well, the title of this post pretty much covers it. I am thinking of trying out a small business selling hand made baby slings and wrap carriers, and possibly also baby clothes made to fit over cloth nappies. The idea is that these will be one of a kind fashion pieces made from new and recycled materials--basically things I already make for myself. I often get positive comments on my creations so I thought I would try making some to sell. Etsy seems like the perfect place to give this a go since there is no need to pre-make large amounts of stock and I can just make whatever I have time and energy for and go from there.

I have lots of ideas for stuff to make, however, I am kind of stuck for a name. I am looking for something that is fitting to the baby wear/baby wearing things I am producing, but hoping for something that also conveys fashion and art rather than cutesy. Feel free to throw in as many suggestions as you like--go wild--it is all arbitrary atm 'cause I haven't actually made anything yet :)

hearing the splat of a baby spitting up over your shoulder and onto the floor and thinking 'by the sound of it that probably missed me entirely, right? right?'

possibly an unusual request--well, unusual for me anyway.

perhaps because of the recent dust invasion or possibly for some other reason, every piece of fabric around here now feels like it is dry, crusty and covered in chalk dust. Some of you may already know how big a problem this is for me, if not, well more on that in a different locked post later, but for now let me just say it is a big problem.

So... is there some kind of fabric conditioner/moisturiser I can use that is virtually scent free? Even regular washing powder usually makes me nauseated, so scent is an important consideration. I recently read about using vinegar to soften nappies that have gone crusty--anyone tried it?

The best advice I have found so far about converting to a vego diet has come from a booklet I got from the vegetarian society, titled 'Go Vegetarian!'. There is an article in it called 'A Simple 3 Step Way to Go Vegetarian' that says that the average family actually only eats 8 or 9 different dinners repeatedly. While our family probably has a bit more variety than average (as I am sure is true for my foodie friends as well) it is true that we definitely have favourites that we eat repeatedly, so the suggestion of starting out with a list of 9 easy dinner recipes sounds quite practical.

The authors (Lehman and Berriman) suggest these three steps:

1. Think of 3 vegetarian meals you already enjoy.

2. Think of 3 meals you already cook that you could replace the meat with a plant source, like lentils, tofu or TVP*.

3. Look through some cook books and find another 3 recipes that look good to you.

And put like that it seems pretty easy too.


( Some answers off the top of my head... )

There are two goals I have for the rest of this year*. By the start of next year I would like to have transitioned to a vegetarian/almost vegan diet** and also transitioned to a completely open source computer environment.

The first is the trickiest, I would like to go veganish for a few reasons, first and foremost commercial animal farming is just so far away from my value system that I really can't justify the mistreatment of animals for my personal benefit. Secondly the positive environmental impact I could make by going animal free is pretty huge. Thirdly I am interested in at least trialing it as a health alternative.

At this stage I am willing to give it a go and see what happens, though I am not going to be too hard on myself if I can't make it work, I know it is going to be challenging as it will also need to be a wheat free soy free diet, and I also need to be careful about salicylates, amines and msg. In truth I am concerned that I am just not healthy enough yet to be a vegetarian.


With the open source thing, that is something I have wanted to do for a while and really I think the only way to do it is by just doing it. My current plan is to buy myself a cheap new laptop (at this stage looks like probably something like this) and start from scratch. Happy to listen to better ideas/options though, it is all pretty new to me :)



*well, okay, I have heaps of goals, but two that I am particularly interested in talking about right now :)

**vegan but making exceptions for eggs that come from my back yard.

Now that the baby is here and happy I am starting to think about putting plans into action so that I can return to (or indeed join) the paid workforce sometime in the future. The main part of my plan is to finish my PhD by the end of the year and most likely starting with part time work at the beginning of next year. I have been pretty sure for a while now that I would like to do some kind of teaching, so I am mostly considering options that lead there.

