Ten things

In the process of moving over my old blog posts to this one, I had to read through each one and recategorise them. I spent two hours reading through what amounts to a diary of three of the most turbulent, change filled, exciting years of my life. It was back in 2010 that we really began to knuckle down and think about what we wanted in life, having started the process a few years earlier before the Credit Crunch hit.

When I started blogging back in 2010:

1. We were in debt. We are now in credit to almost double that debt amount and we put a set amount aside without fail each month. We have a budget that covers everything and we mostly stick to it.

2. We regularly used to run out of basics and be caught unawares by short term changes. We now keep a store of three months worth of basics and try to have something to harvest from the garden allotment during the warmer months. This year we hope to make that a year round deal.

 
3. We had made a couple of batches of beer from kits and a few not great wines. We are now almost self sufficient in beer brewed from grain and fruit wines. Next up - cider!

4. We regularly used to run out of basics and end up buying expensive basics from The Coop. We now keep a store cupboard with a few months worth of essentials and keep our total food budget around £200 each month.

5. We had a small yard that frustrated our limited gardening abilities. We now have that yard, an allotment, our street frontage and a whole community in which to further expand our horticultural skills.

6. I had never made compost. We now have three compost bins and I love dirt as much as life itself.

7. I couldn't spin. I can now spin. I can also follow almost any knitting or crochet pattern, if I am not winging it and making it up as I go along.

8. We had far too much stuff and a messy house. We now have half the amount of stuff and a tidier, more peaceful home - and it is getting better every day. We also seem to get twice as much fun stuff done these days.
 
9. I was an introverted homebody with few links in my local community. I am now an introverted homebody who is also involved with two different community organizations.

10. My predominant motivation was fear - fear for what the future may bring, of climate change, peak oil and financial Armageddon. I still believe all that is happening, but I do what I do because I LOVE to do it. The future looks pretty rosy when you are harvesting tomatoes, making chutney, knitting your winter socks, planning community gardens and making stew from your stock cupboard. Those things just happen to make us more resilient human beings too.

When I started writing a blog, I also didn't think anyone would actually read it! Thank you all for reading and commenting. I love writing this blog too! And thank you for writing your own wonderful blogs and sharing your projects, successes, failures, fears and dreams too.

*Edited due to ditziness - Yes, I realize I put the food cupboard in there twice... because over the last three years my brain has nodded off a bit too. Because the real number 4 was of course, that we were the hapless, overtired parents of a 20 month old boy. And now of course we are the tired, less hapless parents of a preschooler and a toddler - and lack of sleep does nothing for your blog post editing skills, even if you have the parenting lark mostly covered ; )*