Ok, so I'm really new at all of this. It kind of started with my own little awakening. I was in a dying relationship and was slowly getting sicker and sicker. It was like I was just waiting for it all to end. I was diagnosed with diabetes, fibromyalgia, sleep apnea, arthritis, and psoriasis. I spent my entire day sitting at the computer, vegging out and not caring any more. Except that I must have still had a tiny spark of survival in me after all.
That was 3 years ago. I decided in a last ditch effort to pull myself out of my funk to go visit my daughter in Las Vegas. It was going to be a one week trip and then I was going to go back to my squalid little apartment and a life that was going nowhere. I was 51 and I felt and walked like my 80 year old Grandmother. I had deteriated to the point that I was in a wheelchair most of my day and couldn't leave the house without it. Only, I didn't go back. Well, I did go back to gather my belongings, but that was it. I decided it was time to change my life. I woke up.
The first thing I did was to take small steps and gradually increase my activity. I started cooking and knitting again and started going out with my daughter and visiting friends. Eventually, the two of us got an apartment of our own (we were living with room mates in their house) and I started searching for my life. Our new place had a pool and an exercise room and I started using it regularly. Then, less than a year ago, we decided to switch to vegetarian.
I'm not sure exactly when it was, but sometime during that first year we both started searching for our spirituality. We discussed what we really believed and we started becoming more earth aware. We found that we needed the spiritual uplifting to find ourselves and to progress. Whatever we decided we wanted to do in the future needed to be in tune with the earth. We made a vow to start moving away from commercially purchased household items and start working towards self sustainability. Our first attempt at gardening wasn't very successful. The plants just didn't grow past a point and were sickly. We had a bout of pests, tiny white flies that were in everything. We had to grow the plants indoors because the heat outside was too much and the plants wouldn't survive. The only thing that grew enough that I was able to use it was my chives. We knew that we had to keep trying. In order to be truly sustainable, we needed to grow our own food.
We found ourselves in a couple roommate situations in those last two years. Both couples that came to live with us didn't have the same values as we did. They kind of thought we were wackos for our choices to go vegetarian and to prepare for a crisis. There was even a hint of us being Zombie believers or something from the last couple. We just shrugged our shoulders and kept preparing. Eventually, we came to the realization that we didn't do well with roommates and needed our own space. My son moved in during the last year and settled into our somewhat unconventional household.
My daughter gave up her car and we started using public transportation and good ole shoe soles and that also helped with my activity level and health. Gradually my blood sugar came down to normal and my blood pressure righted itself. I lost a little weight and, even though it was painful, got myself moving even more.
My goals are to get off of blood sugar medication and the cpap machine completely. I want to be in good enough shape that I can start hiking and riding a bike. We have food storage started and I plan to buy a canner and start canning produce that we get from a local market that specializes in organically grown food. I am working towards sustainability in making our own clothing and household cloth items. I knit our own socks and other items and am working on getting a spinning wheel. My hope is that I can grow cotton and produce my own yarn to knit with. I also want to look into getting a loom of some sort to use. I have started doing all my own baking as well.
Right now, I have working recipes that I use to make my own laundry soap and fabric softener and I make my own shampoo (actually considered as no-poo) and detangler. I make my own dishsoap, vegetable oil spray, etc. I hope to learn to make my own soap too.
I am a huge proponent of re-purposing everything I can find a use for. That especially goes for re-using cloth and yarn. I researched how to unravel, wash, straighten, and re-use yarn. I also pirate tossed out clothing for buttons and zippers and for pieces that are large enough to provide enough fabric for projects. I like to look at yard sales and thrift shops for "treasures". I will make sure to post pictures of things I make here as I blog. I also plan to share recipes for household cleaners, cosmetics, etc. as I find the ones that work for me.
Life is good and the planet is worth saving a little at a time. Lets all work together to make it happen!
Peg
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