Catching up: blogging, gardening, minimalism, essential oils and shampoo

Alright finally, actually sitting down and putting thoughts on paper (digital paper that is). I’m sure I’m not the only amateur out there who thinks about what they want to blog but never seems to be able to find the right time to actually sit down and type out what I want to say. So now I’m behind and have multiple things that I wish I would have written about but didn’t and probably did the laundry or swept the floor instead. Consider this my catch up post.

Homesteading, living simply and close to nature are all things that I really love learning about and since my last post I’ve been able to dabble in a few new ventures. Firstly my dear husband built me a beautiful 14 foot raised garden bed in the backyard and while it’s only the middle of June my garden is turning out so far so good. I am pleased to say that the tomato plants all have flowers on them, my onions are growing like crazy, the carrots have at least 2 inches of tops already and I have more than one seed potato that looks like it is actually going to form a plant! For my first time looking after a garden I’m calling that pretty good.

Another gardening bucket list item that got crossed off my list this year was to start a raspberry patch in our backyard. Just last weekend now I dug up some of the new shoots from my in-laws patch and transplanted them into the bare patch I cleaned out last year. About half of the plants are really wilted and look like they probably won’t make it (perhaps we didn’t get enough roots?) but the other half of our transplants are looking really good. Is it premature to hope that I may get at least a couple of berries next summer?

Inside the house I have discovered that it does seem completely possible to have a minimalist wardrobe in Manitoba. When I first started watching Ted Talks about these incredible people who can get by on only 12 articles of clothing I thought it would never work for those of us living in 4 distinct seasons, especially those of us who either live on a farm or have a portion of their job that keeps them outside in all conditions but also have to be fairly presentable on office days. But if delving into the world of maternity and nursing clothes has taught me anything it is that if you really really want to, you can get by with just a couple short sleeve tops, a couple long sleeves and some tights. My son is over 6 months now and that, plus a few additional items that are also appropriate nursing attire, is what I have been wearing since I got to big to wear “normal” clothes any longer. Who knew that being too cheap to buy an entire maternity wardrobe would be what made a believer out of me? Now that I know it’s possible it really makes me want to go through everything else I own again and ask myself, “Will the minimalist, simple living, mom version of me ever really wear this again?” I bet I could get my wardrobe back down to fitting in one dresser!! Someone hold me to this so I actually remember to do it!

I have now entered into the world of essential oils. Almost a month ago now I bought the Young Living essential oils starter pack and a jug of their laundry soap. I mostly just wanted to try the laundry soap but the member price is way cheaper than retail and a lot of the DIY recipes I want to try in the future involve some essential oil so I splurged. It was close to Mother’s Day anyways. First time using the diffuser had to turn it down to the lowest setting and open a window because it got pretty potent. And any laundry detergent that can get my cloth diapers clean without chemicals is pretty cool. We’ll probably have to come back to the topic of oils in a future post.

Also still on the natural shampoo journey but I have at least for the time being given up on making my own. I tried a second recipe with all kinds of good stuff coconut oil, vitamin E, Castile soap, essential oils but I just found that I couldn’t get it to rinse out of my hair. I know there’s supposed to be a transition period and all but this was really bad! Like I washed my hair in the evening and the next morning it still looked like I’d just stepped out of the shower! So I took the advice of a hair dresser bought some stuff at the salon. I’m currently trying AG hair, they’re natural line. It’s supposed to be 98% plant based and actually makes my hair look clean and healthy. So far happy.
There, now your all caught up and I can renew my effort of trying to make blogging a regular habit.