What the heck have I been up to?

I've been a bit quiet lately haven't I.  You may have been wondering what has happened to me.  Well, I have been doing two rather scary things.

First up, I have been getting organised for meeting a Children's Book Agent.  See, told you it was scary! 

I have been writing children's books since I gave up my 'proper' job almost two years ago.  I really like my books and ideas (well, I would wouldn't I), but it took me a long time to pluck up the courage to show them to anyone other than my husband, who also really likes them (well, he would wouldn't he). 

But, cheered on by supportive words from a friend-in-the-business, I got in touch with a Children's Book Agent I know and asked them to take a look at my books.  This culminated in an informal chat over coffee the other day.  And I can tell you, I have never prepared so much for a cup of coffee in my life before! 

The meeting went well and my books are being looked at as I write this.  I can't say any more at the moment, apart from that I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed that they can see potential in them.

The other thing that is keeping me busy is that I got a new part-time job.  But that isn't going so well.  Bouyed up by the fun I have been having in the Charity shop and the lovely Manager and fellow volunteers there, I went for a paid job, really, to keep my hand in, as I was worried about having such a long gap on my C.V. 

However, the job is really below my skill level and I am finding it hard to adjust.  It isn't that I mind doing menial tasks, I don't at all.  But I do really miss my opinion being taken into account and it is all leaving me rather tired and emotional.  I think I may have made an error of judgement by taking the job and now I am torn as to whether to jump off the sinking ship, or to hold on and hope that a lifeboat comes along.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who has had a similar experience of taking on a low level job after giving up a senior role, maybe after having children or a career break like me.  Was it difficult for you?  Or did it prove to be the best thing you ever did?   

I will keep you all up to date with progress as it happens!

Desire is Fleeting; well almost!

Since undertaking to stop spending and start living, my life has changed quite a lot.  I have tried lots of different things from blogging, tweeting and photography, to volunteering and meeting new people.  My weekends are now packed with picnics and bike rides, and I don't miss shopping one little bit....honest!

What I have noticed about my old Magpie self is that although I still want new things, the desire is fleeting; well for clothes at any rate.

While volunteering in the charity shop I find that one piece of clothing calls out to me to try it on and buy it.  Each time I run a shift it bugs me to take it home.  But, as soon as it is sold to a customer, it doesn't bother me anymore.  I am just glad that the charity has raised some funds.  The weird thing is that the next shift will find a new piece of clothing which says, 'buy me, buy me, buy me' at me all morning.

I love raising money for charity and feel great when I have run lots of sales through the till.  And if you are going to spend money on clothes, charity shopping is a much better bet than supporting unsustainable knock-down price, high street stores and I will definitely be buying clothes there when I do need to make replacements in the future. But, for me, volunteering at the shop has been a great experience to know that I do have will-power after all!

That said, my current Magpie Moments are focused on a Roomba, the hoovering robot (pictured).  I  haven't had a vacuum cleaner, since my previous one died about six years ago.  I got a broom instead, due to cupboard space issues.  I now spend at least 45 minutes each week sweeping.  Which works out at 39 hours per year!  Which is the same as spending three 12 hour days, every year, constantly sweeping!  Oh how dull!! And, oh, what a waste of my life!!  So the desire is very strong and not fleeting at all, for a £300 robot which will do my sweeping for me. My elder sister has a Roomba, and with four kids, she says it is the best thing since sliced bread!

I have almost cracked a couple of times in recent months and have been hovering (as opposed to hoovering!) over my computer, almost ready to click on the 'add to basket' button.  But I have restrained!  How unusual and how amazing! 

But with all the money I am saving on coffees, clothes and eating out, I am sure it won't be too long before the bank balance says 'oh, go on, you can get your Roomba now'.  Oh how I look forward to that day!

Goodbye Magpie: Rubbish Update

Okay folks, a quick update on the rubbish situation for you!  And by that I mean the amount of landfill we are producing here at Magpie central.

