Belinda Moore

Jo suggested I do a guest post for her popular Quirky Cooking blog to compare storage solutions for bulk food purchases this week.

Storage Tips for Bulk Buying is my post.

It follows on from Jo’s Bulk Food Buying and Co-Ops.

And if you haven’t checked out Jo’s Quirky Cooking blog, I highly recommend it!

AT HOME: I felt like brightening up our surrounds this New Year.  And since it was never good weather for painting these past months, I bought new linen for most of the beds, and some new towels and kitchen linen.  I bought a new chair for the loungeroom, and replaced the last of the floral curtains in the entrance/dining/study area with fresh, clean blinds.  I also sewed some red curtains for Brit’s caravan and changed a couple of rooms around!  I just received a chest of cane drawers (in a timber frame) to use as a phone table/junk storage area.  It replaces what must have been the ugliest phone table on earth (chipboard/contact/gold trim) and I’m rapt.  I also tidied out a lot of cupboards and got rid of some extra things - which always makes me feel lighter!

A new book available from Spiral Garden

AT WORK: Spiral Garden has had its ups and downs this wet season, with continual rain, roads closed, freight delayed (and some lost), etc.  We are enjoying a change in direction though and now have in stock a good range of gardening items - seeds, books, tools, pots etc and an increased range of homeschooling titles as well.

I have been extra busy with my community work, LETS is really taking off and we are holding frequent events across the region.

I haven’t been doing any writing apart from blog posts (mostly the Simple Green Frugal Co-op blog).  There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours to write lately.  Hopefully with the cooler weather I’ll catch up.

Galangal from Greenharvest

ON THE FARM: I posted about my garden and Cyclone Yasi on the Home Grown blog.  We also farewelled Honey the heifer last month, she has gone to live with our friends about 40 mintues away.

Immi’s horse Chilli passed away last week.  He had been unwell with big head (Bran’s disease) since we got him, but this summer just got worse quickly.  He was only young, so it was sad to lose him already.  Rosie, the mare, is beside herself.

I am still milking Lucy, just getting 6L a day.  She’s overdue for AI so I’ve been charting cycles!

A kiss goodbye from Honey

HOME ED: We aren’t doing many extra activities this year - mostly just home ed group.  At home ed group, we’ve done some craft, swimming, had a St Pat’s Day celebration and more.  We’re currently planning a fun-filled Term 2.

We’ve been working on the Dolch word list for spelling, which is going really well.  Lily is reading a lot more, and always writing messages, notes and letters.  Lily and Heath did a couple of art classes not long ago, which they really enjoyed.  We’ve had more time to catch up with friends now we’re not always running back and forth to different classes.  Immi and Abby are still doing two shifts a week at the local small supermarket, and Brit is enjoying her chef apprenticeship.

SUMMER 2010-11

I travelled to… town and back, town and back!  We haven’t been many places - Atherton, Lake Eacham, Ravenshoe, Yungaburra.  Oh, and Ingham, in January!

I listened to… rain on the roof!

I read… There’s a Cow in my Garden and heaps of old magazines - Owner Builder, Warm Earth etc that I got from LETS.

I watched… a good doco recently - Food Matters.  Part of our Movies that Matter series.

I wore… headbands a lot, as I am not coping with my new haircut - longer hair with a pony tail was so easy!

I planned… a holiday at Airlie Beach later this year.

I celebrated… Xmas with all the Smith clan, a 70th, a 60th, a 21st.  My baby turned seven.

I dreamed of… blue skies.

Me

Cross-posted from the Simple Green Frugal Co-op Blog

Collaborative Consumption Groundswell Video from rachel botsman on Vimeo.

Interested in joining this movement? It’s not just goods which can be exchanged, services are equally swap-able. Here is just a sample of the initiatives thriving worldwide right now -

A to Z Barter
AirBnb
Alternative Currencies
Babysitting Clubs
Bartercard
Barter Bank
Book Crossing
BookMooch
Community Exchange System
Couchsurfing
Food Swap
Freecycle
Friends with Things
Garden Share
Home Exchange
Landshare
Lending Club
LETS Australia
OzRecycle
Small Mart
Swap.com
thredUP
Shared Earth
Urban Garden Share
WhatsOnMyBookshelf
Zilok
Zipcar

And don’t forget local city libraries and toy libraries, seed bank groups, community gardens and textbook exchanges. Do you know of a fantastic collaborative consumption opportunity? Please share a link in the Comments section!