Pants to Poverty

While I think we need to donate money to charities in times of crisis, I also think we need to think about where our dollars go when we make purchases. People in developing countries are often taken advantage of, to provide cheap labour for richer countries, we all know that. By supporting businesses like Pants to Poverty (and Eternal Creation who I mentioned a few weeks ago), we can give people in developing countries a job that pays them fairly, with good conditions, that doesn't endanger their health. Pants to Poverty began as part of the Make Poverty History campaign in 2005. They make underpants for men and women from fairly traded organic cotton, in factories with high ethical standards.

From the Pants to Poverty website:

"Infested with pesticides, these bad pants support a system that, according to the World Health Organization, lets over 20,000 farmers die and millions more suffer chronic diseases each year from pesticide poisoning. Many of these deaths are very preventable and could be overcome by the actions of the communities if they were supported with Fairtrade and organic farming methods."

An average of 26 farmers per day commit suicide in the nearby region due to unfair trade, yet there have been no suicides amongst the 5,000 farmers who work for Zameen organics, who supply Pants to Poverty with organic cotton.

To find out more and purchase, go to the Pants to Poverty website.

A little photo shoot

We went to our local botanical gardens this morning to attempt to take some frameable photos of our two little girls.

It was quite sunny, so that made it a little difficult, with too much contrast, I can see how an overcast day is much easier. That, and working with children makes things doubly tricky! But I think we did ok.

The out takes :)
One for their 21st birthdays!

What I want to be when I grow up

A gardener?

A singer?

newborn pants organic cotton
Mise en ligne par anryan3215

This pic made it on to Handmade Kids on Saturday :)

www.handmadekids.com.au

One perfect capsicum

Look at that! One large, perfect capsicum, not a blemish or hole in sight. You wouldn't see one that good in a supermarket or green grocer, yup, it came from our garden. I think the tank water has really helped them this year.

Healthy capsicum plants

And here's a new toadstool for the garden, perfect for fairies to live under.

My new pyjamas

My new birthday pyjamas arrived today, they are rather lovely. The photos on Eternal Creation's website didn't do them justice, as you can't see the fabric up close. The pink buttons are sewn on with green thread - cute and quirky detail I like! I like to have an in between pair of PJ's, these are made with a light weight cotton, good for autumn and spring. It's nice to know your consumer dollars are not being used to make huge profits for some, and very low wages for others. There's more information on how this business treats its workers fairly on the website. We bought my mum the sakura kimono for Christmas, and Evie has the sakura pyjamas for this winter. Livinia has also been wearing a couple of Evie's hand me down PJ's from there too.

29

Today I entered the last year of my 20's. Happy birthday to me. Here's Evie and Andrew's birthday cake effort, Evie was in charge of sprinkles :) They are made with natural colouring in the icing, and naturally coloured sprinkles, both from Hopper. We all went to church before Andrew and I went out for lunch on our own, which was nice, doesn't happen very often.
I was spoilt with flowers from my favourite florist, and these pyjamas should arrive sometime this week, ethically made in the Himalayas, well worth the wait. I also received among other things a massage voucher, which will be great, as I feel guilty spending money on myself for a massage, don't know if it's because I'm a massage therapist, or because I'm a mum and have to put everyone else first- probably a bit of both. Anyway, it's at Endota spa, very swish indeed. Yesterday, Evie said I was old, I asked her if daddy was old and she said no. I think I should get away with at least one more year before I'm called old.

New silks and sumer nature table

A parcel of gorgeous naturally dyed playsilks from Syrendell arrived today, which meant we could start making our Summer nature table. I needed a yellowy orange silk to make a background that reflects the dryness of the Australian bush in summer. I'm waiting for an Ostheimer kangaroo to hop into our letterbox, and she'll go up there with her joey. We have a billabong for the thirsty animals, the 10 kangaroos in the Graeme Base book in behind are not so lucky, and have no water. There are also some fine gumleaves and some red kangaroo paw, I hope to also add some flowering gum, gumnuts, red stones from the bush, and whatever else we might find.

Livinia has been having a great time playing peek a boo with this beautiful large indigo dyed silk

It's here again...

The great annual zucchini glut, that is. Here we have a zucchini slice, we've also made zucchini bread, had zucchini in curry, I'll have to think of a few more creative ways to cook with this prolific vegetable, since I don't really fancy the idea of sitting down to a plate full of it.

This zucchini slice was made with zucchini (obviously) and onion from our garden, organic carrot and local free range eggs.

Quick trip to Adelaide

(Great) Granny with Liv

Evie in a fairy garden at Hanhdorf

Strawberries at lunch with family

Decorating Vlad the cat

On our return home, our first Evelyn Rose (Evie's 'proper' name)