( Read more... )

I managed to get a hold of an interlibrary loan copy of Woman on the Edge of Time and am about 10 pages from finishing and being able to join the discussion. Wow, but for now let me say that the book could do with about a page and a half of trigger warnings! I think I may be a little desensitized now that I am coming to the end of it, but the first chapter hit me pretty hard.

I have also managed to get an interlibrary loan of Octavia Butler's Lilith's Brood--would people be interested in reading this one as the next text and discussing it here in a months time?

Am now twittering. I am enjoying it, it is an interesting new world. I can see it has all the capacity for crazy making and short attention span inducement that was feared about the introduction of video clips and MTV. My rain feels a little scrambled just trying to follow the information flows. I think a certain amount of zen is needed--an ability to let go of what has already gone and just go with what is happening in the moment--I think I kind of like that.

Something that is also interesting is that I feel a willingness to follow people I don't actually know (with lj I generally read journals of people I would be likely to talk to in person). I have found myself following Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman and it feels perfectly appropriate and non-stalkery because of the medium, yet still very personal. Any recommendations of people I have never met that I might enjoy not-stalking on twitter?

I am also interested to know what applications people use to tweet. I can see how the whole thing might be more fun and useful if I tweet from my phone, you know, when I am actually out doing stuff. Do people just use the direct sms number that is on the twitter FAQ page? Or is there a better way to do it? I have the basics set up now, any recommendations on what fun stuff I might like to do next?

I am considering trying out twitter (which means I will probably give it a go, because, you know, why not, and if it turns out it is all too much I can just stop I guess :) ).

Do you tweet? What do you love about it?

ETA: am now tweeting as sajbrfem (sajbrfem jones), friend me or follow me or tweet me or whatever it is one does there if you dare*


*and of course by "dare" I mean "are interested in my choice of breakfast etc"

Today I am grateful for:

Bicarb soda (believe it or not this stuff has helped me out a lot)

Chickens!

Eggs!

My gluten free, egg, mushroom and onion pizza that is in the oven and 5 minutes away from being eaten

The Simpsons (that I am about to watch while eating the above mentioned pizza)

And five other things that I will possibly tell you about after I finish watching the above mentioned Simpsons and eating the above mentioned pizza :)

Today I am grateful for:

Transport of all kinds (how amazing is it that I can get to so many places in just one day in a way that would be impossible for my ancestors--no, really, thinking about this has been doing my head in this morning!);

Plastic (now, I am not a fan of plastic toys and other household items, but how fantastic is it to have disposable medical equipment and stuff like that?*)

The Internet (I love you internet *hugs internet*)

Happy waking up noises coming from my daughters bedroom (not exactly sure what she is doing, but it sounds like she is pretty happy doing it so that is alright by me :) )

The beautiful red blanket, knitted by grouchygirl with help from J,D and T, that my baby is currently snuggled up in (so soft and beautiful!)

The Northey St city farm (I just love the atmosphere here--the entire place seems to be built on love and good will)

Chocolate

My able bodied privilege, (let me not take it for granted and enjoy it while I've got it)

Accessible public education

Rain

***

*Answer: pretty damn awesome!

Today's list of things I am grateful for*:

The way child no.1 interacts lovingly and gently with child no.2;
Mynxii, for going so far out of her way to come over and help me when I needed it;
Perfect_Entropy for getting completely involved in hypnobirthing;
Calli and her support through the virtual world;
Mangoes;
Spring! And flowers!!;
Readily available clean running water;
Tea in a never ending variety of flavours;
The written word;
Boobies!



*I am still grateful for all the things I mentioned yesterday, but for this exercise I am going to list completely new things each day.

Part of my weekly planning (using the Covey, 7 habits, system) is to plan an activity for each of the 4 life enriching areas--physical, mental, spiritual and emotional/social.

This week I have been thinking about activities that fit in the 'spiritual' sector and it occurred to me that gratitude is a very spiritual activity. Formal gratefulness of some kind or other seems to be common to most religions and philosophies of happiness.

So for my spiritual activity this week I am going to list 10 things per day that I am grateful for, and it seemed like an activity worth sharing.

