Everything changes…and that’s a good thing!
Apologies for the radio silence, but a lot has been happening here.
After twenty years in a busy admin role, I have finally retired, and much of the last month or so has been taken up with the handover. It was a very happy decision (a surprising number of people have assumed otherwise) and one which was made possible in part by this frugal, make-do, semi-sustainable lifestyle that we’ve been sharing with you over the past decade.
I’m pretty excited to see what comes next!
For now, though, I’m enjoying the time to meditate, walk the park with Small Man, and create things with my hands. 2020 has been a shitshow of a year and I’ve been feeling battered and worse for wear. Time to concentrate on shoring up my psyche and finding ways to serve the community. The great Muhammad Ali once said “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” It’s time to pay the rent.
So what does this all mean for Fig Jam and Lime Cordial?
I suspect you’ll see an increase in posts on sustainability and community, as well as ideas on living frugally in retirement. Baking and cooking, of course. Expect randomness as well, because sometimes it’s just nice to pop in and share what I’m up to with you all. Oh, and lots of posts about mending and repair and creating things, because they’re the things which truly spark joy in my life.
I put the word out recently that I was taking on basic mending projects (I’m not a dressmaker, so alterations more complicated than hems are beyond my ken), and was overjoyed to have pieces dropped in by friends and neighbours. None of these will go to landfill this year!
My neighbour Sharon has as much trouble throwing things away as I do! Her sons are tough on their clothes, but these teeny pants still had a lot of life left in them, if not knees…
So I machine patched them with little foxes, cut from a $1 scrap of vintage flannelette found at The Sewing Basket (if you’re a Sydney stitcher and haven’t been yet, you’re missing out!)…
My farmer friend Ian and I are playing a game of mending chicken with his old Wrangler jeans. I mend them; he trashes them (not deliberately, of course). I’d mended them twice already when the butt wore out. I convinced him to let me have another go…
Et voila! All patched and ready for another six months on the job. I did warn him that he’d need to wear them with a belt now because they were starting to get seriously heavy…
Here they are on the job, drenching sheep…
My wonderful young friends at The Carpenter Cafe in Leichhardt are now roasting their own coffee – they very kindly gave me their surplus hessian sacks. I shared half of them with my neighbours for use in their worm farms…
And turned this one into little useful bags…
Anna made them look good!
Finally, we’re still sewing masks for charity! We’ve donated three batches to Addi Road, and last week, we made some for the Exodus Foundation who support the homeless and disadvantaged…
Production time for the last batch was greatly reduced because my neighbour Johnny who owns an acrylic fabrication business made me cutting templates…
And of course, the Friday Night Finishing Crew (Kevin and Carol) came over to complete the job!
. . . . .
Happy days! It’s nice to be chatting with you all again. Hope you’re all having a brilliant weekend! ♥
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Congratulations, and best of luck in this wonderful new phase in your life!
Thank you, darling friend 😘
So glad to hear we have another member to the retirement family. It took us about a yr to get to a relaxed routine and even some days sleep to 8am. Sound like you are enjoying life these days. Great to hear.
Thank you! Not feeling relaxed yet but I’m hoping it will come!
It will, just takes a while.
YOU are a total inspiration Celia … I have followed you for a long time … initially because of all your wonderful ways with food, but I have also loved your more recent musings on all the amazing crafts you are finding yourself in … just proves what is possible.
And I adore that saying of Muhammad Ali “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” So true!
I’m so looking forward to being able to continue learning where you are up to in life … it is always such a rewarding – and encouraging – read! xo Gina
Gina, you’re always so kind, thank you! xx
Congrats on your retirement. I’m sure you will throw yourself gleefully into many wonderful projects. Love the little hessian carry bags and well done with the masks!
Thanks darling one! I’m NOT starting a sourdough bakery though! 🤣
Those jeans are very useful! Lots of life left in them yet. They look very stylish with all the patches!
M, they’re fun to keep alive but they keep getting heavier and heavier… 😉
Welcome to retirement. You’ll love it!
Thank you!!
Great idea to retire Celia. Have a look at my Facebook blog ” Cremona Hillside Farm” where I write a weekly column of foraging, farming, fossicking and frugavoring.I retired seven years ago at 60 ( ill health) and have just LOVED living on the smell of an oily rag. I have met so many wonderful fellow travellers and happy frugavores. We share and laugh and reinvent and have a heap of fun! Been a regular reader of what you write for a few years now…and look forward to hearing about your use of extra time.
Thanks Kate! There’s something sooo satisfying in knowing we can survive on very little, isn’t there? It’s freeing! I’m not on FB but I’ll try to check out your link.
best wishes and lots of success with your latest lifestyle choices.
Thanks lovely Sandy! I’m really looking forward to it!
SERIOUSLY??? You have been working the whole time you were baking/tempering chocolate/sewing etc etc etc??????? now I feel like a real slacker :) must tell you though, retirement is underrated :) Took me about a year to ‘settle’. But what wonderful news, best wishes :)
I agree, I just assumed you didn’t work as you are so busy with all your great activities, how could you possibly fit in working as well? Enjoy your retirement and we look forward to seeing what you get up to.
Wow, you’ve been busy in your retirement, Celia. Love the foxy patches and the hessian bags – I bought a similar bag in north Queensland last year, also made from a coffee sack, in a rehabilitation project for prisoners. Enjoy your retirement.
Celia, enjoy your well deserved retirement , thank you for sharing this brilliant quote of Muhammad Ali.
Absolutely love your blog over all it’s many and varied subjects after initially being hooked years ago with your magic cooking ❤️.
