions of people without electricity, running water or a phone service, see this BBC Focus article for more details. Or it could miss us altogether: Sfumato - embrace uncertainty! It does underline the importance of resilience, have a back-up plan in case the power goes down along with the technological services we've all come to depend on. (Have since found an excellent video address on 'the gifts of uncertainty' by Joanna Macy at the Bioneers Conference)

27th February - 7th March Mutuality

I've ended up taking a longer break than planned as my computer broke down a few weeks ago and it's taken time to replace parts, upgrade the system and reinstall everything. It's been really beneficial to have some time to reflect, I think most of us face the dilemma of how to prioritise when there's so many conflicting demands. What's the most effective way of making a difference? What's the best use of your time and talents? When it comes to environmental issues individual actions can seem so insignificant but I've also found that being part of a formal group can be stressful and frustrating. I've just read an interesting Guardian article on mutuality which suggests to me another approach:

'We are so inextricably embedded in this world of others that what the people around us do shapes each of us: recent studies (such as Christakis and Fowler's Connected) show how all kinds of things spread through our social connections. If one of my friends gains weight, drinks or smokes, I'm more likely to do so, too. Ditto less serious things such as the clothes we wear and the music we listen to. And these effects seem to work across two or three steps of acquaintance – so even if you and I never meet, what happens to you can touch my life directly. Like it or not, we're in it together. It's mutual.'

Perhaps the most vital thing is to focus on 'being the change you want to see in the world' (Gandhi), create opportunities to meet-up with other people, share what you can with them and have confidence that the effects will ripple outwards.

23rd January - 26th February 10 Reconnecting

One consequence of having to slow down was that I realised how chronically exhausted I felt. I know lots of wonderful practices for boosting energy and well-being but they'd been squeezed out by trying to take on too much and having to deal with some very stressful situations. Cue another Leonardo quote:

"I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do"

So I'm devoting the next month to establishing a more self-sustaining routine by working through 'The Source' - a 21 day program by Dr Woodson Merrell which encompasses diet, exercise, relaxation and spiritual connection. I'll report back later!

16-22nd January 10 Tempo giusto

Everything is getting back to normal but hopefully the past couple of weeks have helped us to get in touch with our 'tempo giusto' - as Carl Honore explains in 'In Praise of Slow':

'The Slow philosophy can be summed up in a single word: balance. Be fast when it makes sense to be fast, and be slow when slowness is called for. Seek to live at what musicians call the tempo giusto -- the right speed.'

It's describing a way of being rather the pace at which you act, so even when you are rushing to meet a deadline you can choose to maintain a 'Slow' frame of mind.

'Fast is busy, controlling, aggressive, hurried, analytical, stressed, superficial, impatient, active, quantity-over-quality. Slow is the opposite: calm, careful, receptive, still, intuitive, unhurried, patient, reflective, quality-over-quantity. It is about making real and meaningful connections -- with people, culture, work, food, everything.'

One way to cultivate it is through 'mindfulness', a Buddhist meditation practice where you pay attention to the present moment with your whole mind and heart, using the full resources of your body and senses. It's about becoming fully awake rather than caught up in past memories or future imaginings and 'wise doing', a doing that emerges and flows out of the domain of being. I can't say I've mastered it but life's always better when I try to put it into practice!

9-15 January 10 Big Freeze continues

It's amazing to find a week later that there's still snow on the ground, though the thaw has started and the boys have (reluctantly!) been back at school for two days. We're thankful that we got through the fortnight with no power cuts, burst pipes or injuries and we've been able to walk to everywhere we needed to get to so didn't have to join the grid-locked traffic. We didn't want to add to the reported surge in carbon emissions from home heating so have piled on the layers and just had the heating on for a couple of hours morning and evening and found most rooms have stayed warm enough. The batch cooking is working well and I've been making big vats of soup, vegetable bolognaise and curry to cut down time spent in kitchen (which is coldest room as not double-glazed - I've actually been enjoying washing up to warm my hands!). Compared to the tragic devastation in Haiti, our minor inconveniences are just so insignificant and the resilience they must need to keep going when they've lost so much brings everything into perspective.

I've been spending some time researching mandalas. I'd been aware of their spiritual use but am learning more about Swiss psychologist Carl Jung's research on the healing effect of creating your own. Sounds like being an interesting way of working on Sensazione, Connessione and Arte/Scienza. I think in a way my garden has been like creating a mandala and I'm finding some of the shapes and colour combinations which I was unconsciously drawn to using because they 'felt' right, have a meaning, so it's going to fascinating to explore and reflect on it.

