We have survived...

...our first week, I feel pretty proud about that, but we will see how we are going in a few weeks time. Even though I hear that 94% of new years resolutions are over by day 28,  I think we are in this for the long haul.
It has been a quiet few days here, it's nice. The days are longer and the moments so much more rich in quality. As we really look at our lives what we notice is the need for less. As we eat more quality food, more fruit, vegetables and nuts we find ourselves reaching for the cupboards far less. 

Luke has been focusing on fixing things around the home over the past couple of days. I must say it is brilliant having a husband so handy! Two things needed some TLC; our fridge and the baby monitor. The hinges on the fridge door had given up the ghost and as a result there was a gap in the seal of the fridge which was no doubt wasting a fair amount of energy. The door also squeaked like crazy when it was opened. Luke put his skills to good use and we now have a perfectly sealed and quiet fridge door. Total cost? $0.

Assessing the damage

Drilling a hole for the hinge pin

New hinge

The second thing Luke fixed was the baby monitor. Good old wear and tear from Lila throwing it around meant the volume up button broke and we couldn't turn it up to hear her. Luke took it out into the shed and soldered on a new switch. Turns out he used some switches he found and had saved when he was 12 years old knowing that one day he would have a use for them. That's pretty cool huh, and free too!

New switch

I can't say that fixing things is new for us. As I mentioned earlier, Luke is very handy and great at restoring and fixing bits and bobs so he would always try and repair something over buying a new one, but maybe, just maybe these pictures could inspire someone to give repairing a go over buying a replacement?

In spending news I had to fill up the car yesterday. I am really interested to see how long a tank of petrol will last me now that I'm opting for walking and riding over driving. Previously I had been filling up once a week, so I'm hoping to stretch the petrol a lot further now.

My skin has improved incredibly well, it is amazing the difference! I'm yet to make the dish-washing liquid but I have been using gloves to keep the detergent off my hands. Tomorrow I will make up the home-made liquid, now that we have come to last dregs of our previously bought detergent.

I'm excited for tomorrow, we're off to the markets to see if we can find some bits and pieces in order to prepare our vegetable garden. Some gardening tools and edging would be great if we can find some.

I thought I'd mention an interesting point someone made to me during the week. When asked if I would like something they pointed out that them buying it for me was not ruining my challenge as they were purchasing it not me. I'm really interested to hear people's thoughts on this little loophole. At the moment I won't do it, I see it as defeating the whole point of this exercise. Its not so much about who buys, but the fact the my family are consuming beyond our needs. Gifts I think are fine but to have someone buy something on behalf of us at the shops is cheating I think...

Thoughts?