Not All Oils Will Be Good For You…

So an interesting story that happened to me yesterday, a story I knew but have not had happen to me before.

I have a new oil, well I have had it for a few months but haven’t used it yet, it’s Doterra’s Woodland Blend, Northern Escape. Now I love all things forest/bush, the Australian native bush is so wild and beautiful and it’s truly grounding and calming just being in the middle of it, so it was a given that I would buy Doterra’s Woodland Blend. I actually had forgotten about it and then yesterday I saw it and thought this is exactly what I need. So I filled the diffuser in my office with water and put 3 drops in and away she went. It wasn’t long before I started feeling really unwell, dizzy, nauseous and generally sick. Straight away I turned the diffuser off because I knew what was going on. Something in that oil was having a negative effect on my body.

This is a reminder to you all to be very careful when using essential oils. You just do NOT know what sort of effect they are going to have on your bodies. Tisserand Institute is a very good place to learn how to use oils safely and effectively and not be so slap happy when using them. Essential oils are volatile compounds which means they can and will hurt you if you don’t know what you are doing. Some effects will show up straight away like they did with me and others will take longer if not years. Essential oils are a very good tool to have for health and wellness but getting educated is so important. MLM’s are not going to tell you the information you need to be safe, they just aren’t. I have seen wellness advocates feed straight oil to children from a spoon and tell their followers to do the same. This practice is reckless and irresponsible and irreparable if any damage has been done internally.

So please do some research into oils use and please use them with the respect that they warrant. Just because they come from plants doesn’t always mean they are good for you and they can’t harm you. Many weeds are plants but if taken orally will kill you!

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Sock Savers!

So I have come up with this new product, well it’s not a new idea, but it’s a new product for me. The idea was inspired by the mens equivalent of this product which is super boring, and I thought I am going to make some of these for women who love to garden! Sock savers were originally designed for men who work outdoors to stop dirt and prickles etc going into their socks and therefore, saving their wives a lot of angst! Sock savers or gaiters as we call them, are typically a khaki colored heavy denim which is super boring. I decided to make some super cute ones. Originally I wanted a heavier denim, but I couldn’t find any with cute patterns, but I managed to find some light denim fabric in the typical blue colors with really cute white designs. I love how they turned out, what do you think?

These are worn on the outside of your boot, over your sock like the bottom picture.

Sock savers……woman’s, gardening best friend!!

Gnomes

With all the craziness of trying to earn a living, dealing with kids and grandkids, farming, my needy mother, a demanding job and trying to study I rarely get the chance to just sit and relax and do one of the things I love most…..making gnomes! I bought a heap of the cutest gnome patterns off Etsy a few weeks back and I finally got to complete one. It’s not exactly the way the pattern goes but she still turned out awesome I reckon!

My photography skills are seriously lacking but how cute does she look!

Here is the link to the pattern if you guys want to try it out too! She has so many amazing patterns!

Zucchini Slice Recipe

My husband and I have decided that we are going to stop being terrible stewards of our money, buying take away every chance we get, eating so much junk food, way too much coke and not making food fro scratch. This has caused a huge amount of financial waste and it’s time we got serious about eating real food and stop wasting so much money that can be used for other things.

Today is Sunday, typically we would be in the car driving around, stopping for fast food and spending at least $50 every time we stop. I have a lot of zucchini in the house so instead of going out today, wasting fuel and food money, we have decided to stay home (saving fuel) and I have been baking to use some of the zucchini that needs to be eaten. I am so proud of us, normally we would duck into town for a pie and chocolate milk, but by me cooking lunch we have saved money and calories and stopped the waste of 2 zucchinis (many more in the garden). I have also made a zucchini bread and some peanut bisciuts but will post on them separately.

I found this recipe on The Whoot and it’s that good I have to share it with you guys! I forgot to take photos of my outcome and we have now eaten it lol!

Simple Zucchini And Bacon Slice

It was super quick to make and we had it for lunch! So much better than bought food and way better for us!