Wheelie Bin of Rubbish Jan 2012

At the beginning of the year I pledged that as a family we would only produce one wheelie bin full of rubbish.  Well readers, I have to confess that I had to put my wheelie bin out for collection this week, a mere five months into the challenge.  We didn't even make it to the half way point!

The really weird thing was that the wheelie bin, which I would normally have to man-handle and drag down the drive way  due to the weight contained, was actually as light as a feather to put out. Basically because all it contained was empty crisp packets and plastic wrapping of one sort or another. 

So, what to do?  First up, I am not going to get downhearted.  We have still managed to reduce our landfill by around 80%.  If every westernised household did the same,  it would be an absolute dream result for local authorities across the world.  

Milk Bottles, Aren't they brilliant!

Secondly, as well as reducing our landfill, we have also drastically reduced our recycling burden by using far less plastic bottles.  We have managed this by not buying bottled water, by getting glass returnable bottles from the milkman, by stopping buying laundry detergent and by getting No. 1 Son to switch to cans instead of plastic bottles for his fizzy drinks (aluminium being far better to recycle than plastic).

Our thrift drive has also meant we have naturally cut back on booze, so less glass bottles there!  And of course, we aren't buying new stuff, so no cardboard boxes and packaging to deal with there. So, rather than putting out the recycling boxes for collection every week, I have found we are down to putting them out once a month.  And as every green girl knows Reduce and Reuse are top of the list when it comes to saving the planets resources.

So, for the coming seven months I am determined that the wheelie bin stays behind the garden gate and doesn't need to be emptied again until December. 

In order to achieve this, the challenge is going to be to further reduce the amount of packaging we buy and to ignore the temptation of the mass produced biscuit, cake and crisp aisle!  I hope we can do it!!  Does my inner magpie have the willpower?!  We shall see..

What about you?  Any top-tips for reducing landfill waste?

Guerilla Gardening For Free

I type this blog post with earth under my fingernails and muddy patches on the knees of my jeans.  Yes, you've guessed it, I've been gardening!  Non-gardeners, don't groan and role your eyes in despair, this blog post is actually about random acts of kindness, so read on!

As regular readers will know, in my new thrifty life I have set myself the challenge of maintaining and improving my garden using as little cash as possible, and for zero spondoolucks whenever I can.  So far I have been propagating seeds and rescuing plants from skips! But this latest garden adventure really takes the biscuit.

Before; Weedy Mess!

You see, beside my house there is a little thin strip of land which is always covered in weeds and litter.  It is no bigger than 5 metres by 1 metre, but it is in a sunny position and has potential to be so much more than the current weedy eyesore that it is.

I decided to pick up the litter (baby's nappies and all!) and clear off the weeds from this patch of ground.  The weeds were mainly Ivy, so there wasn't even any bee or butterfly fodder.  My intention was to plant up some lupins that I had grown from seed (I had collected them at the end of last summer from my own lupin plant, pretty good huh). I knew the lupins alone weren't going to be enough to fill the whole area, but I thought it was as well to make a start and then over time, I could gradually fill the space with more and more nectar producing plants.

Anyway, as I was working away, a man walked past and said "hello" and I said "hi there" back with my best neighbourly smile.  The man kept on walking for a step or two and then changed his mind and turned back around.   He said to me, "would you like some plants?"  I thought I heard what he said, but I was a bit taken aback; was that an offer of free plants from a person I had never even seen before?  You know what? It was just that!!!

The next morning, I found myself, dividing up and picking out some plants from a neighbour's garden a few streets away (along with my sister KitKat, just in case it was some elaborate honey trap, plant style, plan! It so wasn't by the way, I met his partner 'Jim'). I got some crocosmia, geraniums, pretty pink frondy things and two different types of grasses!  All for a bottle of wine to say 'thank you!'

Gardening Complete; now they just need to grow!

