downshiftme.com Podcast Feed

Podcast 68

downshiftme@gmail.com (Matt and AJ) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 10:01:45 PDT

This week's podcast studio (photo from Feb)

Chicken update
6 boys rehomed. Egg production is up. Celebrating by recording in the greenhouse – the chickens' winter home.

Harry
Sad news is that Harry died. Luckily Chloe recovered after a night in the vets and anti-biotics. We got another cat with undue haste as we were worried about Chloe. Caden has now joined the family. Harry had an amazing character the short time we had him – he was a beautiful loving, affectionate naughty cat. We miss him a lot.

Harry

Caden

AJ's garden masterclass
Weekly tea, cake and gardening

Starting to plan the season
Some seedlings being planted, getting ready for the snow to melt to start work. Also want to tidy some of our woods.

Produce
Quince jelly, mango chutney, curries, naan, yoghurt – making so much from scratch. Some days I have had a 100% homemade lunch – soup, with homemade bread, followed by homemade yogurt with homemade jam in it. Almost as nice as last summer when our meals were often 100% garden produce.

Bad things
Matt – tax returns
AJ – preparing receipts for taxes

Good things
Matt – sunshine
AJ – Spring

http://www.downshift.me.uk/podcasts/downshiftmecom68.mp3

Podcast 67

downshiftme@gmail.com (Matt and AJ) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 15:09:02 PST

Visit from Carolyn
Was great to see her
Check out www.frugalandgreenish.com – her well written blog about all things greenish and frugalish.

Chicks
Hatched, grown, flourished – almost as big as their parents now. 5 boys to try to pass on.

Recession
Downshifting is very “in” now – TV programmes have gone from Property Ladder to The Home Show - all talking about making do. Living within your means rather than on credit.
Growing food, knitting, making gifts.

Jeep sold truck bought
Our own little bailout of the auto industry

Energuide survey
Got results – not much hope of any grant money – scored 57 points

Plans for 2009
Work on the house
Build AJ's business
Grow even more vegetables
Optimistic about it

New TV
Flat screen – we have been really consumerist – works with our UK DVD player – great picture and right size – it is our main form of entertainment. Works with our resurrected laptop.

Matt been to PEI
Matt – NS, NB, PE, ON
AJ – NS, NB, AL, ON

Bad things
Matt – TV
AJ – power outages

Good things
Matt – life
AJ – 6 months free Sirius satellite radio

Podcast 66

downshiftme@gmail.com (Matt and AJ) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:17:11 PDT

Podcast 66 – get your kicks

Immigration
we landed
permanent residence
long journey – enjoyed the ferry
problems with Canadian immigration
wait times
CIC
study to immigrate
good way to “try before you buy”
bureaucratic system
CIC need to work with people not against them

Broadband, highspeed, ADSL

Spencer - the purr is silenced

Introducing Chloe and Harry – 3 months later

Chickens

Garden update
Greenhouse – up and inflated
Lots more produce
More time
More experience
Produce – strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, gooseberries, rhubarb, potatoes (including lovely blue ones), beans, peas, courgettes/zucchini, carrots, corn, leeks, asparagus

Business update
Park - community involvement

Bad things
Matt – our friends moving to Ottawa
AJ - negative election campaigning

Good things
AJ - potential of us having chicks
Matt – PR and ADSL

Podcast 65

downshiftme@gmail.com (Matt and AJ) — Sat, 10 May 2008 16:56:41 PDT

Not podcasted since December… quite a winter..

January – snow
February – more snow
March – less snow

Horticultural happenings
- awards
- Skills Canada gold medal
- commissions
- business
- job

Our garden
- greenhouse
- soft fruit
- grapes

Home brewing
- beer
- wine

Immigration update
- medicals
- bureaucracy
- new 5 year graduate work permit

My job
- at the University
- website work

Animal updates
- Spencer
- Dylan
- chickens

Visitors from England next weekend

Bad Things
AJ – ticks
Matt – bugs

Good things
AJ – Twinnings Herbal Teas (wellbeing range)
Matt – living in the country

Podcast 64

downshiftme@gmail.com (Matt and AJ) — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 16:49:52 PST

2nd anniversary of our first podcast (not going to play it again)

63 podcasts later but bit out of practice.

Nice to hear people have come to us after we stopped weekly podcasting and they have listened all the way through - out of real time.

Winter
- Quite a winter - 5 storms (including last night) - last winter 5 in total
- 10cm last night
- snow most of December

Horticultural happenings
- passed semester with honours
- one more to go
- lots of houseplants propagated

Knitting
quest for the gnome
tree decoration
knitted our hats

Creeping Canadianisms
highway
gas

Immigration to Nova Scotia - we have PNP

People not always doing what they set out to do coming here
True of many downshifters
Adapt plans if things don't turn out exactly how they are planned

Bad Things
AJ – TV
Matt – snow

Good things
Matt – snow
AJ – snow

Podcast 63

downshiftme@gmail.com (Matt and AJ) — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 16:42:33 PDT

Why we stopped podcasting
Busy
Ran out of things to say
Spencer tries to stop the podcast
Was worried slightly we had “lost our way” with my new job

We are poor, we knit our own yoghurt and hats.