Christmas decorating diy

So we are fortunate enough to have dozens of Crows Ash trees on this farm. Crows Ash trees have the most amazing seed pods that drop around this time every year. The trees seem to lose their leaves and are left with hundreds of this prehistoric looking seed pods which are great for crafts and DIY if you have a good imagination.

The First Post

I always think the first post of a blog is difficult. Where do you start on a brand new blog, what is the first part of this journey we want to discuss. I’m still not sure of the starting part but I am pretty confident of the middle part. The middle part is where I want to share my life as a grandma, I want to share the fight I put up with myself about becoming a grandma so young, and even today at 53, still not wanting to take on the ‘grandma’ role. Don’t get me wrong my grandchildren are the world to me, I always tell my kids that I love the grandkids more than them hahahahahah, of course just teasing them, but I didn’t want to take on the ‘grandma’ role. Typically I do all the things that grandma’s back in the day did, I crochet, I knit on occasion, I bake from scratch, I do all the things but at the same time I still work, I still feel like I shouldn’t qualify for grandma status even though I do all the things, I have tattoos for goodness sakes I don’t look like a grandma! But the truth is, regardless of all my kicking and screaming about being old enough to be a ‘grandma’, that’s exactly what I am. I became a ‘grandma’ without notice, I became the nurturer that only grandma’s can be, I became the safe place, the treat giver, the sanctuary and I didn’t even notice. I became the place the kids want to be on weekends, the place the kids fight over and the place the kids laugh and play and are free to be themselves. This is why I started this blog.

I have been struggling for years with my identity, the question of “surely there is more to me, surely God has a greater plan for me than just being a mum and nannee, surely there is ‘rock star’ status in there for me somewhere, I can’t JUST be a mum. These questions have haunted me for years now, I have spent a lot of money trying to be someone I am not, trying to ‘make it’ in the online space as a business person and entrepreneur, trying to ignore my actual calling in life which is to be a mother and grandmother. God gave me the grace to see it this far to SEE IT THIS FAR! It wasn’t until this week, sitting on the loo (God moves in really mysterious ways lol) that I realised I am ALREADY doing what I am meant to do. I am ALREADY the person He made me to be! I am not meant to be a flashy gazillionaire flying from one end of the world to the next, teaching how to make wealth, or teaching the next thing it social media or or or, you get my meaning. I am EXACTLY who I am supposed to be! I have to say this was a tremendous revelation to me and somewhat liberating. I am going to stop chasing the almighty dollar and re-focus on the important things which are my grandhcildren and my children!

Do you know even my craft was embarrassing to me, I didn’t want people knowing that I crochet or knit because it puts me in the ‘old’ category, how bloody stupid is that! I wanted to be the vibrant, young skinny real estate agent I once was, I didn’t want to be this ageing, overweight, greying old woman that loves to sit and do craft, but the fact of the matter is I AM that old woman. There are so many women out there under an immense about of pressure to stay looking good, get the botox, get the teeth fixed, get the hair fixed and nails etc etc and while I think looking after yourself is something we should do I don’t think our identities should be wrapped up in that like mine was.

I have a lot of stories to tell, I had my first child at 16 and my last at 37, all to the same man, my ever loving husband of 37 years. We have had terrible trauma in our lives with the death of my youngest brother who was more like one of our children. We have had few triumphs in our younger years but we seem to be getting a few more in our ‘older’ years. We have learned to trust God and walk in Faith which landed us this perfect job and positioning us to buy our own cattle property in the near future, finally, after dreaming for so many decades. I have stories of autism, menopause and mental illness which my mother suffers from, so I am hoping there is something that will resonate with everyone. I hope I make you smile and I hope I can shed some light on issues that you may be going through. I don’t know I just hope to help other grandma’s be the grandparents our younger generation need so badly. Grandparents are an integral part in a child’s life, it’s time to embrace that role. Welcome to Nannee’s Place!