Why?

So, a little bit of background and some understanding as to what this is all about:

I'm a stay at home mum of one very active and hilarious 18-month-old girl, with another bub on the way (due beginning December). My husband Sparky, Isy and myself live in a teeny tiny house in the Blue Mountains, about an hour out of Sydney.

An embarassingly old shot of us. (I'm a bit camera-shy.)

We're smack-bang in the middle of organising major renovations and an extension to our 1950s fibro cottage, and hope to start construction within the next 4 weeks. We hope (optimistically) to be finished the majority of the construction before baby #2 arrives in late November/early December.

I am a complete garden nerd. I love gardening magazines, shows, blogs, forums etc, and often find my bedtime reading consists of Organic Gardener or one of my numerous vegetable gardening books.  I have to admit, as excited as I am about the upcoming works on our house, I am a tiny bit more pumped at the idea of finally bringing to life my plans for a big vege garden and small orchard in our backyard and seeing just how much we can live off our little patch of land.

I used to own and run an independent jewellery label, Trove, but decided to close the doors earlier this year. (I am currently in the process of selling the last few hundred pieces, so do check it out if you are interested - the prices are pretty damn good.) After three years of building the business up - I had 40+ hand-selected stockists world-wide, showed my collections at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week and was on the verge of hiring permanent staff - I suffered major burn-out. I was trying to be an excellent full-time Mum to a very active, not-very-sleepy toddler, trying to run a busy jewellery label and trying to make every individual piece I sold (all production was down to me too) and it took its toll on me emotionally and physically.

As a result of the turmoil and angst we felt earlier this year, I started thinking about living more simply. Sounds twee, I know, but I can really see and really understand the value in living a life well, living a life wholly and living a life simply and naturally. And that's really where this journey, the Lavender Experiment, really begins.

I want to document the things I do (successfully and unsuccessfully) in trying to live life more simply and more naturally. I'm also keen on sharing the renovation process as it goes along, the garden's construction and other things that pique my interest along the way.

Hopefully you'll find it interesting. I know I will!

Brooke x