How kind is that?  I took away a boxful, with more than enough plants to create my own little nature reserve from the scrub land plot.  I tell you, it made my day; my week even.  Who would think that a stranger would be so kind? I just hope my neighbour takes as much pleasure from seeing the plants grow up as I will.

I think that has to be the best random act of kindness I have ever experienced.  What about you?  What's the best thing a stranger has ever done for you?

Make Do & Mend

As all of you fellow green-beans will know, April was Remade month.  So I thought it would be fun to share all of the things that I have fixed up and remade over the last couple of weeks.  Here goes:

No. 1 Son's Jeans (big old hole patched up)

My front door blinds (a repair to fix a snapped slat - too boring to photograph!)

A top I haven't worn before, which needed taking up & in (it had been lurking in the wardrobe for 2 years!)

And the piece de resistance, an old sideboard gifted to me by my in-laws, which got painted up (with a 1/2 tin of paint I had lying around needing used up).  

Before, looking a bit outdated and tired.

After, looking cool in Muted Mocha!

Every month is Remade Month for me. I find myself fixing stuff up all the time.  My next project is a snooker table, which I saved from being chucked on a skip.

I have to thank my Dad for my fixer-upper outlook.  A waste-not-want-not attitude was drummed into us kids.  If we needed anything in our house, my Dad would probably whip it up from the 'just in case' pile.  Need an Electricity Generator for those 70s and 80s power cuts?  No problem, Dad'll make one.  A Garage needing built? Leave it to Dad, he knew those blocks would come in handy.  New kitchen you say?  Dad's got a lovely one just here, which Jim down the road is chucking out! 

As a teenager I thought my dad was nuts, what with all the following us around while muttering and switching off lights, combined with his general hoarding tendancies.  Now I realise he was just ahead of his time!

So, it is great to see the idea of fixing things, rather than chucking them out, being championed by 10:10 and others.   You can find out more here:  http://www.1010global.org/uk/remade  One thing's for sure, I know my Dad will approve!

How about you; What have you Remade and saved from the scrap heap this month?

Back to the Wild with the John Muir Trust

Part of operation Goodbye Magpie is to live a 'feel-good' life.  So, although I am being super thrifty at the moment, I am still 100% committed to giving money to charity.  One of the charities myself and JW support is the John Muir Trust, which pledges to protect our wild land and places.

Chocolate Cake Awaits!

The Trust was recently bequeathed a piece of land near Traquair in the Scottish Borders, called Glenlude. And in order to let folks know what they were up to with this latest project, an offer was made to members to have a day out at Glenlude.  Not one to miss out on an adventure, we signed up to see first hand how the Trust was going to return this one-time Forestry Commission land, into a wild haven just one hour from Edinburgh's busy city centre.

After getting a lift down with David, one of the Trust's new members of staff (saving on petrol and emissions; thanks David!), we ended up in a wooden hut in the middle of a pine plantation.  Hot coffee and chocolate cake welcomed us, which made for a very good start to the day!

A short intro talk from another member of staff, Sandy, and we were off tramping up the hill with Karen, the brand shiny new ranger for Glenlude.  We found out that the lady who bequeathed the land was called Sheila and along with the grounds, she had also left Heather the horse to the Trust!  I was glad to hear that Heather now has a friend and both roam freely on the land.  A happier horse you couldn't find I'm sure.

Forestry Scar; the Trust will avoid this.

We also discovered that the pine plantation at Glenlude is going to be worth a lot of money when it matures.  So rather than chop it all down in a oner, scarring the landscape for years, the Trust plans to take it out slowly and sensitively and use the cash from the sale of the timber to fund the re-introduction of broadwood trees.  The broadwoods will support a much wider range of wildlife and will be 100 times better than the regimented rows of spruce trees which currently line the property.

Naturalistic Ponds teaming with life

A run of naturalistic ponds were already installed by Sheila before she died.  They are now teaming with amphibian life and the Trust is able to monitor the frogs, toads and newts that spawn and live there, as well as all the other plants, bugs, butterflies, birds and beasties that inhabit Glenlude.