Have a wonderful happy, productive retirement, being the special person you are it will be a busy and rewarding and all your followers will love to hear what’s happening
Congratulations! How exciting!
I’m wildly envious of your retirement and looking forward to reading more of your frugal adventures <3
I found it took me over 12 months to fully relax after retirement. Enjoy.
so so happy for you and your ‘retirement’ from admin and transition to be able to make things . congrats.
Flabbergasted. Wondered for years how you managed to fit all you do into a day and didn’t realise you had a paid job as well!! More time to write now, excellent. Love the mends
Congratulations on your retirement – it is fantastic that your careful lifestyle can help you retire and give more to the community. I am slightly jealous because retirment is a long way away for me (I hope) but my work life is giving me satisfaction even if it sucks so much time and energy. As I have learnt the art of sourdough bread making and darning from you (among other things) I look forward to continuing to learn and find inspiration here.
Very happy you are about to retire because after my outback adventure last month I can’t wait to get back there but what a loss to us all not having you around on here Celia! Pop in and say hi sometime if you can. You’ll be missed.
I’m not retiring from the blog, just from my day job! 😉
PS pretty sure that the late Queen Mother came up with the crack about “Your
work is the rent you pay for the room you occupy on
earth.” “http://www.quotehd.com/quotes/elizabeth-the-queen-mother-quote-your-work-is-the-rent-you-pay-for-the-room-you-occupy” but I love the idea that she was an inspiration for Mohommed Ali!
I actually prefer Ali’s take on it. I’m not sure royalty have the same understanding of “service to others” as he did! 😉
So very, very happy for you! Enjoy this new chapter xx
Best wishes for a long and happy retirement Celia. I have missed your posts while you have been busy. . I too managed to retire early after many years in public service. It’s been 9 years now but you know what, I feel as busy as ever in a nice way with family, making things and volunteering. Stuff you don’t get to do at work. I don’t like the word retirement. Giving up paid work it a bit of a mouthful We need a new word. Good luck it takes a bit of getting used too but itf you want to catch a midnight movie midweek you can, no work to get up for! Peace and love
Helen
Congratulations on your retirement Celia 👏👏👏 , can’t wait to see what you post next 😊💕
Happy Retirement, Celia! It’s wonderful to hear how you’re using your newfound time to do things that are meaningful to you and bring you JOY, as well as serving others. I especially enjoyed your story and pics about Farmer Ian! Best wishes and blessings to you, xo.
Sending very best wishes for this next adventure in your life.
Look forward to keeping up to date with all your activities 🙃
Hi! I have been reading your blog regularly though I don’t think I’ve ever left a comment. Your posts are so interesting and cover such a wide range of subjects – I enjoy them immensely ☺️ Warm wishes for a very fulfilling life, post retirement. I look forward to reading all that you have to write about!
Congrat again! I would love to be your neighbour and learn to mend, sew and eat chocolate for free ;)
Here we are still lock down, I miss my sewing classes, my gym , my work at the church kitchen etc etc
Enjoy your freedom.
Ale
Yay!!!
Dear Celia,greatly looking forward to your posts.
Maddy xx
Wonderful ,you will love it as we will love more posts xx
Adding my congratulations to the many above, and that imo you’ve been “paying the rent” for as long as I’ve known you, and I assume before that in many forms. It’s a nice career change though to be able give it your fuller focus. We never even dreamed of giving our downshift/treechange the moniker retirement… our #frugalandfabulous life means we are busier than in our paid-work lives but in a different, less hectic way, and it doesn’t take much imagining you will be too.
You are going to love this time in your life C!
Oh my goodness it sounds as if the blog will be heaven for me, especially the random bits. So pleased when this post popped up as I am sure like many others I was beginning to be a little concerned that your being was not OK..
I suspect that one of the things that worries people when they retire (maybe, men more than women) is that they have defined their life through their work. That’s certainly not going to be a problem for you! And I don’t suppose that when asked “What do you do?” that you’ll ever mumble something about being retired but I used to … Hey, what am I thinking. I bet nobody asks you that question because you’ve already enthused over something!
Have discovered that taping an opened paper clip to the inside of my mask holds my mask closer to my nose (you know that I don’t have a neat little button nose) and so stops my specs misting up. An added bonus is that as I’m fairly useless at applying masking tape, it bent over a bit and stuck to my face, thus stopping any possible slippage. An emergency measure when serving in the Christmas shop that I may continue to use.
Enjoy retirement.
Happy retirement Celia!
I love the little fox patches on those pants. There were so many of my son’s pants that I hung on to for ages trying to figure out how to mend all the knee holes! I needed some of your creative genius.
Congratulations on your graduation from work and entry into a very exciting time of life. Thank you also for inspiring me a non sewing person to turn an old shirt into a very useful bag.
Congratulations and enjoy Celia! Like several others, I thought all the work you post about was your job! I’m in awe that you had a another job as well – not at all surprising that you’ve been overwhelmed at times xx
Congratulations on your retirement Celia. As others have stated, I always thought the projects you write about and photograph were your actual ‘job’. I can only imagine what you will get up to now you have more time! I look forward to reading about it all.
congrats on your retirement. i really enjoy reading your blog and look forward to a new posting.
mum was cleaning out her sewing room and came across a pile (rough est. 300+) squares of cotton (about 29cmx29cm squares in clean, excellent condition) in a few different colours and patterns from the 2000s. wondered if you would be willing to receive it to repurpose.
your post are always a delight and thank you for sharing.
Oh you’re very kind to think of me, thank you! I can’t take on any more fabric, but if your mum would like to donate them to a good cause, The Sewing Basket will gladly take them, and fabric mad quilters will be delighted to buy them. :)