Slow Living 2013 - June

This post is part of the Slow Living month-by-month series, which you can read about here. I'm not a regular poster on this but drop in when I can.

{NOURISH} My diet has taken another giant leap towards 'real' food - you know, the kind your grandmother would recognise. This is partly because during my first month at my new job I put on 2kg, so I'm trying to get back down to my normal weight. A key part of this has been eating yoghurt for breakfast every morning - natural, organic plain yoghurt with fresh fruit and a sprinkling of nuts and seeds. Yummy! I'm also eating more salad lunches, and much more fruit during the day. Feeling super fit!

{PREPARE} My first ever attempt at marmalade! I haven't tried it out yet because I haven't baked bread all month (part of my weight loss attempt!) but I'm looking forward to treating myself with homemade bread and marmalade one Sunday morning.

{REDUCE} I turned some purple buttons and beads into a new pair of cufflinks for this lovely shirt, which I haven't worn for ages because the old cufflinks were so dire. I've also turned some old fabric langouring in my stash into cleaning cloths - I bought it years ago at the begining of my sewing journey and its a nasty synthetic fabric that I just won't use for anything next to skin, but it seemed the perfect opportunity to practice using my new sewing machine.

{GREEN} Homemade hand cream and another attempt at the Oil Cleansing Method. I am so in love with the handcream that I've bought a silicon muffin mould to make body lotion bars with. Still using homemade cleaners everywhere and still loving them.

{GROW} Alas, still no progress on this...

{CREATE} I made a pair of pajama bottoms! Seriously comfy... Currently on my knitting needles: half a sock. I'm trying to make up my mind which heel method I prefer.

{DISCOVER} This month, I have made my first attempts at a hand-stitched buttonhole. I have a lovely shirt in the cupboard with uninspired faded-yellow buttons - I've bought some lovely new ones but they are too big for the buttonholes so I will need to redo these. This attempt couldn't possibly be made without stopping to reread the chapter 'Bread and Buttonholes' in L M Alcott's Eight Cousins.

I have also started taking some free online courses through Coursera, which I thoroughly recommend. (Thanks Ingrid for introducing me to it!)

{ENHANCE} My knitting group has stopped meeting over a dispute with the cafe owner but this is just as well, as I would never be able to go with the kind of hours at my new job. Does the job count as community? I'm certainly making lots of new friends!

{ENJOY}So many moments of joy that I couldn't possibly share them all. Perhaps it is worth noting that I have begun to savour and even enjoy household chores that previously were a hassle - the evening's washing up is a moment to meditate on the day, or put on some music and dance like a crazy person; the ironing is a comforting evening activity, helping me wind down from the day much more than the tv does. Does anyone else find this, or am I really a bit odd?