The Trust have a 25 year plan for the property, which includes taking down all but the border fences; using natural brash fencing to protect young trees from deer; managing the deer population; replanting areas and allowing other sections, such as the willow section, to regenerate itself. 

A clutch of pheasant eggs; undisturbed.

The plan also includes getting teenagers involved in Glenlude through the John Muir Award.  Indeed, as I write this a group of intrepid 1st Year students from Ayr should be camping out on the new 'natural' campsite, complete with an old stone fell (sheep pen) fire circle (I just hope the rain hasn't dampened their spirits and the campfire too much!)

The Composting Loo!

The one thing the school kids might find very interesting during their stay, is the composting loo!  I know I did.  I take all of my prejudices back, composting loos are very hygienic after all!

It was genuinely fascinating to hear about the plans to return a heavily commercially forested piece of land back into a wild place within 25 years.  Our annual membership fee is certainly being well spent!  I'll give that a score of 10 on the 'feel-good' factor!




Find out more about the John Muir Trust here: http://www.jmt.org/

The Mother of all Thrifty Birthdays!

One of the ways I am saying Goodbye Magpie, is by giving myself a strict budget of only £100 to spend on birthday cards and gifts for 12 months.  Seven months in, I have very limited funds left, but thankfully I now only have four family birthdays left to cater for, hooray!

Mumster Two's Suitably Ironic Card

Two big birthdays came up this month.  Mumster One and Mumster Two (i.e. my mother and my mother-in-law) in very quick succession.



First, let's get the confession out of the way.  I got Mumster Two's birthday wrong and missed her actual birthday by a few days, meaning she didn't even get a 'birthday wishes' phone-call.  'Favourite Daughter-in-Law points' were deducted for that one, whoops!

None-the-less, a few days behind schedule I did manage to send her down a handmade card with a suitably ironic ink-drawing on it.  And I picked up a fab gift from the lovely Mary's Living and Giving, Save the Children charity shop I work in.  I chose two lovely wooden painted bangles and a matching necklace.  Which are right up Mumster Two's street.

For Mumster One.  I did manage to get the date right!  So thumbs up on that one.  She also got a handmade card and a gift from Save the Children.  This time I selected a Sophie Kinsella book and a really pretty purple necklace (which handily matches a bracelet I bought her last year).

The presents looked as good as new and I don't think either Mumster actually realised that the gifts were charity shop finds!

Total cost: £6.00 each.  What a Bargain!

The Future's Bright; the Future is....Green?

Having spent the last couple of weeks blogging for Edinburgh Science Festival, I have been having a few Eco-Nightmares, due to the frank predictions and (much needed) dire warnings about climate change from many of the Science Fest. speakers.

So, it was with a some-what heavy heart that I picked up Mark Stevenson's 'An Optimists Tour of the Future'.  Mark (a stand-up comic and writer) set out on a mission to see what the future holds.  And he found out some pretty amazing stuff!

Who would have thought that drought-parched grass pasture in Australia could fully recover, just by installing a few fences and moving cattle around differently?

Who would have credited the fact that you can print solar panels just like photographs, on giant flexible sheets of plastic and wrap them around anything from buildings to rucksacks?

Who would believe that nanotechnology allows oil to be produced without having to drill for it (and by the way, it's carbon neutral)?

And all of this is happening now, not in some way-off Star Trek vision, but right at this moment.  This book certainly helped me feel more optimistic about the possibilities that lie ahead.

The future is indeed bright; it is also smart, efficient and green and it is waiting for us, whenever we're ready!

Find out more at An Optimists Tour of the Future

A Thrifty Business: Charity Shop Volunteering

Although I spend a lot of time blogging about saving money, Goodbye Magpie isn't just about reducing living costs, it is actually all about finding a better way of living.  A way of living that isn't about spending and buying, working and stressing; but is about living a pretty happy and satisfying life.

