Slow Living Essentials Monthly 9 Link Up

Time to link up with Christine for this months Slow Living Essentials Monthly 9

{NOURISH}
Now that the Birch Sap has run dry we are foraging a little closer to the ground - nettles in our soups and delicious dandelion fritters.

And over on Sarah's  blog I found a new way of serving chick peas - roasted!!  They are a staple here too - can't believe I hadn't though of doing them like this before!!

{PREPARE}
Saw this great 'salad in a jar' on a Slow Living Essentials post last month (can't remember who's), and I'm liking it a lot.  I prepare a big salad for monday lunch and three or four jars for the rest of the week.  I eat at home every lunch time but I'm really appreciating not having to prepare (and clean up) salad veggies every day.

always the same order - sauce, raw veggies, meat/cheese/egg and finally lettuce.

{CREATE}
Lots of crafting going on as usual - just loving this table that Richard made from some old wood that my f.i.l has be 'saving' for the last 40 years!!! Couldn't believe it was the same wood when he presented me the freshly sanded planks.

{GROW}
Stared some 'kitchen scrap' gardening with a celery root which is almost ready to go into the ground.  Outside the peas and corn are doing very well, despite last weeks snow, but the potatoes are yet to show any signs of life!

{GREEN & REDUCE}
I've grouped these two together this month as I honestly can't think of anything new I've done in either of these categories!


{ENHANCE}
I was very happy to participate in a meeting given by a group local youths - Bouch à Bouch - who have created an organization to promote, encourage and assist other youngsters with getting their projects off the ground.  Their current 'cause', Le Potager de Mon Pote Agé, aims to connect local young people, who can't afford to buy land, with older folks who own plots and are willing to 'lend' them out as vegetable allotments.  There is to be no money rent paid but the two parties can come to whatever 'barter' style agreement suits them.  The group has also be given some land by the Mayor, who full supports the idea, to use as experimental gardens for developing permaculture technics in the alps.  All produce grown in these test gardens will be donated to a local charity that plans to distribute it to families in need.
These youngsters really uplifted me with their zest for life and their great sense of community solidarity.

{DISCOVER}
I also went to a very interesting conference hosted here in Chamonix on Dyslexia and Dyspraxia, where lots of helpful advice was given for assisting 'Dys' children at home and in school.  However, the evening took a turn for the worse when the local school nurse took the microphone and informed parents not to count on schools voluntarily putting into place any of the measures suggested!  It would seem that it is up to the parents to be fully aware of any help their children are entitled too and to be very vigilant in seeing that they are actually getting this help during he school day.

{ENJOY}
A family holiday - us four, the dog, s.i.l and nephew, to the Grand Canyon du Verdon.

The 6 hour drive home turned into a 9 hour one, as Rémi woke up in the morning with a horrendous stomach bug - need I say more!  And also we kept getting stuck behind camping cars....  I know for people in certain parts of the globe 9 hours travel is nothing but for us europeans it's quite an epic!!

Hope you had a great April and are enjoying a warm May.