Colette O'Neill

Living Lightly upon the Earth

So much has changed since my birthday last year.

Re-painting the cottage has made a big difference to the light inside and the way in which the walls now reflect the outside in. I made new curtains from simple gingham.

There is now a green floor in the kitchen with gold spirals all across it.

The vegetable garden has been moved closer to the cottage and is now a potager style with easier access.

However, the real change has happened in my own life and it is a change worth celebrating and sharing with all.

I became Vegan…no longer consuming any animal products and eating a fully plant-based diet.

I consider this to be the most beneficial lifestyle choice I have ever embraced.

I am transformed in the way I live my life.

Not only have I shed a considerable amount of weight and have loads more energy, I sleep well and feel calmer and more positive than ever before.

I heartily recommend this way of eating. I call it, “Living Lightly upon the Earth.”

As my birthday approaches this autumn, a sense of renewal is exciting me as I open up the big box of winter clothes…not many of them now fit me, so the sewing machine will be put to good use altering and reshaping much of my wardrobe!

This may even be a good time to host a “Clothes Swap Party,” and enjoy an evening of fun with friends and some home-made wine and clothes exchanging! The winter months are a good time to share time with friends and family. I have re-engaged my love of knitting recently and intend putting the spinning wheel into action soon too.

I have an idea to knit socks this winter.

Hand-knits are so luxurious these days as so much is mass produced and cheaply made…ugh!

A lovely idea for gifts is really anything hand-made and special…little hamper baskets of home-made goodies are the very best Yuletide gifts to make and give.

Living well should not cost the Earth.

18 comments

  1. I love everything about your cottage, gardens and Jack of course. I was so touched when you put water on the little worm the other night in the video, so precious.

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  2. Congratulations to you on your vegan lifestyle. I feel like you are my sister, as we have pretty much the same life philosophy. I look forward to your Facebook and you tube posts very much. Peace and Blessings.

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  3. i just happened upon this post and it has so inspired me, you seem to have reached aplace that I am striving to gain still, living a vegan life. Happy belated birthday wishes, to another Autumn child. I so agree living well doesn’t cost the earth in any sense 😉

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    • More and more peopple are coming to the same conclusion.
      We can live lightly upon the Earth with harm to no living creature…and live longer for it!
      Although this is the season of my birthday, it’s not quite yet…I celebrate through the entire Autumn, Lol!
      Colx

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  5. I loved your vegan muffins – they were delicious. I am vegetarian but don’t think I am ready for veganism. Lovely posts these last couple – I think they are especially appealing to me because my birthday was Sat last and so this time of year always feel like a new year to me, starting out afresh; and Autumn is a great time for crafts. i knitted socks for everyone for Christmas last year and it felt really good to me to give someone a gift that had something of me in it instead of something made in a giant factory in China or somewhere. Thanks for all your inspiration. I feel like CallaLily a bit, itching for our garden to be like yours and looking forward to your words of wisdom. Lol and I are doing pottery classes soon so we’ll bring you something next time we come.

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    • Pottery is a craft I so admire…there is nothing quite so magical as a form crafted from the pure earth of clay, for it truly holds the energy of the potter at that precise point in time. You are so right in what you say about the value of the hand-made as opposed to the drudgery produced in the sweatshops of China and other oppressed working places of the poorest people.
      There is heaps of willow for cutting and giving this year, so do make you visit this side of the midwinter!
      Colx

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  7. My new venture is learning to spin yarn. I just purchased two french angora bunnies, Blueberry and Pickles, and they just recieved their first plucking. I am head over heals in love with them! I have my first grand buddy coming in January and I plan on seeing him in a hat and booties spun and knitted by ME! Told you I was having fun. Love, love, love, your pictures.

    Micki~

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  8. I would like to wish you a happy birthday! I just celebrated my birthday this past week. It is so very reassuring to read your posts each time you enter one. Your blog has become one of the most truly engaging parts of my life,,,it is everything I wish I could have and be. I tried very hard to be a vegetarian for a number of years, and it became so difficult I finally gave up. Everyone, even my own doctor, and every person in all my family, constantly ranted and raged against my decision. It made them angry. This is Texas and a part of the world that eats meat like it was a religion to do so. I wish I had your conviction and could be more like you, one with the earth and knowing other people who are like yourself. I wish I could have such a garden as yours, too, but I live in a small apartment with my husband and it’s all we can afford. I am a happy person by nature and so am very happy most of the time, but never quite so happy as when your blog comes into my Inbox, and I can dwell in YOUR world for awhile!

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    • Life is what we create it to be…we create our world around us, even in a small apartment, for it is how we see the world and interact with it.
      Bright Blessings to you!
      Colx

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