Didn't get chickens as we hoped to this year.

Got some great emails from people – people said they understood but would miss us.

Met some great people visiting
Welcome to Nova Scotia – Mark and Tania, Richard and Jane, and Flora and Larry

Harvest – potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini/courgettes, squash, chilli peppers, some berries.

Next year – carrots, parsnips, more potatoes, onions, more zucchini, berries – hoping the grape vines and kiwi survive.

Triumphs of the year - we can look back and give thanks

So settled
Survived the winter
Had some great produce
Great fun - spent time together
Enjoy walking the garden after dinner
New job meant physiotherapy on foot and filling replaced which came out in November
AJ learnt to can - chilli jelly, jam, chutney, pickle, salsa
AJ has mastered beer - Matthew likes the beer

Setbacks

Truck still dead – setback – bought car – on credit
Not grown as much as we would have liked
Money running out faster than we hoped

Downshifting is about finding your own path. Choose a different way of living.

We need BBC Canada.. Doctor Who, Torchwood, Spooks, Robin Hood, It's not Easy Being Green, Buildings that Shaped Britain.

Don't feel homesick but nicely nostalgic.

Found our house in a book.

The school was bigger than we thought. More outbuildings - like we thought.

Bad Things
AJ – the truck
Matt – cost of insurance

Good things
AJ – a general sense of joy and contentment
Matt – Nova Scotia is my home

Podcast 62

downshiftme@gmail.com (Matt and AJ) — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 13:23:32 PDT

Truck is dead

AJ’s infected bite

Job going well

Bought a cultivator

Grass growing quickly

Almost a year on

- Achieved a lot
- Not always as expected
- starting to run out of things to say weekly
- getting quite busy doing things
- weekly is too much pressure
- we will still update the website
- subscribe to the email updates or subscribe in bloglines or a newsreader to the general feed

Bad Things
AJ – infected bite
Matt – dead truck

Good things
Matt – work colleagues we live in a beautiful place
AJ – happier, more content with less stress

Podcast 61

downshiftme@gmail.com (Matt and AJ) — Sun, 27 May 2007 15:40:55 PDT

Feels like spring has come and gone and its summer.

Planting update – Spencer ate the corn, planting beds outside – lots of free discarded – “not good enough to sell” plants.

Truck MVI

Wood for the chicken coop

Matt’s new job – back working for a University, back in housing – looking forward to it. Sad to be leaving the supermarket and the nice people – but not the anti-social hours. Leaving pay not too bad (for this area) but new pay better.

Is this going backwards on the downshifting thing?

AJ working through torrential rain, baking heat, bug plagues

Bug update – we were premature last time – they come and go – lots today though. Need a screen house tent thingy

Bad Things
AJ – bugs
Matt – bugs

Good things
AJ – plants
Matt – weather and having weekends back

Podcast 60

downshiftme@gmail.com (Matt and AJ) — Sun, 13 May 2007 14:31:54 PDT

Spring

Cut grass
Bulbs appeared

Update on our vegetables and herbs

AJ work update

Matt Work update

Truck having MVI tomorrow – wish us luck

Chicken house construction starts soon with local timber

Bad Things
AJ – apprehension about the truck MVI
Matt – bugs

Good things
AJ – being alive
Matt – smell of freshly cut grass

Podcast 59

downshiftme@gmail.com (Matt and AJ) — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 17:29:33 PDT

Not retiring at 60. 3rd attempt - very tired. Matt has had his siesta. AJ has bottled beer.

AJ work placement week. Saltscapes expo. What is the difference between an exposition and exhibition?

Tracey Smith in the Toronto Star.

Electric poultry netting - mentioned on Geek.Farm.Life.

Bagels and Baggels. Gooda and Gouda.

Andrew and Misty built their own greenhouse – looking at ways to retain heat.

Humidity question - good for some plants but not others. Humidity can cause problems with pests, mold or spores.

We are looking for a heated winter greenhouse with dual skin.

Sprouting update – what's hot and what's not

Water sampling has started again

Earthquake – damage in Folkestone – 475 houses damaged. 4.3 magnitude on the Richter scale.

We had one in the valley of 3.2 magnitude – was 11th August 2006 so we were living here then (and didn’t notice).

Google Map

Records 1985 to 1997 – nothing over a 4

First tick - yuk. Don't listen while you eat!

Bad Things
AJ – first mosquito bite
Matt – still a little chilly

Good things
AJ – bulbs
Matt – youtube - numa numa