Can You Spot the Well? and Simple Living

Taking advantage of a brief burst of sunshine amidst an otherwise wet and dismal weekend, I took a picture of the Well opposite our house. It looks so quaint at this time of year with all the greenery surrounding it and the hostas filling out on the bank. Can you see the Well? It's in the dark hole to the right of the stone wall at the back of the gravel path. It doesn't look like how you would imagine a well to be. It's not very deep but always has clear, fresh water in it up to the same level and it was in use by the houses in our street in living memory. Our neighbour still uses it to water the garden. Turn completely around in the opposite direction and there's the front of my house with my tomato plants (in the pots either side of the bench surrounded by Busy Lizzies) and my lettuce leaves beginning to shoot (the taller pot in the shadow). This is part of my effort to live more simply/healthily and spend less money.

On the subject of Simple Living, I've made a list of aims that come to mind and once again will list them here as a reminder. Some of them are very simple actions but things I aim to do none the less:

- Start a spending record book in June 09 to get a picture of where our money is going.
- Grow lettuce, tomatoes, something else (maybe radish) in pots (husband plants the garden) Water and feed regularly.
- Cut down grocery/household spending (Spending on this was slowly creeping up and it wasn’t just the increase in prices. I wasn’t putting enough thought into what I was buying. I’ve already cut down by about 20% a week and hope to reduce further.)
- Pick Blueberries before they fall off or birds get them (maybe cover until ready – this should be the first year we get more than half a dozen berries)
- Don’t waste produce from garden (preserve in some way or give away surplus)
- Simple pleasures (free activities, pastimes)
- Visit library (buy fewer books/magazines)
- Read books that I already have.
- Make money from crafting (including saving by making homemade presents)
- Continue adding to £2 saver jar
- Start selling clutter/unwanted items/books on ebay/Amazon/Green Metropolis
- Downshifting in general (get into a new mindset of not needing to buy things, although I’ve never been one to want the latest gadgets or designer clothes etc)
- Try to keep up with doing more of my own ironing (I pay a friend to do it quite often as it’s the one job I never seem to have time to do)
- Cut down on the amount I eat!! Sometimes I eat when I’m not hungry and just because I like food and like eating. I don’t need to lose weight but this is still a wasteful, unnecessary habit.

I'm sure there must be more to add if I keep thinking but if I waited until I've thought of everything I'd never finish the list. I wish I knew how to add a separate page to my blog to list these and update them more easily. If anyone reads this and knows how to do that, I'd be grateful for the information.

A start has been made on some of the list as you saw from the photo. The tomatoes and lettuce are well on the way, the blueberry bushes and strawberry plants have been covered to protect from birds and I've started a spending diary. The spending diary's been a bit of an eye opener. It's surprising how much it adds up although there are a couple of out of the ordinary largish spends that are unlikely to be repeated after this month, so maybe this wasn't a good time to start this.

Anyway, I'm pleased to be on the way with these aims although I won't be able to devote as much time to it as I'd like until my work situation changes.

Wishing you a good week
Bye for now
Teresa x