2011 leaves with a Shake... so what will 2012 begin with?...

2011 is leaving.
Well, ceasing. And The Bitch doesnt want to leave us without a decent farewell - We got that!
Today we had a 4.82 that the USGS recorded as a 5.2! Some serious shaking, more damage for some, liquefaction for others - us, the lucky ones, just a stern reminder that Mother Nature Lives Beneath.
After a drive yesterday, we realised sadly, that yes, there are changes being made in Canterbury, but our neighbourhood is now looking like a series of country lanes, empty houses on funny angles, broken bits and bumpy gravel roads and neglected spaces where gardens still bloom regardless. Sad and Forgotten for the most part. The people who drive by, are just there just to look, to Thank God, maybe, that it isnt them?  and then they drive back from whence they came.

Did the Mayans truly predict that The World Might End in 2012? Im sure the Mayan who was in charge of writing the numbers at the time, lost count of where he was, and then decided, he had to go to the bathroom. When he arrived back, he looked at what he was writing (The Calendar) and shrugged... Meh. It seemed like a good thing to do at the time, but Im over it... and off he went to lunch. Never would he ever guess that he left us all hanging...
Ok, so thats not it at all, but we will never know :-)
Im picking The Changes that are spoke of,  have begun already. Theres an air of unrest right around the world.  Chaotic Economic changes, Natural Change, More water, less food, more people, Earthquakes, Floods, Famine. Civilization is Changing.
It is all part of an energy that means we MUST assimilate Change - Into our lives, our homes, the way we educate our children, technology, it all will change.
Change never happens without some sort of negativity or positivity to activate it. We need to get used to the changes, and its tough!
Its what they say - What doesnt Kill Us, Makes Us Stronger.
Im about as Strong as I can be. No - possibly not, but lets not push that to trial.

... Out with the Old, In With the New...I just want to cruise - no - sleep! through the end of 2011. I do not like New Years Eve at all.
My family are not entirely with me, and never are now theyre older and have Social committments. New Years Eve for me brings back sad memories of people dear who are no longer with us, of past Memories that bring home how much I miss the ones I love.
So Im a sad sack, and I ll be happy just chilling with the littles, watching some TV, then drifting off...

OR WILL I?
This year in Christchurch, it seems half the world wants a reason to celebrate... and why not?
Weve had some kind of wacky stuff to deal with  this year...
On with the good stuff - Celebrate Your New Year Cantabs~!
Parties on each side of the street here, and lots of music.
Someone was jamming on an electric guitar before - It sounded awesome, even from here, and Im picking it was a few houses down. The unfortunate thing, is that next door have Elton John on Replay, and the two playing alongside one another makes me want to run for cover :-)
Shouting can be heard, (the happy kind) and lots of families walking in the night air. It isnt dark or cooler yet, at 7.30pm its a nice time of night for a stroll around our neighbourhood...
Let the celebrating fill your heart, and let go of the fear - not just here, but whereever you are!
We got through, we will continue to make good.

Love, Light and Blessings
HAPPY FABULOUS NEW YEAR

Roll On 2012!!
Love
Earth Butterfly
XXXXXXXX

FOOD BILL - Dont let this one past or be passed!!

What a grey day. Cant believe its Friday already though?
We have been up since the Sparrows got up this morning. Its pleasant enough out there, and its watering day!
I think we all went to bed and crashed with exhaustion. We had a very long, rocky aftershock just before bed time, so the little guy (big 11yr old guy) slept nearby. It was a rude shock for us both, and insulted us by being just a 4.3 or something *small* but it just kept going, and was quite noisy. A good sleep was had by all though, eventually!
Ive been sorting out my seeds, and what to keep, what not to. The thing is, what do you do with seeds you no longer require? There seems to be nowhere you can give them to... I have visions of sweeping along the riverside, seeds pouring from my hands, but Im picking they ll know soon enough,. most of my surplus are lettuce, capsicums and pumpkins. The area could do with lots of these things growing freely, there are plenty of people who need food. I have asked at food banks, but apparently people want canned foods and perishables, not good healthy seeds that could give them so much more...

I was plodding through an exercise yesterday with my 11 yr old son.

Heres what we worked out...

ONE average sized pumpkin plant can grow an average of 3 or 4 pumpkins ...

One pumpkin makes pumpkin soup for an average of 3-4 people, which may stretch to say, averagely (get it?) two meals, per person?

