Things Making Me Smile

I know that I have neglected this little space a lot lately but it is always at the back of my mind. I feel as though I have this internal monologue, drafting posts in my head as I collect an egg, knead some dough or plant seeds in the garden beds.

I like to think that I am a 'glass half full' kinda person so thought I would share some of those little moments that have brought a smile to my face over the last few weeks.

• Swapping some homemade bread and yoghurt for some homemade ANZACs with Mum. 
• Morning beach fishing with my Dad and the littlest mouse. Is there any better place to be than the beach at dawn, especially with a couple of ANZAC biscuits for breakfast.

• Opening the latest copy of Green Lifestyle Magazine to see an article about the inspirational Gavin from The Greening of Gavin.  
• Reading the fabulous book The Idle Parent by Tom Hodgkinson. I first came across Tom Hodgkinson at the Etsy conference in Berlin in 2011. I thoroughly enjoyed his talk and went straight out and bought a couple of his books. Mr Mouse read these immediately but it took me a little longer to get around to it. 

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• An early morning visit to the local farmers' market to get the fruit for the new school term. So many familiar faces and that great sense of community. It's always great to have an chat with The Big Issue vendor Sean.  I was also pretty excited to see that the kieffer pears are back in season. Yum.
• Watching the kiddoes putting up the tent in the backyard. I just put the bag out where they could see but I said nothing. It was a bit of a The Idle Parent moment, watching them sort it out themselves and not wanting or needing adult assistance. This became a second home over the Easter long weekend.
• I came across a fabulous video via Gavin's Facebook page. We all watched it over and over and over. The littlest mouse in our house even went out to see if it could be recreated here. No luck.

I hope you notice those moments that make you smile.

Take care

Australian Made?

I came across this Choice quiz about food labeling in Australia and thought you might like to have a go.

You don't need to fill out any forms or submit your email address like on some quizzes.

I am embarrassed to say that I scored a big fat zero. I think I was a little naive (or hopeful) with some of my answers.

I hope you do better than me.

Take care.

It's a Good Time to Try Something New

We have been living out of a backpack now for just over three weeks and tomorrow we start a bit more of a settled existence. (More to come on that later).

While doing some general web surfing over at TED talks, which I just love do to, I came across this video by Matt Cutts.

It was a great reminder that time can just slip by if you allow yourself to just do the same old thing day in, day out. This is certainly what I had been doing before this trip. I have decided that between now and the end of the week I need to decide on something new that I am going to try for 30 days. It may even be something as simple as read a book a week or learn to cook some new foods. I could even settle on learning a new word each day to help me get by in the new country.

Anyone care to join me on a 30 day challenge?

Take care