Here is today's list.

I am grateful for:
my family;
my friends;
accessible, affordable health care;
abundantly available fresh food;
the amusing facial expressions my baby makes during REM sleep;
ABC kids TV;
LJ;
the beautiful house that we are privileged to live in;
my delightful sub-tropical garden; and
the delicious smell of lamb and sweet potato soup emerging from the slow cooker.

Practicing concentrated healing thoughts for MikeyOb this morning. And sending love to all his family and friends.

Home from hospital, a few quick things to say before bed and more details to come later.

• Baby born early sunday afternoon--absolutely beautiful, healthy, happy and wonderful
  
• Birth experience fantastic
  
• Husband, midwife, and birth support team just amazing
  
• Feeling great, health wise everything went really well for me with the exception of some chest pain and shortness of breath after the birth, which meant we were kept in over night for observation and testing
  
• Tests showed no blood clots in lungs or heart problems which needed to be ruled out after above mentioned chest pains
  
• In another 4 hours I will be considered un-radioactive enough to feed and touch the baby again (okay, that bit has sucked a lot, and there was much upsetting conversation that led up to me accepting the tests, but baby has now slept through most of my 12 hour isolation period so it has gone better than expected)
  
• It is really good to be home again.
  

Woke up at about six this morning with a very definite labour surge. Have had nothing regular or quite as big as that since, but lots of small interesting ones. So maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe sometime next week still, who knows.

I am finding this very slow but definitely increasing build-up interesting, it is like everyday something more happens and I think ooh, this could be it, but then there is even more the next day, so I am now not really reading anything as actually meaning anything. That is to say that it is all kind of interesting, but nothing is really definitive. It is kind of like that saying 'never say anything to indicate a woman is pregnant unless you can actually see a head emerging', I think I will wait until I can see (or feel) a head emerge before I decide it is really happening. And anyway, how awesome would it be to be one of those people that don't know they are in labour and/or pregnant until suddenly a baby pops out? Sounds like a nice easy way to do it* :)

Well, over the course of writing this it feels like things have settled down a bit, so I think we will head over to the markets for a lovely relaxing coffee (decaf) and Jamaican breakfast under the trees, followed by a delicious sugarcane juice. I am really looking forward to sharing the under tree market with mynxii, I think after this she will never actually want to leave west end.

I think I will definitely get A to drive us though--I am getting to the stage of where I am thinking if I drive somewhere I may not be able to make it back under my own steam :)




*ETA: no, actually that would likely be pretty traumatic, and probably induce physical shock. But, you know, as a potentially labouring woman's fantasy I am sure you can see the appeal.

Still comfortably wrapped in tummy. Still feeling imminent. Still have that special, pre-period feeling happening.

Eating buckwheat pancakes and drinking madagascan vanilla tea with honey and soy milk. Yum!

Hello people, haven't done much blogging lately, been, well, kind of introspective and baby focused.

Baby is now officially overdue--by my counting due on the 12th, by most recent (apparently far more reliable) ultrasound due on the 17th.

I find it interesting that last week I was very keen and excited and almost anxious for everything to start happening, and kind of disappointed each day when it didn't. But now that both dates have passed I feel far less attached to any particular day and am much more relaxed about it and ready to let things happen when they happen.

( That said, today or tomorrow is now looking very likely. )

Peggy at Biology in Science Fiction has put up a post hosting the discussion on Woman on the Edge of Time over here.

Comments are open to anyone - if people want to link back to their DW or LJ accounts they can use the OpenID option.

Thanks Peggy!

While you are there check out the rest of her blog, it's a great blog on a topic that I think a lot of my reading list/f-list will be interested in.

I just realised I have (gently) pointed the finger in several directions recently and said to various people "remember to look after yourself first--you need to look after yourself before you can look after anyone else".

Note to others: remember to look after yourself, it is important to fit your own oxygen mask first!

Note to self: the advice most often given to others is probably the most relevant to the self.

:)

Just saying.