1-8 January 10 Snowed In

An unusual week as the whole of the UK has been covered in a thick blanket of snow which has meant my husband has been working from home and my children have had 'snow days' from school so I've been at the back of the queue for the computer and unable to update the website - so apologies again! My favorite commentary of the week has come from Naja Hendricksen, an Inuit student studying in the UK, who wrote a piece in The Guardian about how funny she finds our reaction to snow:

"My English friends think this is a really big deal – but it's more that things stop working because here you have to be on time all the time. In Greenland we're more relaxed about how nature works. If you want to travel abroad your plane can be delayed for 10 hours before you get too concerned about it. You reach Europe and they complain about a 10-minute delay. We have a word for it: sila, which I guess means forces of nature. You can't complain about that – it happens. In Greenland, there's no illusion that humans are not just part of nature – it's easy to forget that in the city."

I think the best part of the experience is that it's brought home to people that you can't fight natural forces and they've had to slow down and change their plans. A friend had a power cut for three days which made us realise how unprepared we were, so we bought a little trangia camping stove and some candles and made sure we had a stock of easy to cook food. Most of the house is well insulated but the icy winds are helping us find the weak spots we need to work on. It's been good to be forced to assess how resilient we'd be if all the services we take for granted suddenly stopped. I also love the way you see the world afresh as the familiar is transformed into something new and strange, like these wooden sculptures in the park.

15 November - 31 December 09 Resolutions

We've had such a busy time at work that this blog has fallen by the wayside for the past month - apologies! We've been doing our best to keep up the good habits and resist all the commercial pressures of Christmas. Our resolution for the New Year is to start working on embracing the Da Vincian Principles.

8-14 November 09 Food first

Until we can afford the more expensive investments, we're going to look at what smaller changes we can make. We're already pretty conscientious about switching lights off and not leaving equipment on standby etc, so we'll need to find other ways of reducing. We're going to start by looking at our eating habits. We're already all vegetarian, in my case since my teens. My husband was a confirmed meat eater when we married but decided a few years ago to try being vegetarian for a month and has never looked back. The boys both chose to become vegetarian as soon as they were old enough to decide for themselves. The next step is to move towards a vegan diet, so we're going to start with trying one fully vegan day a week and work up from that.

We already think about the footprint of the food we buy and choose organic and local when they're available but will make a greater effort to find more local sources. We've been delighted with our first year of productive gardening and should be able to build on that experience and grow more next year. We don't buy much processed foods but there is scope to cut back further. We produce very little food waste and compost all of it using a green cone and compost bin. One area where we think we could improve is cooking methods, so we're going to try to do more batch cooking and to favour meals which require minimal cooking time and washing up e.g. pasta and stir-frys. It is hard to restrict your choice when you don't need to but if we will eventually have to make reductions of around 80%, it seems to make sense to introduce the changes gradually so that it doesn't all come as a big shock.

1-7 November 09 Our current footprint

We measured our current carbon footprint using Energy Savings Trust Carbon Cutter and our ecological footprint using the Ecological Footprint Quiz

Our carbon footprint was 2.94 for home emissions, 1.83 for appliances and 0.17 for travel, making a combined 4.94 tonnes per year. Our main problems seem to be that we have an old gas boiler, older less efficient fridge and freezer models, no dishwasher and that we're not generating any of our own energy using renewable technologies. We'll have to give this some serious thought though we are uneasy about becoming greener by buying more stuff when the existing is working well - certainly not buying a dishwasher - no room! Generating our own energy is definitely something we want to start doing so our priority is to find out what would be most effective for us. The aim for the year is to reduce total to 3 tonnes

Our ecological footprint was 1.34 earths, below average but still a long way to go.

26-31 October 09 Clearing the clutter

We're having a de-cluttering week, emptying out all the cupboards and only putting back things we're currently using or will definitely need in the future. It's very difficult to let go of some items that hold memories but seeing the amount we've accumulated laid out on the floor is encouraging us to be ruthless! We've started with the boys' rooms and they've both been so pleased with all the space it's created that they've wanted to let most of it go. As we've started our 10:10 challenge, it would be nice to have collectively de-accumulated by at least 10% by the end of the week but I'm going to find it hardest, particularly with my books!

Leonardo offers some pertinent observations on materialism:

"He who possesses most is most afraid to lose"

"To the ambitious, whom neither the boon of life, nor the beauty of the world suffice to content, it comes as a penance that life with them is squandered, and that they possess neither the benefits nor the beauty of the world"

With 10:10 in mind, we've also opted to use trains rather than the car for our traveling this week. I took the train to Woking for the Leonardo exhibition on Monday. The journey time was probably twice as long but I was able to relax and read on the way and there was no hassle finding somewhere to park. Went to Portsmouth by train on Thursday with Charlie and we played cards and enjoyed the scenery - much more fun than driving.

It's been a pretty exhausting week but we feel like we're making progress. We repainted the boys' rooms with Dulux Ecosure Matt which was great to use and gave a beautiful finish.