That ONE pumpkin, holds within its skin, an average of maybe 150-200 seeds.
You dont use the seeds for the soup.
Save the seeds.

You can hull them, and make pumpkin seeds that you can then roast to snack on - full of nutrition
ORYou can dry them, and plant them.

That 150-200 seeds can feed a lot of people!!!! Or, they can feed livestock! Or you can harvest and onsell, or give away, or use for Halloween...Or sell seed...

Arent pumpkins awesome?

The same applies to most vegetables.

Their inner goodness is more than what you eat, it is what you can do to help feed yourself and others with what lies inside!

This is why it is important we stop the Government and other large businesses in NZ from taking away our rights, our freedom as Market Gardeners, Small Garden Business Operators, and Home Gardeners who may sell what they grow, and save seeds to finance their own Vegetable and Fruit Gardens - and have done for years, it is a way of life!.

THIS FOOD BILL has the potential to Stop us being able to maintain and supplement our food supply, and help others.

We simply cannot allow this to happen

GET IN QUICK because this bill WILL be passed if we do not make a statement and register our disapproval and non compliance to this bill!

HERE - READ FOR YOURSELF - THE FOOD BILL

And the Government cant believe the public backlash? - ARTICLE HERE

So - What can we do? START HERE - Petition

Questions and Answers on the Food Safety Website - READ HERE

OOOOBY says TIME FOR ACTION - READ HERE, Join this Gardening Community!

“Liberty has never come from the government; it has always come from the subjects of it.

The history of liberty is a history of limitation of governmental power, not the increase of it.”
–Woodrow Wilson

FAMILY INTEGRITY WEBSITE has something to say about it HERE

___________________________________

MY SOAP BOX or rather, My thoughts on this ----

In a world where the reality is that sometimes, we must live by our wits, our intelligence and our clever cunning because noone else will do things for us, noone else will pay our way, or give us solutions, in a world where Money is King, Big Business Rules, Possessions are Important and Brands and Labels seem to define Us -  we simply cannot afford to lose the right to grow our own food.
For some of us - The Battlers, The Ones who Just Get Along,  the Living Simply folk, who live close to, or within poverty, we need to be able to feed our families this way.
If you dont know how to garden, but you want to learn,  please ask. Keep asking!
There are plenty of people who will show you the way.
As I have stated, I have seeds Im willing - nay, KEEN to give away, I have learnt how to Garden and Im prepared to show people how - ASK me :)

If you dont live in Christchurch, we can email and I can send seeds to you. ASK!
THERE ARE COMMUNITY GARDENS IN CHRISTCHURCH!For a small donation of your time, you can taste the benefits!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

HERES ONE -
New Brighton Community Gardens
136 Shaw Ave New Brighton Christchurch 8083  - WEBSITE NEEDS UPDATING but here it isand Im investigating news of another community garden in Linwood, behind the temporary Library building on Linwood Avenue...

NEW BRIGHTON NEWS -  The Market has reopened!


Well, now the rain has set in. I do not have to water, and the plants will be loving it!
Sometimes my blog starts as one thing, and it finishes as another and today is a classic example.
Im no activist. I simply recognize that we need our voices to be heard, for shame if we lose a fundemental right that other countries have - growing food at home. No, I hear you - Im being extreme. But honestly - do YOU want to read 800-odd  pages of legislation, understand it all completely, and do so in less than a month? ANYTHING that is 800 pages in length is not insignificant, therefore it needs a sturdy reaction.
Why was this kept quiet? ... There was an election to run. They seemingly didnt want it well-known that this bill was even being contemplated.
Actions are better than words.
Id march and show my opposition to this. It stands in the way of my lifestyle. My health, my welfare. I use my food to live...
Id march! Would you? Put yourself out there and show people you care.

Ok, signing off now.

Time to go and ground myself with some housework :)

Love, Light and Happy Gardening!
E BUTTERFLY
XXXXXXXXX

You KNOW youre from CHRISTCHURCH If...

»The rest of the country offers you a place to stay.

»Munted and buggered are official technical terms.

»You go "pfffff" when Wellington has a 4.5 earthquake that's 40km deep.

»You see a nice park in another city and think it would make a good evacuation point.

»You sleep in one suburb, shower in another and collect water from yet another.

»You drive on the right side of the road and no-one thinks it's wrong.