For example: this picture of koalas, sits on my desk and makes me smile everytime I look at it.

On the other hand, the sound of the washing machine beeping incessantly to tell me to come and empty it makes me go 'grrr' on the inside.  (Damn you Hotpoint beep creator!)

So, in essence, I am looking for more Lovely Koalas and less Annoying Beeps!

And it is with this thought in mind that Operation Goodbye Magpie has taken a new turn.

I have decided to take giving back to a whole new personal level.  I have taken up post as a Shop Volunteer, at my local Mary's Living and Giving, Save the Children shop!

I can report that it has been a successful step.  The shop is a really nice environment to be in.  Other volunteers are friendly and fun and it is all organised by a super-energetic manager who is all up for letting everyone get hands on with the shop.

It is pretty good to know that while I am enjoying myself categorising books (one of my all-time favourite activities!), arranging shelves and helping with window displays, I am also raising money for a really good cause. 

As I was getting ready to head down to the shop last week, the Today Programme was reporting from Liberia, one of the poorest countries in Africa.  And Save the Children's work to reunite 'lost' children with their families was highlighted.  Now, that made me feel good!  Koalas all round!

My biggest challenge is going to be keeping to my No Clothes Buying for a Year challenge!  I am seven months in to No Clothes Buying and it is going really well, I don't miss clothes shopping AT ALL. 

Temptation is creeping in however, everytime I straighten the clothes out on the rails, or price new donations to go out on the shop floor.  But, I see it as an extra challenge.  Is it possible for me to wear fun outfits to work in the shop, from my own existing stock of clothes? I think I can!  I've just got to get creative.

This photo is what I wore yesterday (looking a tad crumpled by the end of a long day), I have never put these clothes together as an outfit before.  So I reckon I have loads of outfit combos to play with in my cupboards.

In the meantime, I still always have thrifty birthday presents to buy.  So I can support the charity shop in other ways, and thus avoid being a complete hypocrite!  Which is always a good move!

The Whole Tooth and Nothing But the Tooth: A Compostable Toothbrush!

I was very excited when the postie arrived this morning with a parcel for me.  You would have thought it was my birthday by the 'oohs' and 'aahs' as I opened up the jiffy bag.  Inside were three wondrous things: Bamboo toothbrushes for the whole family!


I am all for being an active environmentalist, but I also want to be hygienic and clean! So I needed to find a way to replace my plastic toothbrush, (which I bin every three months), with a sustainable alternative.  Those toothy-pegs are important!

Thankfully the good people at Environmental Toothbrush in Australia were on the case already.

A toothbrush seems like a pretty small item to get het-up about right?  After all, how much landfill can they be creating?  Well, did you know that in Australia they dump 30 million toothbrushes every year?  And if you bear in mind that Australia's population is roughly a third of the UK's, you can estimate that here in the UK we are sending 90 million toothbrushes to landfill each year.  Which is roughly 3000 tons of landfill! 

What a lot of unnecessary waste, right?  Which was why I was so delighted to get my hands on my very own sustainable and compostable bamboo toothbrush!

And the pandas are happy too!

Bamboo grows at a rate of knots (my own bamboo hedge is determined to take over my entire front garden!), needs minimal water (unlike cotton) and don't worry, it isn't harvested from panda habitats!  It seems to be a great material and much, much, much better than petrochemicals.

The only downside is that the brushes aren't made in the UK.  But my current plastic toothbrushes aren't made here either.  So by my reckoning it is a great alternative.  Myself and No.1 Son have both used our new toothbrushes and can report that the are top-notch!
 
I ordered mine from Beneficial Health  at a cost of about £3.30 each (including VAT and postage), or you can bulk buy direct from Environmental Toothbrush which works out much cheaper per brush.

I am going to try and get my local Health Food store to stock them and from there they can take over the world!

If you are interested in reading more, the marvellous Mrs Green over at My Zero Waste Toothbrushes has done a thorough low-down on eco-toothcare!