*Life Goes On

It’s been a while, I know. I do apologize, I was so hoping to start my new installment with “The house is officially sold and we’re on our way!” But this is not to be the case, as it turns out having a willing buyer is only a small step in the sale process. The bank has all the say and our buyers’ bond wasn’t approved. So we start all over again. House selling is not for sissies. 

But life goes on. As Christmas creeps nearer I am drowning in orders, mostly wholesale at the moment so each order is large. Which is good. Every hour of every day is full up with cutting and stitching and communicating with clients, while keeping the shop going at the same time. If I was ever unsure if closing the shop was the right thing to do, I am now convinced I can’t do it all. It doesn’t leave much time for living at all let alone living lightly. And really, what is the point then?I have got a little bartering done since last we chatted. It is a hard thing to get one’s head around, especially trying to make sure the trades are fair. The way I see it, as long as both parties are happy your trade is a success. First I traded a bunch of fresh beetroot from one of my fellow Nitarah veg box customers for a bottle of pickled beetroot. Then I traded with Siobhan at Wimze - two old printer’s trays and a couple of craft mags for chain and charms for a new project I have planned for next year. I also traded a bespoke Kisma Kreative handmade folder for a stash of bits and pieces of jewellery from Sarah at      G-Town Gems. These will be used for the same project. Intrigued? Good. You should be. Watch this space!

I’m getting the hang of it but it is sometimes awkward to suggest trading to people. Not everyone gets it and would prefer the black and white simplicity of cold hard cash. If anyone in Grahamstown has green thumbs 

and you have too many potatoes, tomatoes or onions I’d gladly discuss trading for preserves, pickles, or maybe a trade from my veg box? Beetroot for onions, etc? Or maybe there’s a Kisma Kreative design you have your eye on? Let’s chat. 

I’d best get back to it. So many orders, so little time. Have a beautiful day and remember to smile - it’s contagious!

*Live Lightly

Hi there. My name is Tracy and I’m a closet tree-hugging, barefoot, hippy creative. Last month I turned 40. ‘The Big Four Oh’. ‘Life begins ... ,’ and all that.

Now, I’m not one to worry about getting old and I’m not prone to major epiphanies and the like, but something about this birthday has set me thinking about life, the world and my place in it. Do I really want what I think I want, or do I want it because I’m supposed to? I must want these things because that’s the way it is and you have to work many, many hours, make some money and live in a 3-bedroom house with two children, two dogs, a cat and a bond - regardless of what it will cost you, your children, your neighbors or the Earth.

Well, I don’t want that. As it turns out I want to live simply. I need to live lightly.

My husband Tom and I already try to be careful about bringing home plastic shopping bags, we turn off lights when we leave a room and we compost our perishables. We talk about taking our own containers to the butcher, or getting another bin so we can separate recyclables easily, but never really get there. I want to see if we can do more, so I am starting an experiment to find out:
Is is viable, affordable, healthy and sustainable to live lightly in the real world?

What do I mean by live lightly? The main idea is to have as little negative impact on the world as possible. We will try to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible. We will make do and mend. We will try to support local business if we have to buy new.  We will try to buy only fresh local farm produce instead of  shipped-in, plastic-covered, factory-made perishables. We will try to find alternate energy-saving sources of power (we don’t have much of a choice with this one anyway, what with load shedding every other month). We will try to live in a way that works for us, the planet, and our community even if it goes against the accepted norm of things. That’s kind of the fun part.

We are planning a few big changes to start with. I have no doubt it will be hard and we will cheat a bit along the way, maybe even come close to giving up. I hope not. I look forward to the challenge and hope you’ll come along with us on this adventure.