»You are happy two police officers came to visit.

»Your bike becomes your best friend.

»You think it's fine for a soldier to be stationed at the end of your street.

»You see armoured vehicles driving down the road.

»It's normal to greet people with "do you need a shower?"

»Every house is a crack house.

»Instead of rushing to the clothesline to get clothes in when it rains, You put dirty washing on the line in the hope it will rain enough to clean them.

»Going to Wellington to escape earthquakes makes sense.

»Your doctor recommends having a few stiff drinks before bed.

»You know how to start and refuel a generator with ease.

»You have tied the pantry, liquor cabinet and all the cupboard doors closed - and not to keep kids out.

»You prefer to sit under the table instead of at it.

»You think electronics that have "shock proof" should say to which earthquake magnitude.

»You know and understand the terms and conditions of your house and contents insurance.

»Your en-suite has a vege garden, dog kennel and grass.

»Your teenagers are only too happy to sleep in the same room as their parents.

»Dressing up to "head into town" means putting on a hi-viz vest, hard hat and boots.

»Discussing toilet habits with total strangers is an everyday norm.

»Wee boys don't get excited when they see (another) digger or a dozer - but all the adults in the street cheer wildly.

»Voluntarily staying in Timaru for five days seems like a good idea.

»You have dust mask tan lines.

»When a massive group of students appears in your street, you feel overwhelmed with gratitude, instead of calling the police. And what's more they leave the street in better condition than when they arrived.

»The answer to where anything is . . . "it's on the floor".

»You smile at strangers and greet people like you're one big family.

Making a List of Things to Do... Frugal Plans

Firstly, THANK YOU Sarah at Kiwi Mummy Blogs. 

We got accepted to be on their blog list. I hope that will mean more views, some comments... 

Glad to be there! 

Awesome reading others blogs too!

Hmm, Got my Serious Face on tonight.
Somehow deep thinking always gives me a headache :-)
I want to start getting ahead in my plans, start targetting things, so Ive made *The List*.
I would like to move things out of town to our own land... I need some clear direction to where we are going, so Im adding things I need to do, to make this possible.
THE REALITY IS... oh I hate that phrase... but the reality IS, that it is going to take me a while to get organized... so along the way, I want to achieve some other *life things* too.

*Plant more herbs... 
*Buy Seeds Often 
*Want to make my chicken coop
*Put up some Outside lights (hehe, so I can garden deep into the night?)
*Get some timer switches for our new heaters (for Winter)
*Get rid of the Clutter that accumulates
*Down-size... Everywhere!
*Get better organized so I can cope with my financials throughout the year... We dont do too bad, but I can always do better, Im sure of it.
*Buy myself a new camera. --- really, this should be at the top of the list, Im emotionally bereft without it!
*Get guitar lessons so I can learn with Mr 10.5yrs who is learning at school
*Make myself a recipe book, somewhere all my recipes will be all together, not on pieces of paper or files on disks etc... Get it TOGETHER!
*Make a song book for Miss 4 so we can sing together, and she can learn to read too.
*Blog more... Get out More... Make more Friends... Influence More People? LOL no, its been done, but the idea is a good one!
*Buy myself a new (laptop?) computer. One that I can take to bed... town... the riverbank... etc.
*Sleep better, longer... and wake up beautiful? LOL right.
* Ressurect my massage bed so I can have clients at home again. I miss therapeutic massage...and the smell of lavender oil. Its lovely when your house always smells pleasant.

So theres some other financial stuff to add to the list, but its boring... ok, its important too, but all-in-all, I just want to downsize. I want to be able to move out of here and not take the clutter too :-) Is this possible? I guess time will tell...

Another one of my wishes for my list, is to better try to LISTEN. Im trying to understand better where my teenagers are at, and sometimes its too easy to SPEAK instead of LISTEN... I found this link, its inspirational...
BEING LOVING OR BEING RIGHT by Hilary Smith

So thats it! -  Friday night, and we are ensconced watching American Idol. Well, not really actually. I am on here blogging, and as I look behind me, The Lad is reading some heavy looking read by Bernard Cornwell. Little Miss Muffet is asleep. She didnt sleep well last night, and subsided early. Hmmm. I just heard an enormous yawn. hehe. It wont be long and it will be me on my lonesome...

Sleep well,
Have a GREAT weekend.
EButterfly