Hi Lovelies,
Welcome back! And welcome if You are new here xo
New season, new goals, am I right? In this post I am reacting to my Slow Living Autumn goals I wrote a couple of years ago.
In general, I think of Autumn as a prep season for the Cold and Flu season, also known as winter & I kind of dread both. With the sun gracing us less and less, I also feel SAD (or seasonal depression) creeping back in, which is never nice. So this is me, reminding myself that it is important to include things that makes me (and my family) happy into life as much as possible. Oh, and seasonally prep too 
Collect as much elderberry as I can & make homemade elderberry syrup
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- I moved recently, so I was not able to find local elderberry plants in my new place. Looks like Sambucol will be my prep for this year.
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- Again, because of the move I was not able, but it is not too late. I still have a jar of last year’s one. Does anyone know if it still good to use? Or does it need to be fresh every season?
Collect & dry blackberries (You can make jam too)
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- I was able to spot loads of blackberry bushes nearby, but the only time we tried to go forage them we were attacked by two dogs, so we didn’t go back for obvious reasons.
Monthly Musings September 23 – Life Changes & One New Product – Green Life In Dublin
Make my own essential oil Healing Blend DIY
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- Definitely need to. Preferably three, one for upstairs, one for downstairs and one on the go or for kid’s school back pack.
Incorporate more seasonal veggies into family meals
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- I already crave blended warming soups and trays of roasted vegetables.
Try more new recipes & share them with You
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- On my to do list. I do have my GF (gluten free) and DF (dairy free) IG page but I suck as a food blogger 🙂 For the food to be photographed nicely in natural light it needs to be cooked in the first half of the day, which is when I never crave much food & tend to grab something quick. In the evenings when dinner happens, I much prefer to eat it than stage IG & blog worthy photos 🙂 I guess it is what it is, I will try my best to share nice recipes with You in my own good time.
Make a huge batch of Gluten Free Dairy Free Sugar Free Banana Waffles & freeze them
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- I intend to utilize my freezer so much more, I’ve watched to many freezer prep videos that my eyes are crossing over. While I am a beginner at freezer prep life, it pays to have a batch of breakfast foods ready. We are all busy, our mornings are often spent in a rush and I hate cooking in the mornings if I am honest. We don’t do cereal and/ or toast breakfast in our house, I prefer feeding my family wholesome nutritious meals. These take time and effort, but thankfully most of them are freezable, so that’s my plan going forward. I would much rather toast something out of the freezer and spend more time drinking my coffee.
Visit Malahide Castle (and take beautiful seasonal pictures for IG)
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- Mhmm, Malahide Castle is now 100km away, so it would require much more prep than a year before. I think I need to start exploring local areas instead.
Make my own alkaline spice blend – ideas welcome!
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- I’ll be honest, this never happened. Ideas welcome!
More organic matcha lattes & less coffee. My body just feels better for it
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- Insert blushing emoji here. Organic matcha is happening but so is the coffee. Daily.
Go to the sea as much as possible
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- Now that’s a resolution worth sticking to!
Restock my Natural Medicine Cabinet
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- Working on it! Currently busy taking stock of what I currently have and what I need to restock.
Also, my Wellness Products
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- See above.
Visit friends & family as much as we can
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- Working on it too. At the moment it is more hosting rather than us going to them.
Take out my Nebulising Diffuser out
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- Oh yeah, this! I need to do some serious research which essential oils are harmful to the dogs. I do not want to hurt our furry family member unintentionally. Internet is full of conflicting info as usual. Please point me towards the right resources if You know any?
Start diffusing essential oils daily
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- See above
Put my Living Libations Illume Hotberry to the front of the shelf & start using it daily again
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- I am on it! Just repurchased it, see this post below & my review if You want my honest thoughts on it.
Live In The Light Order – September 23 – Green Life In Dublin
Take out wool throws & blankets out of storage & flash wash or air them
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- Already done.
Study herbalism a bit more, try to learn & identify more local plants that could be used as medicine
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- Always open the learn more on this topic.
Study homeopathy
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- I had a score of the century at the charity shop today – got a book on homeopathy for only a fiver! Couldn’t be more chuffed if I tried 🙂 I am a fan and a user of homeopathy for close to two decades now, but I am more used to prepared remedies by Boiron (see here) & I had hard time learning self prescribing individual remedies – it soon gets too much and too overwhelming for me. I’ll keep You posted on my journey soon-ish.
Try to establish early night routine
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- Semi done. Could be better though, the kid who is putting up fights at night complains of the lack of sleep in the mornings. Cue “eye roll”.
Get myself a few natural candles. I am eyeing some on Live In The Light
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- Definitely on to get list for my next LITL order. Psst, I am holding on for November – because they tend to do awesome Christmas Box around then – full of natural beauty products and crystals! I never talked much about that but I definitely need to.
Go for a walk/ jog a couple of times per week
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- Well, I am a dog mom now, so it is happening whether I like it or not!
Go back to Gadget Free Day. We used to have Gadget Free Sundays till I started working on the weekends & that went out of the window. I need to figure something out
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- Oh yes, I need to do it!
Get puzzles/ board games / craft supplies in the case of future lockdowns
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- I don’t want to hear about any lockdowns ever again!
Enjoy medicinal mushroom lattes & cocoa more – I find them very soothing and grounding
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- Love both of them for the cold time of the year, my body starts craving them as soon as the chill is in the air. Love the fact that I am getting so much of healing benefits from medicinal mushrooms with my comforting drinks.
Pick up knitting again – very calming activity & You get some beautiful creation at the end of it
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- Umm, adore the activity but it’s forever falling down the list.
Start Yoga – I always wanted to learn, but never started, despite buying beautiful cork & sustainable rubber yoga mat.
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- Same, I know how good it is for the body, yet I never properly started it. I need to, I know that. It’s just a question of when do I carve out the time? Our adopted dog is still as anxious as ever, despite getting all the attention and love and care for months. So me closing him into the backyard and doing half an hour yoga or leaving for the class is out of the question. Doing it with him in the room? Nope, not happening – he would not only bite me but rip my yoga mat. Close him in another room? Nope, he would rip something to shreds or chew furniture. The boy cannot be trusted to be left alone.
Spend more time on Gaia and MUCH LESS on social media. It is not an enjoyable place anymore.
- Still true a few years later. Algorithms make it hard for the real connections to happen, I have to physically search for the people I want to follow and interact with, which gets tiring soon. If I do not do that, my feed is filled with fear mongering and ads, despite me opting out of them of frequent basis.
Take detox baths on Sundays & stick with the habit. Just like most women, I tend to put others first and myself last. I need to remember to take care of me too. You can’t pour out of empty cup, right?
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- Again, my Sundays are anything but relaxing, it is more like running around to make sure we are prepped for the week ahead. Self care does not come naturally.
Give myself grace if I have down days.
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- Because all of this sounds like a plan and a half.
I plan to treat myself to something nice, like an Ayurvedic Kansa Wand, if I pull all of this through. I always wanted that, so I’ll make it into a carrot to dangle in front of my nose
Let’s start a conversation here – what about Your list? Anything specific that You do this season? What do You enjoy doing at this time of the year? Please let me know, I would love to hear all that.
That’s it for today, thanks so much for coming to my little corner of internet. See You next Tuesday, my posting day.
Sending Love & Light,
Renata.
