Just Humans Being...

We've been reading "The Art of Happiness" again, it's just nice to remind ourselves of what the Dalai Lama has to say & this has led us to sign up to "The No Impact Experiment" , which starts on Sunday January 2nd. No Impact Project » The No Impact Experiment We already live by most of these principles, but it's good to continue challenging ourselves to live with less & think about ways of improving how we do things. This is what makes us happy! We got very excited before Christmas when we received a letter from Ecotricity (our electricity provider), saying that our usage has halved over the last year, so our monthly direct debits are being reduced & we got a refund for an overpayment! We've also cut our heating oil consumption too & have all got used to wearing extra layers when it's been really cold. Yesterday, was our local rubbish & recycling collection day & it never ceases to amaze us just how much "stuf

1) Watch "It's a Wonderful Life" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJfZaT8ncYk   2) Take or look at photographs of snow scenes. 3) Sing cheesy Christmas songs while working. 4) Visit friends full of Christmas Spirit. Who are very creative... ...and make delicious warming food. 5)Then dream about where you would like to be... Our perfect home... Well - it's worked for us, so now it's time to find a potted Christmas Tree... Kay :)

I don't know why, but we're feeling quite disinterested in this year's festivities... We are really struggling to motivate ourselves to look for gifts & write the mountain of cards that we send every year & if it wasn't for the kids - we probably wouldn't celebrate at all! It's not a case of "Bah Humbug", it's more to do with being opposed to the commercialism that takes over this time of year. We have talked for years about the paper & packaging that is just a complete waste of resources & looking at alternatives to Christmas cards, so now as I blog - Sime is writing cards for the final time, complete with messages for folks to send us their email addresses, so next year we can send our own e-card instead... We have never spent lots on gifts & in fact, we usually buy from charity shops for the kids. We also do a "Secret Santa" with our friends & the rule is that it should either be home-made or second-hand &