Biblical Decluttering

 is there such a thing I hear you say?

 Tonight I was watching The Salisbury Organist on Youtube. If you haven't seen it, it is a channel produced by an Oxford graduate, the musical equivalent of a gentle read novel. Ben was reading from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:

² A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
³ A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
⁴ A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
⁵ A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶ A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
⁷ A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
⁸ A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.

 It is my birthday season, the last years of middle age. I could relate to these words so much, even just in fleeting thoughts. I think it was very encouraging. 

 I was amazed that the Bible even has advice about de-cluttering, if you want to interpret it that way. Lately I have been watching another Youtube channel called The Space Saver Method. I find if you can watch a whole series, I was lucky enough to come to the channel at the start of Julia's declutter, the work of April really starts to bless you. Your sub-concious starts to work out what to do from watching. If you are an older person, the current series is really great. But to get the most out of it I think watching another series first would be good.

 I have been de-cluttering my wardrobe. This came about because I had an old wardrobe, and I am a tall person, the wardrobe was not wide enough so it squashed the sleeves. I bought an Ikea Idanas wardrobe with bi-fold doors. I have since found inspiration on how to fit that wardrobe into a farmhouse aesthetic, but I think I like mine plain, it has been attached to our wall, so it functions as a built-in now. 

 If you want a particularly Australian de-cluttering advice from a professional, you may like to watch Zesty Girl, having said that, it is amazing how many things I recognise on April's channel in all sorts of countries she visits, like England, Korea and the US. 

If you are interested in what aesthetic I am following, or want inspiration for an older house, try Ikea, here is a traditional style, and possibly this one is Hollywood Cottage, I have no idea. Shae McGee suggests Hollywood Cottage is a favourite for 2026. 

How to live a money-less life by Mark Boyle

Laura's Crocheted Winter Bonnet

LI think at one stage I wanted to make one.

SBS Podcasts : Podcasts: Gourmet-farmer

I was visiting Renata at Sunnyside Farm Fun today. She has a post there about Gourmet Farmer, which you can visit here. I thought I would dig around to find the show she recommended and have a look. I found it is about Sydney food critic named Matthew Evans, now based in country Tasmania.

SBS Podcasts : Podcasts: Gourmet-farmer

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Chalktober

This is my little girl at the zoo on Saturday. They loved the exhibits, her and her older sister who is 12. We used to go to the zoo regularly in Melbourne. We lived three hours from it previously. Since moving here nearly 6 years ago we have only managed to go to the Wagga Wagga zoo, and because my little girl hadn't been to a zoo, we took her to the Canberra zoo early last year I think. I had seen the new plantings and car park, was totally surprised at how things look now. Nothing has been radically rearranged, I still knew where I was, but wow. The section we were in had lots of Indonesian signs I think. It was the section with the elephants, pelicans and the butterflies. The butterfly house now has a gorgeous mosiac entrance to appeal to all those fairy loving girls out there and I suspect a few ladies. The kiosk was made to look Asian. Boy, the elephant handling section is a cross between a dairy and a jail. A bit scarey. But lovely statues and places to sit, it is like being in colonial India even in places. There is also an Asian vege garden, it is all too gorgeous. Old-fashioned. Some things in the buildings look like they have come out of people's sheds, but I still think it was all well done! My only complaint is that I didn't have much time in the Japanese garden as there was a wedding in the beautiful weather we had, then photos. There was a lot to learn in there about plantings for the home garden.

We felt the kids really needed to go to the zoo. My older girl was disappointed we didn't have more time there. They got a great zoo show bag for $20 that was worth more I thought. My little girl took the beautiful stuffed toy from the bag to school today. It is nice to have something to show the other kids who often go places and have things to write about. My little girl wants to extend her writing to be longer as another girl writes seemingly reams. I loved all the water features at the zoo.